APPETIZERS/ CUISINES/ MAINS/ MEDITERRANEAN/ SIDES/ SUMMER/ Sunday Supper

Baked Feta with Tomatoes and Herbs

Hello, welcome to Sunday Supper! Today’s recipe is a great light dinner, but it also makes a fantastic appetizer. It’s an easily customizable recipe, full of fresh, savory Mediterranean flavors. Serve it with slices of toasted rustic bread, like I am today, or mash up the feta a bit, stir it into the baked tomatoes, onions and peppers and mix it into a bowl of pasta. Baked Feta is a versatile dish, with an easy preparation. So let’s do it!

Baked Feta with tomato and herbs served with toast

Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions and Herbs

Tomatoes are an easy choice to go along with Baked Feta, and I also have some sweet red peppers from my garden, a red onion, garlic cloves, and plenty of fresh herb sprigs. Quality feta counts in this recipe, as does good extra virgin olive oil.

Baked Feta with tomato and herbs on toast ingredients

The prep is simple no matter if you end up serving this on toast, or in pasta. Slice the peppers into bite size pieces, slice the half onion into thin half moons. Leave the cherry or grape tomatoes whole. I sliced the garlic cloves in half. Strip the fresh thyme leaves from their stems, but leave the fresh rosemary and oregano as sprigs. We can pluck them out after baking; they will have infused the olive oil and the natural vegetable juices with enough flavor.

Baked Feta with tomato and herbs on toast preparation

Building the Baked Feta

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, an 8×8-inch baking dish works best for this. We will toss the veggies in the dish with some olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Use your hands to mix everything, ensuring all the veggies are coated in olive oil.

seasoning the veggies

Slice the block of feta in half and place each half, side by side, in the center of the baking dish, on top of the seasoned veggies.

placing feta on seasoned veggies

Lay the herb sprigs along side the feta. Then drizzle olive oil over the feta and sprinkle the fresh thyme over the entire dish. Season the feta with more pepper and red pepper flakes.

prepared feta and tomatoes with herbs

Pop the dish in the preheated oven and bake on the center rack for 30 minutes. Then turn the oven to broil and transfer the dish to the top rack oven to broil for 1-2 minutes, until the top of the feta gets some nice browning.

Baked Feta with tomato

When it comes out of the oven, discard the rosemary and oregano stems and let this sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile, with the oven still on broil, brush both sides of rustic bread slices with olive oil and broil the toast slices for about 30 seconds to one minute on each side, until they are nicely toasted.

rustic bread brushed with olive oil

Finishing Touches

To finish the Baked Feta, we will garnish with more fresh herbs, I have fresh mint and flat leaf parsley.

baked feta with tomatoes and herbs

Feta is not a melting cheese, so it’s not going to be ooey-gooey like baked brie. It will still retain some of its crumbly texture, but will be warmed through and have a bouncy lightness to it.

baked feta

This is such a simple dish, yet it is so satisfying, fresh and light. A perfect light supper for the end of summer. As I mentioned at the top, if you want to serve this as a pasta dish, hold off on adding the fresh herbs at the end; mash up the feta a bit and stir it together with the veggies. Then in a large mixing bowl add the Baked Feta mixture to the cooked and drained pasta shape of your choice, mix it all together, then top with the fresh herbs and that’s it!

If you’re serving on toasts, be sure to spoon some of the olive oil and vegetable juices from the baking dish over the top of your toasts for extra flavor.

Baked Feta with tomato and herbs on toast

I hope you try this recipe for Baked Feta; I know it took Instagram and TikTok by storm this spring and summer, so if you haven’t tried it yet, what are you waiting for? Consider changing it up a bit to suite what you have in the fridge, anything goes here… Looking for a similar tomato recipe that is simple and super rewarding? Try my Tomato Confit Toast with Whipped Ricotta. I will see you all here tomorrow with a delicious way to use smoked pork shoulder. Stay tuned; take care and be well, xo Kelly

Baked Feta with Tomatoes and Herbs

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Light Dinner, Main Course, Appetizer Mediterranean
By Kelly Djalali Serves: 2-4
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes Cooking Time: 35 Minutes Total Time: ~45 Minutes

Fresh Mediterranean flavors shine in this simple recipe for Baked Feta with Tomatoes and Herbs. It's a perfect light supper for the end of summer.

Ingredients

  • 2 pints Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
  • 1/2 Red Onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 large Sweet Bell Pepper (any color), sliced into bite-size pieces
  • 1 8-9-oz. Block of Sheep's milk Feta, sliced in half
  • Fresh Herbs for Baked Feta: Sprigs of Rosemary, Oregano and Thyme (thyme leaves removed form stems and minced)
  • Kosher salt, Black Pepper and Red Pepper Flakes to taste
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Fresh Herbs for Garnish: Mint and Parsley

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2

In an 8x8-inch baking dish, combine the tomatoes, onion slices and sliced pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and season veggies with Kosher salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix to coat veggies in olive oil and seasoning.

3

Place the two halves of the feta in the center of the baking dish, on top of the veggies.

4

Lay the rosemary and oregano sprigs alongside the feta halves.

5

Drizzle olive oil over the feta and season the feta with red pepper flakes and black pepper.

6

Sprinkle the minced thyme over the feta and veggies.

7

Place the baking dish on the center rack in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

8

Switch the oven to broil and transfer the baked feta to the top rack in the oven, broil for 1-3 minutes, until the top of the feta develops some spotty golden color.

9

Remove from oven, discard the rosemary and oregano stems and let sit 5 minutes before garnishing with fresh mint and parsley leaves. Serve with toasted rustic bread.

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  • Suzanne Smith
    September 12, 2021 at 9:12 am

    Have been seeing variations of this and I need to make it; looks so yummy. I like the idea of the red onions with this.

    • Kelly Djalali
      September 12, 2021 at 10:46 am

      Me too, Suzanne, I have been seeing baked feta everywhere for months. I so glad I finally tried it. I can definitely see why it became such a sensation on social media. Let me know how it turns out for you! xo Kelly

  • Terry
    September 12, 2021 at 10:04 am

    This looks amazing, I think I will serve it over a small amount of pasta. I can’t find the whole feta all I can ever find is crumbled. I will keep you posted ♥️Mom

    • Kelly Djalali
      September 12, 2021 at 10:53 am

      Hi Mom, hopefully you can find block feta. Crumbled feta won’t yield the same bouncy texture as the block of feta. I bet if you can’t find it at Safeway, you will be able to at Costco. Let me know…xo Kelly

  • Carroll
    September 12, 2021 at 11:27 am

    Giving this a try as it sounds tasty and easy to do.

    Nothing I cook looks anywhere near as pretty as what you cook. I wonder if sometime you could do a post on how to make food look beautiful?

    • Kelly Djalali
      September 12, 2021 at 11:49 am

      This one is so easy Carroll. And honestly, it will for sure look pretty for you! I am not a professional food stylist by any means, but one does learn a few things, practice a few things along the way. My background in design informs a lot of what I think is appealing to see. I think making food look appetizing has to do with balance; in color, texture, and arrangement. I will think on this more and see if I can put together a post…Thank so much for the great idea! xo Kelly

  • Mari
    September 12, 2021 at 11:35 am

    As always the pictures look, good enough to eat, and the recipe looks quick and easy. I think I will serve it on the toast since the pizza fiends here will love it that way. When it gets a little cooler, it will be on pasta for sure. I will have to make this some night this week, since I chose today to stick my hand in the freezer and pull out stew meat. I thought it looked strange, but I set it out t defrost, and surprise! It was a chuck roast I had cut in half to fit in the freezer bag. Time to organize the freezer, and to labe anything that isn’t ground beef. It’s no man’s land in there. Alex did a great job yesterday, and it is fun to get a man’s perspective. My guys gave the pulled pork fried rice two thumbs up, so we will definitely make that. I wish I could eat some of the baked feta, but so far I have not seen nondairy feta. I have seen recipes for it but they involve tofu which doesn’t melt! I will see what I can figure out for me sometime. Have a great Sunday everyone. ?

    • Kelly Djalali
      September 12, 2021 at 11:59 am

      Hi Mari, I am glad your guys liked Alex’s post! I am about ready to organize our freezer, too…get it ready for winter. You know, feta doesn’t really melt either, so I wonder if the tofu might actually be a good option…? Maybe try it, Let me know how it goes! Have a wonderful Sunday, talk soon, xo Kelly

      • Mari
        September 12, 2021 at 3:33 pm

        If Terry lives near a Wegmans, they do have Feta that isn’t crumbled. It’s under the Wegmans organic label, and there is also an Israeli import. They are in the cheese shop area of the store. Wegmans is expanding so hopefully there is one nearby.

        • Kelly Djalali
          September 12, 2021 at 9:03 pm

          She’s on the West Coast, Mari, so no Wegmens…