🧀 Saganaki Cheese
Saganaki is a classic Greek meze of graviera cheese, lightly dusted in flour and pan-fried in olive oil until a golden crust forms and the inside turns soft and melty. It is salty, rich and slightly tangy, finished with a squeeze of lemon and eaten straight from the pan with the lemon wedge on the side.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g graviera cheese, in a 1.5 cm slice
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, in wedges
- Black pepper
Method
- Rinse the cheese under cold water and dust it evenly with flour.
- Heat the olive oil in a small heavy pan over medium-high heat.
- Fry the cheese 2 minutes per side until golden and soft inside.
- Squeeze over lemon, add pepper and serve at once.
How to make it lighter
- Share one pan between two or three people as a starter.
- Use 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan; 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
- Pair it with a big tomato and cucumber salad rather than extra bread.
History
The name comes from sagani, the small two-handled frying pan the dish is cooked and served in. Fried cheese has long been a taverna meze in Greece, while the flaming version shouted 'opa!' is usually credited to Greek restaurants in Chicago in the 1960s.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →