Here is the perfect opportunity to get your Greek on! Greek Briam takes roasted vegetables to a whole new level of delicious. You need just a few simple pantry ingredients: potatoes, zucchini, red onions, and tomatoes. But the Greek flavors from spices, fresh garlic, parsley and a generous drizzle of excellent EVOO make all the difference. Plus, this recipe is text-book Mediterranean diet. Vegan. Zero Cholesterol. Low Carb. Gluten Free. All the good stuff!
Be sure to see the video, step-by-step photos and tips below for foolproof results.
My first experience with briam was more than 10 years ago at a restaurant on the island of Patmos. We asked the owners, an older Greek couple, to surprise us with their best homemade dish. And we were served humble bowls of briam with assorted warm bread, and a side of tasty feta. Absolutely delightful!
That's the thing about Greek cooking that I absolutely adore, you can take a few simple ingredients and turn them into a feast!
What is Briam?
Briam is basically roasted vegetables, the Greek way. Thin roasted vegetable casserole, typically starring, potatoes, zucchini, red onions, and tomatoes. If you want to get fancy, add eggplant or bell peppers. The flavor profile is simple--oregano, a dash of piney rosemary (my personal touch), parsley, and fresh garlic.
But, pulling this vegetable casserole together is, no surprise, a generous drizzle of quality extra virgin olive oil. Looking for that deeper, complex and rich peppery taste, I reached for my Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil from organically grown and processed koroneiki olives. If you haven't tried it yet, you simply must! (Check out all the info on Early Harvest EVOO here.)
How to Make Briam: Greek Roasted Vegetables
Really, briam is easy to make.And I'll say this off the bat, if you don't feel like arranging the vegetables beautifully in round rows, you can just just arrange them flat on your large baking pan and call it good. But here is how I make it...
1. First, be sure the veggies are thinly sliced so that they cook well and evenly. My red onion was quiet large, so I cut it in half first before slicing.
2. To ensure great flavor, I like to toss the vegetables (potatoes and zucchini) in a large mixing bowl with all my flavor makers: salt, pepper, spices, fresh parsley, garlic and a super generous amount of my quality EVOO. Make sure everything is well coated
3. Grab a round baking pan or oven-safe skillet (this one I used is 11 inches round). Pour diced tomatoes from a can on bottom, then assemble the veggies in rows going around the perimeter of the pan, alternating until you fill the pan and there are no veggies left.
Remember, if you don't have the time to arrange the veggies this way, totally skip and simply spread them on top of the tomato layer and go from there (it will look more like this casserole.) And can also use a large au gratin dish or a rectangular baking dish instead of a round pan.
3. Once you have the veggies assembled in the pan, if you have any of that yummy olive oil-garlic mixture left in the mixing bowl, pour that all over the veggies, then finish with more tomatoes. And all that's left to do is cover this beauty up with some foil (tent the foil so it doesn't touch the veggies) and place in the hot oven.
4. This is kinda of a long roast...the first part, the veggies will be covered, then we uncover and let them roast until we lose the liquid, the veggies cook to tender perfection...I love it when they're nicely charred (if you need to, you can put the pan under the broiler for a bit. I didn't need to do that.)
What to Serve Along
As a main vegan course, these Greek roasted vegetables will easily feed a family of four. Nothing much is needed than a warm piece of your favorite bread or a bed of rice or your favorite grain to sop up all the goodness. You can do as they would in Greece and add a side of great feta and some olives. A small starter like roasted garlic hummus would not hurt.
If you're serving a larger dinner, you can serve briam as a side dish next to roast chicken, lamb or even fish.
How to Store Leftovers
You can prepare this briam one night in advance. Let briam cool completely before storing. Cover tightly and store in the fridge. When ready, warm it up in a medium-heated oven (add a little bit of water and cover the briam to heat, if needed) You can also prepare this recipe all the way and freeze for later use. Thaw out in the fridge overnight and heat in medium-heated oven same as instructed above.
Watch Video Tutorial for Briam: Greek Roasted Vegetables
Briam: Traditional Greek Roasted Vegetables
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6 or more 1x
Description
Briam is simple and absolutely delicious roasted vegetables, prepared Greek style. Potatoes, Zucchini, and Red onions tossed in a mixture of EVOO, garlic, parsley and spices, then roasted in saucy diced tomatoes. This is a healthy, vegan, text-book Mediterranean diet dish that can stand as a main course or served next to other entrees. See tips and suggestions in the notes.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ lb/ 570 g gold potatoes (about 3 medium-size potatoes), peeled and thinly sliced into rounds (about ⅛-inch thick)
- 1 ¼ lb/ 570 g zucchini squash (2 to 3 zucchini), thinly sliced into rounds (about ¼-inch thick)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tsp/ 3.6 g dried oregano
- scant 1 tsp/1.2 g dried rosemary
- ½ cup/ 35 g chopped fresh parsley
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil
- 1 28-oz/ 794 g canned diced tomatoes with juice (no-salt added organic tomatoes are recommended)
- 1 large red onion or 2 smaller red onions, thinly sliced into rounds (if large, you'll want to cut the onion in half first, and then slice)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a rack in the middle.
- Place sliced potatoes and zucchini in a large mixing bowl. Season with kosher salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary. Add fresh parsley, garlic, and a generous drizzle extra virgin olive oil. Toss to make sure the vegetables are well coated with the EVOO and spices.
- Grab a large round pan on skillet (I used an 11-inch oven safe pan. See notes for more options.) Pour ½ of the canned diced tomatoes in and spread to cover the bottom of the pan.
- Arrange the seasoned potatoes, zucchini, and sliced onions in the pan in rows (simply going around the shape of the pan and alternating.)
- If you have any of the extra virgin olive oil and garlic mixture left in the mixing bowl, pour that all over the veggies, then top with the remaining diced tomatoes from your can.
- Cover the pan with foil (tent foil a bit so it is not touching the veggies). Bake in 400 degrees F heated-oven for 45 minutes. Take pan out briefly to carefully remove foil, then place back in oven, uncovered, and roast for another 30-40 minutes or until the veggies are soft and charred and most of the liquid has evaporated. (ovens do vary, so pay attention and check as needed.)
- Remove from oven. Serve warm or at room temperature with an added generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. (see suggestions for to serve along.)
Notes
- Cook's Tip: If you don't feel like arranging the vegetables neatly in round rows, you can use a large au gratin dish like this one or a large and deep rectangular baking dish like this one. Pour ½ the tomatoes in the baking dish to cover the bottom as instructed, then simply spread the vegetables flat in the dish and top with the EVOO mixture and remainder of the tomatoes. Cover and follow instructions from here. It will look more like this casserole.
- What to Serve Along: To serve briam as the main vegan course, simply serve it crusty or whole wheat pita bread, rice or grain of your choice. Greeks often add a hearty piece of feta and some olives to go along. And to start the meal, I often add a bowl of Roasted Garlic Hummus. If you're serving a larger dinner, you serve briam as a side dish next to roast chicken, lamb or even fish.
- Leftovers Storing and Reheating Instructions: You can prepare this briam one night in advance. Let briam cool completely before storing. Cover tightly and store in the fridge. When ready, warm it up in a medium-heated oven (add a little bit of water and cover the briam to heat.) You can also prepare this recipe all the way and freeze for later use. Thaw out in the fridge overnight and heat in medium-heated oven same as instructed above.
- Recommended for this Recipe: For best taste, use our Early Harvest or Private Reserve, both from organically grown and processed Koroeniki olives. And from our organic spice collection: rosemary.
- SAVE! Try our Greek EVOO Bundle
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 75 minutes
- Category: Entree/Side Dish
- Method: Roasted
- Cuisine: Greek
More Recipes to Try
Italian Oven Roasted Vegetables
I made this tonight and it turned out beautiful and delicious! My only alteration was using all fresh herbs from my garden. Served it with Pork tenderloin marinated in the same garlic, herbs and Olive oil combo.
Wonderful, Kimberly. I am so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this today, it was absolutely delicious! We had it with some goat cheese and fresh bread. A perfect summer meal. Thank you!
That's great Eva! Glad you liked it and thanks for the comment!
Thank you dear for a lovely vegetable dish that is both healthy and tasty. It is so nice that you take the time to share so people like me can learn something new.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it
This takes a really long time to prepare and bake--maybe save it for Sunday, lol, however, it is delicious and satisfying when it is completed. Makes a hearty vegetarian meal. Next time, I might make it into a casserole and put ground lamb under it to make it a real feast.
The addition of ground lamb would be excellent with this! Thanks so much for sharing.
What is EVOO?
Hi Chantal, it's short for extra virgin olive oil.
This looks fabulous... We are having a Greek-themed dinner party for 10 and I would love to make this dish. To be successful, I am curious If you would make the doubled recipe in one pan or two. Thanks for your help - Very appreciated.
Hi Donna, I'd try two pans, essentially making the same recipe two times. Ovens vary, give yourself enough time to make sure the vegetables are well cooked through until nice and tender. Enjoy!
I made it. I used diced tomatoes that were a little too spicy, but otherwise it was perfect. I’ll definitely put it into the rotation. Served with hummus, baba ghannouj, naan, feta cheese and a burger patty.
Awesome, Christine! Thanks for sharing.
This is my new favorite dish to have!!!!! I will definitely be making more of this recipe! However, I do not know how much salt, pepper, and EVOO to put in. Suzy, how much should I put in of salt, pepper, and EVOO? Overall, this dish DESERVES a five star!! I promise you won't regret it!
Wanting to try so many of the recipes you have! Do you think the dish would be okay without the potatoes and maybe use eggplant instead to reduce the amount of starch? Thanks.
Hi Jo, you can certainly use eggplant! Start with slicing eggplant thinly and sprinkle with salt. Let it sweat out its bitterness for a half hour or so, then pat dry and follow the recipe as written
Very good re pie. I added some mushrooms as I was short on zucchini. Got it all in the pan and realized I forgot to add the onion so I just sprinkled them on top. Great with tuna fillets.
This was amazing! Made as written, with the eggplant suggestion. Served with chicken that paired perfectly, as well as feta and olives.
I personally could have eaten it alone with the feta, vegetables dishes as mains are a hard sell to my kids and husband though.
Perfect
Thanks so much, Jeanine! So glad you enjoyed it!
This was delicious ? my Husband loved it too. We had it with Greek style pork chops but would go great with Fish,chicken or any protein. I ate a large plate just for lunch. Thank you !
That's wonderful, Lou! Glad you enjoyed it!
Soooo Delicious! You don’t think you’re just having veggies.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this tonight. It's delicious, but after 2 hours in a 400 degree oven, it still wasn't done. We ended up scooping it out and microwaving it so we could eat.
Thanks for sharing, John. I've made this one several times as written, but ovens do vary more than we expect sometimes. I'd try slicing the vegetables very thinly. You might also just arrange them flat in a larger pan rather than stacking them.
Made this fantastic recipe tonight. I used dill instead of parsley and decided to add kalamata olives and feta and put it under the broiler for the last 10 minutes. This was absolutely delicious. We used pita bread to stop up all the juices on our plates. Thank you for this awesome recipe.
Wonderful, Jeanne! So glad you enjoyed it.
Made and loved! The spices mixed on the veggies before putting in the baking dish really did the trick. I used fire roasted dice tomatoes and added a bit of red pepper flakes.