Greek potato stew turns potatoes, tomatoes and kalamata olives into a warming one-pan meal ready in under an hour.
What is Greek potato stew?
Greek families call this dish patates yiahni, which simply means potatoes stewed in a tomato sauce. It belongs to the ladera family of dishes, vegetables slowly cooked in plenty of olive oil.
According to Wikipedia, the word ladera means “with oil”. These meals usually contain no meat, so they are also a popular choice on fasting days.
Every family cooks its own ladero a little differently. Some add onion or a pinch of cinnamon, while others finish the pot with fresh dill. Still, the base is always the same: potatoes, tomato, garlic and good olive oil.
Read more: Skordalia: The Easy Greek Garlic Dip That Goes With Everything
Because it is so cheap and filling, Greek potato stew is one of the most loved weeknight meals in Greece.
Ingredients for six serves
This version comes from Maryellen, who shared it on Allrecipes. It holds 4.4 out of 5 from 122 ratings, and 132 home cooks say they have made it.
Kalamata olives give the sauce its rich, salty depth. For the patates yiahni, you need:
- about 1.1 kg (2½ pounds) potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- 80 ml (⅓ US cup) olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 180 ml (¾ US cup) whole pitted kalamata olives
- about 320 ml (1⅓ US cups) chopped tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and pepper, to taste
A US cup holds 240 ml, while an Australian cup holds 250 ml, so the difference is small here. Even so, weigh the potatoes for the best Greek potato stew.
In Australia, a waxy or all-rounder potato such as Nicola or Dutch cream holds its shape well in the sauce. Each serve has about 309 calories and 5 g of fibre, according to Allrecipes.
How to make Greek potato stew
Allow about 25 minutes for peeling and chopping, then 30 minutes on the stove. Before you start, prepare every ingredient, because the first steps move quickly.
- First, heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium heat.
- Next, add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat them in the oil.
- Then stir in the garlic and the olives for the patates yiahni, and cook for a few minutes, stirring often.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and the oregano and mix well.
- After that, turn the heat down, cover the pan and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Finally, season the Greek potato stew with salt and pepper to taste.
Check the pan now and then while it simmers. If the sauce looks dry, add a splash of water so the potatoes do not catch on the bottom.
Tips from home cooks
With 92 written reviews, this ladero has plenty of tested tweaks. In the most helpful one, Kathy Bezemes Walstrom said her mother preferred it to her own recipe.
She also added onion with the garlic and used canned diced tomatoes. Her daughter kept dipping French bread into the pan juices, which says a lot about the sauce.
Several cooks went further. SallyO stirred in a chopped onion halfway through and cut the olives in half, and she found the patates yiahni even better on the second day.
Pavlo Zabigailo, by contrast, needed about a cup of water to stop it drying out. Similarly, Melinda Noll added vegetable stock for a looser, soupier result.
Ken Myers made this Greek potato stew every week during his two vegan years. He mixed several kinds of potato with carrots and sometimes turnips. Another reviewer, ssheilah, called it “much better than the list of ingredients would have you think.”
Serving it during the Nativity Fast
The Orthodox Nativity Fast runs from 15 November to 24 December, as Greek City Times explained in our guide to the 40-day fast. So this Greek potato stew suits the season well.
For fasting days, serve it with crusty bread and a simple salad. On other days, crumble feta over the top, as Rosemary Murphy does, and keep the leftovers for lunch.
If you enjoy ladera, try our green beans in olive oil or the Greek peas with tomato. In addition, read why the Kalamata olive is such a healthy choice.
The full Greek potato stew recipe, with reader photos, is on the original Allrecipes page.
Source: Allrecipes
