Marinated Feta Cheese

Make your own marinated feta cheese at home with just a few simple ingredients. Turn regular feta cheese into something incredible!

Marinated  feta is one of life’s greatest pleasures. It serves as a delicious snack, and makes an absolutely beautiful appetizer.

There’s a lot of feta-like cheese out there these days –  but the only feta that’s actually real feta is made in Greece. 

While we can’t quite get to Greece too easily these days, we made our feta at home with a gallon of raw milk. I’m not too smart on a lot of things… but I am pretty good at making things in a pinch. Like this feta cheese… it’s quite simple to put together. 

And with a few extra steps, can be packed in marinade and served as a beautiful appetizer.   Marinated feta makes a wonderful hostess gift or gift to give at the holidays – maybe family, friends, or even co-workers.

Marinated feta is a favorite around our house.  Salty chunks of cheese take a nice bath in fragrant olive oil a, fresh herbs, and a kick of red pepper or arbol chiles.

Marinated Feta Cheese

Start with a clean, sterilized jar of any size – add chunks of feta within. For this recipe we used one single  pint jar and a low profile half pint jar.

If you can’t find feta at your grocer, use what is available that you think would taste good.

As you pack the feta in the jar, stuff your choice of fresh herbs within. Tarragon, rosemary, sage or thyme would  also be good. Don’t forget a pinch of red chile pepper flakes, and a few whole peppercorns.  Go the extra mile and include some citrus zest too – whatever strikes your fancy.

Then,  pour olive oil into the jar until the cheese is submerged. You don’t need to be fussy with the olive oil, and there is no need to use the most expensive, extravagant brand. Just pick something affordable that’s readily available. We get ours at our local Olive Mill – but you can check your local grocer for something that strikes a chord.

Once you cover with olive oil, place the lid and ring on each jar and allow to sit at room temperature to marinate for 3-4 hours (if not 6-8).  If you don’t plan on eating it within 24 hours then toss it in the fridge and consume within2 -3 weeks.

It may congeal as it is refrigerated -that is normal. Just bring it to room temperature before serving on a toasted baguette or freshly made sourdough bread.

As for the olive oil that’s leftover – save it! It’s great to use in a vinaigrette, tossed into fresh pasta, or used to drizzle over roasted potatoes.