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
Well, this is delicious. That being said, I only have a toaster oven. I halved the recipe. and made it more casserole style. finally, I used a package of cherry tomatoes that I quartered. rather than canned. I don't like the flavor of canned tomatoes. I was worried that the potatoes would take longer to cook than the zucchini. I roasted them for about 12 minutes first then retooled with zucchini and onion and baked all together covered. Came out great. My cooking tip for anyone flavoring veggies in the bowl raw before cooking. Put the oil and seasonings in the bowl first and mix well. Allow to sit and meld for about 10 minutes then toss in veggies. Allow the veggies to sit for abut 10 minutes to marinade. Then proceed with there recipe. I find that when I do it that way I have two benefits: The veggies are evenly coated with ALL the seasonings used AND I can then use that same large bowl with the remains of the seasonings as a base for salad dressing. I make my dressing in the same large bowl that I tossed my veggies. I use a whisk to blend well. Either Oil and vinegar based or mayo creamy dressing. both work. And your salad complements your dinner nicely, by the way, I served this with greek leg of lamb made in my slow cooker. Really nice.....
Thanks for sharing, Judy!
omg...i am going to make this right this very moment~! i am super excited and i have all of these ingredients in my frig...yay~! loving the comfort food right now and this just looks delish~! thanks so much~!
This is one of my favorite comfort foods!! Hope you love it, Lisa!
From an individual who has spent significant time in the Mediterranean, this is one of the absolute best resipes I have come across. From the fragrant invite of tossing the ingredients to the final satisfying taste... incredible! The only addition I made, due to my unconsolable love and desire for feta, is that I added fresh feta cheese to the top of this dish after the first 45 minutes of baking time, continued to bake at 400° for an additional 30 minutes, as suggested, and...WOW! My taste buds were back in Greece! Accompanied by some locally baked asiago cheese bread, generously buttered and salted with garlic, made for the most savory and delicious meal I've had in quite some time. What an inspired resipe! Thank you!! ?
Thanks for sharing your variations, Jon! I'm with you on the feta :).
I cannot have white potatoes and I'm wondering if I can make it with sweet potatoes instead and if so, would it change the cooking times?
This is absolutely one of the best dishes I have Ever made. Thank you for sharing.
What a compliment :). Thank you, Lisa!
I've made this dish several times and it's good. Really, Really good. As another review commented, I also am not a fan of rosemary, so I omitted it as well. I served it along-side a steak. It's amazing! No need for anything else to go with it.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this one, Angela! Thanks for stopping by to share your comment!
Hi tried this recipe for my husband and vegan son and girlfriend, it was a big hit. Making another pot full with your lemon-garlic cod. I love your recipes. Thank you!
Sounds like a great combo! Thanks, Janie!
Thank you, Janie! I am so glad it worked out.
I've made this twice now. (The first time, I overdid the oil a little!) Having no love for rosemary, I subbed in a little dried thyme. I used a mixture of tinned tomatoes and fresh halved cherry tomatoes. It was nowhere near as pretty as yours, but it WAS absolutely gorgeous! I ate it with mini naan breads (I'd no pita to hand) and a little soured cream/garlic dip, but it would absolutely stand alone. Won't be long before I make it again, let me tell ya! Many thanks for the recipe.
You are so welcome, Cathy! So glad you loved it!!!!
This was delicious, great way to use up extra summer veg.
It is!!! Thanks, Karen!
This dish is amazing! Used herbs de Provence for the seasoning. So good! The tomatoes had a real nice sweetness. Thank you Suzy!!!
I did add the eggplant to the recipe. It is delicious. You don’t taste any one vegetable when you eat it but taste a totally new taste of all the vegetable. I first had this as a side dish in a Greek restaurant. I will definitely make this again.
Wonderful, Sue! Thank you so much for sharing.
I love this and have made it several times now. Tonight I added some mushrooms which worked quite well. And I didn't have any canned tomato but did have a fresh batch of marinara sauce. It was good, although I think I like the plain tomatoes better. Since the sauce was more Italian than Greek, I used some seasoned ricotta on top instead of feta.
Very tasty. You give such great recipes and ideas that are so easy to customize. Thanks for another great recipe
So glad to hear it, Hazel
I wanted so badly to love this but mine just turned out very watery and bland after almost 2 hours in the oven. Beautiful to look at though. Followed all the instructions.
Not sure what might have been the issue, Nina. Sorry to hear. We have made this so many times, we didn't experience this issue.
Made this and like you say it was delicious even for my husband who hates lots of vegetables liked it. Thanks for sharing
That's wonderful, Catherine! I know a lot of people are not big on vegetables, but Briam is always a winner in my experience.
It's tomato season! Can I make this with fresh tomatoes chopped on the bottom? Or not juicy enough?
You can make this with fresh super ripe tomatoes...another thing you can do is saute the chopped tomatoes in some extra virgin olive oil first to help them release some juice, then use them!
Have been making this with various combinations of vegetables all summer and it is not only a crowd pleaser but one of the best dishes ever! At first I carefully arranged everything but then just stuffed them into a pan and it really does not matter how you arrange this, it comes out great. Highly recommend this recipe.
Awww, Gail, thank you! I'm so glad to hear this recipe is a win for you!