18 Recipes Featuring Earthy Oregano
Say hello to your new favorite herb — oregano is perfect for homemade pesto, grilled seafood, and roasted chicken. A member of the mint family and close relative of marjoram, oregano is native to the Mediterranean and is widely used in cuisines across the region. The leaves impart loads of flavor either fresh or dried and are often paired with lemon or tomato. This collection of dishes leans heavily on the earthy, warm herb. Read on to decide which tasty oregano recipe you'll make first.
Baked “Pizza” Pasta with Soppressata
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Inspired by soppressata and hot honey pizza, this comforting baked fresh egg pasta dish starts with a harissa- and soppressata-laced tomato sauce that has plenty of fresh oregano. Using chopped soppressata in the sauce and sliced on top gives you a double dose of flavor. Lots of low-moisture mozzarella yields a gooey interior and well-browned top.
Chimichurri
Julia Hartbeck
This simple but flavorful bright green sauce from Argentina is made from a handful of pantry ingredients such as red wine vinegar, garlic, and crushed red pepper, plus fresh herbs like parsley and oregano. Everything comes together quickly in the food processor.
Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs with Potatoes
Season chicken and potatoes with fresh lemon juice and zest, chopped garlic cloves, and ground pepper, along with some chopped fresh dill and oregano. After the chicken is done, the potatoes roast in the drippings for a few extra minutes until they start to brown.
Hot Honey Chicken Thighs with Lemon-Oregano Potatoes
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
Spicy, sweet honey meets seared chicken, lemony potatoes, and tangy feta for a one-pan dinner.
Pernil Mac and Cheese
Pernil, a Puerto Rican–style roast pork shoulder, is flavored with garlic, oregano, and sazón—a seasoning blend that includes coriander and annatto. Rubbing the seasoned garlic paste into the pork and letting it rest allows the flavors to penetrate deeply into the thick roast.
Pork Steaks with Pickled Peppers
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
These pork shoulder steaks are paired with a bright, tangy, and sweet pickled pepper sauce made from the pan drippings and perfumed with fresh oregano. To finish, more oregano leaves are strewn on top.
Beef Brisket with Lemon-Oregano Sauce
This brisket gets rubbed with seasonings, braised, and roasted so it's super-tender with a crisp crust; it goes perfectly with the garlicky oregano sauce.
Nancy Silverton's Tomato-Oregano Pizza
This outstanding cheese-less pizza recipe is modeled after the pies at cult favorite Pepe in Grani outside of Naples, Italy.
Pistachio-Oregano Pesto
© John Kernick
This delicious, easy pesto, made with roasted pistachios and fresh oregano, is perfect with roasted, grilled, or steamed fish.
Grilled Shrimp with Oregano and Lemon
The sauce for this shrimp is a simple version of Italy's salmoriglio, typically made with lemon and herbs in a mortar. This rendition contains half a cup of oregano and is also delicious spooned over grilled swordfish or any other meaty fish.
Giant Lima Beans with Stewed Tomatoes and Oregano Pesto
Tangy feta cheese, a bright herbal pesto, and a crisp breadcrumb topping all elevate this tomato-bean stew. It's sensational made with meaty Rancho Gordo giant limas from Peru, silky gigantes, or large limas from the grocery store.
Lemon-Oregano Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Olives
Tangy roasted Meyer lemons pair beautifully with quartered potatoes, olives, oregano, and chicken in this simple one-pot recipe.
Greek Salad with Oregano-Roasted Salmon
People think a Greek salad is mostly vegetables and cheese, but by adding simply roasted salmon, it becomes a terrific main course.
Mussels with Speck, Lemon, and Oregano
Chef Ethan Stowell loves mussels all year round, but he's particularly fond of the plump summer ones from Washington's Puget Sound. "I often grab a couple handfuls of mussels at the end of the night and cook them at home for a late-night snack," he says. Here he flavors the briny mussels with lemon juice, fresh herbs, and speck, the salty cured ham.
Swordfish Sicilian-Style
Of all the wonderful recipes legendary cookbook author Marcella Hazan created, our all-time favorite is this quick-cooking swordfish, where an oregano-infused sauce imparts bright flavor to hot-off-the-grill steaks. The secret is pricking holes in the fish so the lemony dressing seeps in.
Baked Stuffed Eggplant with Italian Sausage
If you don't love eggplant yet, you will after one bite of these over-the-top stuffed dreamboats. Ripe tomatoes and roasted eggplant come together to yield a hearty filling, made even better with the addition of Italian sausage. Combined with a bright and lemony breadcrumb topping and a quick-fix tomato sauce jazzed up with fresh oregano, mint, and parsley, this makes a stunning summer main dish.
Psites Patates (Lemony Roasted Potatoes with Oregano)
It's hard to resist that Greek diner specialty of potatoes bathed in a lemony oil. In this version, slices of lemon are roasted along with the potatoes, gently perfuming the dish to make it fresher and very satisfying.
Warm Olives with Sesame Seeds and Oregano
Boston chef Ana Sortun's warm brine-cured black olives are simply dressed in olive oil with chopped fresh oregano and sesame seeds for an elegant snack.
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