Tirokafteri (Greek Spicy Feta Dip)

You’ll love the vibrant and savory flavors of Tirokafteri, Greek spicy feta dip. Made with a combination feta cheese, chili peppers, and roasted red peppers. This is a quick Greek mezze, ready in just five minutes. It’s perfect for sharing, whether piled onto grilled bread, accompanied by pita chips, it’s a versatile and irresistible appetizer.

One of my favorite appetizers to order when I’m in Greece is tirokafteri. It’s a spicy feta dip that’s creamy, tangy, salty and spicy. It’s basically everything you want in a snack combined into one. Think viral whipped feta, but spicy!

I’ve been making this for years, tweaking and perfecting the recipe. I love hosting friends for a Greek themed night, adding this to a mezze platter with Melitzanosalata (Greek Eggplant Dip) and Greek tzatziki sauce.

Jump to:

• 📋 Ingredients you’ll need
• 🔪 Step by step instructions
• 💭 Cooking tips
• 🥗 What to serve this dip with
• More appetizer recipes

📋 Ingredients you’ll need

This is one of the easiest dips to make because if you’re a fan of Mediterranean cuisine, you likely have many of these ingredients on hand.

Plus, this is the type of recipe that you can really adjust for your own tastes by making it spicier and adding more chili peppers, or make it creamier by adding more Greek yogurt.

• Feta cheese – Make sure you reach for a high quality feta cheese since it’s the star of the show here. Choose a feta cheese that is packed in a brine and not pre-crumbled.
• Greek yogurt – Choose a thick, neutral Greek yogurt. This helps add creaminess to the dip, so opt for a higher fat content yogurt so that it doesn’t make the dip watery.
• Roasted red peppers – Not always a traditional ingredient, but I love the color this gives the finished dip. They also add a hint of sweetness and smokiness that help to provide balance to the dish.
• Red wine vinegar – This is the acid in the recipe, you won’t actually taste the vinegar here, but it helps to balance the overall dip.
• Garlic – Garlic is a must in any Greek recipe. Choose a small clove here because you don’t want an overwhelming, raw garlic flavor.
• Hot chili pepper – I love using a red chili pepper in this recipe, you could use two if you want something spicier. If you want something more mild, you could opt for a jalapeno or a banana pepper. This is helpful article on different types of hot peppers.
• Olive oil – Helps add creaminess and smoothness to the recipe. Use a good quality olive here with floral notes.

🔪 Step by step instructions

Here’s how to make the dip. It’s super simple because there is no cooking involved, so you can whip this up in the food processor in five minutes.

1. Blend: Crumble feta into the food processor. Add Greek yogurt, roasted red pepper, the chili pepper and its seeds, red wine vinegar, olive oil garlic and salt. Close the lid and blend until the ingredients are broken and pureed.
2. Serve: Spread the dip on a serving plate or bowl. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and crumbled feta. You could also sprinkle with chopped Kalamata olives and a drizzle of olive oil.

💭 Cooking tips

1. Season and adjust to your tastes! This tip is often just about seasoning with salt but I also want to encourage you to adjust levels of acid (in this case, vinegar) and the levels of spice, in this case the red chili pepper. If you want it to have more spice, add an extra pepper. If the acidity needs to be balanced with the increase of heat, add a splash of vinegar.

🥗 What to serve this dip with

Of course, this is the perfect dip to add to your mezze board and serve with grilled pita, grilled bread or crackers. But I also love to serve this with grilled Greek chicken and Greek salad (horiatiki).

More appetizer recipes

Looking for more easy appetizers? Try these!