Description
This Heavenly Baked Feta with Olives & Thyme is seriously easy to throw together & made with simple yet flavor-filled ingredients that always impress – an easy entertaining must-try!
A block of feta cheese bakes with fresh thyme, garlic, & a little bit of honey, until it is completely warm, fragrant, soft, & creamy. Finish with meaty-yet-mild castelvetrano olives & lemon & serve with crackers or crostini. The perfect snack or appetizer for any gathering, girl’s night, or date night in!
Ingredients
Scale
- 6–8 ounces good-quality feta cheese block or brick, patted dry (do not crumble – see Recipe Notes)
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 4–6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4–6 sprigs fresh thyme
- optional: up to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 8 ounces castelvetrano olives, drained & torn in half or roughly chopped
- 1 lemon, zested & juiced
- for serving, as desired: crostini, toasted bread, or crackers of choice
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Gather & prep ingredients according to Ingredients List, above.
- Assemble & bake the feta: Place the feta in the center of a small baking dish. Drizzle the olive oil & honey over top & nestle the garlic & thyme around the sides of the feta. If using, sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes over top. Transfer to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Add the olives to the baked feta: Once it has been baking for 20 minutes, remove the feta from the oven. Use a spoon to carefully baste some of the garlic & herb-infused olive oil over the feta, then add the castelvetrano olives to the baking dish & sprinkle the lemon zest over top. Return to the oven & bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the feta is softened as desired & the olives are warmed through.
- Serve: Finish the baked feta with a spritz of fresh lemon juice. The amount of lemon juice you may want will depend on how tangy your feta is – I add the juice of half a lemon to start, adding more to taste as needed. Allow the baked feta with olives to cool slightly, then serve immediately with crostini, toasted bread, or crackers as desired. Enjoy!
Equipment
Notes
- Best feta cheese for baked feta recipes: Since it’s the star of the show, it’s important to use the best quality feta you can find for this baked feta recipe. I suggest looking for feta that’s packaged in brine, which has much richer flavor & creamier texture. If you can only find a brick of feta, it will work just fine. If your block or brick of feta is especially thick, I suggest slicing it into 1/2 – 1-inch planks to ensure the feta bakes up quickly. You could even break it into large chunks, but avoid crumbling it into small pieces.
- Storage & Reheating: This baked feta recipe is best enjoyed fresh out of the oven, so rather than planning for leftovers I suggest scaling the recipe up or down to be suitable for the size of crowd you’re serving. If you do have leftovers, transfer to an airtight container & store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Enjoy cold or at room temperature as marinated feta, or reheat in the oven until warm & softened – up to you!