Bifteki (One Pan Greek Burgers And Potatoes)

on Sep 25, 2023

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Bifteki is a classic Greek dish loved by Greek families everywhere! Otherwise described as just Greek burgers and potatoes, it’s baked all in one pan with the wonderfully moist and tender patties on top of the creamy-on-the-inside-crisp-on-the-outside potatoes.

You won’t believe how delicious this is with a horiatiki salad and tsatziki on the side!

Overhead of Greek biftekia or hamburgers on top of lemon potatoes in a blue-rimmed white baking pan, all on a light blue tea towel with herbs around the pan and the edge of a Greek salad and tzatziki visible.

What’s bifteki?
Why you’ll love it
Ingredients
How to make bifteki
Helen’s top tips
How to serve
Variations
Recipe FAQs
More easy baked Greek dinners
Bifteki (One Pan Greek Burgers And Potatoes) Recipe

What’s bifteki?

Bifteki (or biftekia – that’s just the plural form!) is simply Greece’s answer to a burger! It’s a classic go-to family dinner, and one of those recipes that everyone has their own version of.

Bifteki is perfect easy Greek comfort food – tender beef (or sometimes beef and pork, or lamb) patties mixed with Greek style herbs and spices. Greeks sometimes grill bifteki, but in this version they are baked in the oven together with potatoes in a simple olive oil and lemon marinade.

Why you’ll love it

With its sunny and authentic Greek flavors, this bifteki recipe will give you Mediterranean holiday vibes in no time!

It’s a surprisingly easy dish. Don’t like doing dishes? You’re in luck since the Greek hamburger patties bake on top of the potato wedges and marinade in just the one dish.

As the potatoes bake and most of the liquid is soaked up or evaporates, the burgers stay beautifully moist and juicy. The baked patties are browned and caramelized on the outside and soft and tender inside. The potatoes roast until crispy and creamy with a mouth-watering lemon oregano sauce.

You won’t catch anyone eating these burgers on a bun, however (although there are no rules against it!). The most common way to eat the patties and lemon potatoes are with a little Greek salad and tzatziki on the side.

This is always sure to be an impressive and crowd pleasing dinner for any occasion – whether it’s a midweek meal for the family to remind them of their summer holidays, or an easy prepare-ahead dinner for guests.

Fun fact: Bifteki (written μπιφτέκι in Greek!) has its roots in the Ottoman Empire’s culinary traditions, particularly Turkish köfte. Over time, Greeks personalized the recipe, infusing it with Greek flavors and seasonings.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to know to make perfect Greek bifteki.

Potatoes

Potatoes: Around 5 to 6 medium sized potatoes are about right for this dish (roughly 2.2 pounds or a kilo). Try a waxy variety with thin, smooth skin such as red-skinned, Yukon Gold, new potatoes or fingerling potatoes. Waxy potatoes are low in starch and have a firm, creamy texture. They hold up well during cooking, and stay beautifully moist and tender on the inside.

Having said this, ultimately you can use ANY potatoes you happen to have. Don’t sweat the type too much. I have made both this dish and my famous Greek potatoes with literally every potato in the store!

Fresh lemon juice: You’ll also add the juice of 1 to 1.5 lemons to the tasty marinade. I feel like 1.5 medium sized lemons gives the potatoes the perfect amount of citrusy tang. However, feel free to experiment to get the perfect flavor for your taste.

Extra virgin olive oil: One ‘secret’ to this recipe is a common one used by the Greeks – olive oil, and lots of it.

You might feel like there’s a lot of oil in the recipe, but you’ll just have to trust me on that. I’ve actually erred on the conservative side with the amount in my version of the recipe! Remember that it combines with the other ingredients to create a kind of ‘sauce’. And you’ll only be eating a few of the potatoes (if you can resist not eating the whole pan!).

I tend to use a good quality extra virgin olive oil, but you can use a lighter olive oil instead if you like.

Dried oregano: You’ll stir a whole tablespoon of this classic Mediterranean herb into the marinade. Oregano has a bold, herbaceous flavor that’s essential to Greek lemon potatoes.

No oregano in the pantry? That’s OK. Take a look at this list of oregano substitutes to help you pick a suitable alternative.

Salt and pepper: Don’t skip these. They’re essential for the perfect balance of flavor in the potatoes.

Burgers

Ground beef (beef mince): I buy the best quality that I can since the meat is the star of the show in these Greek burgers.

I sometimes use a mixture of beef and pork instead. Ground lamb works well, too.

An onion: Chop finely for best results.

2 slices of bread: Crusts removed, and torn into pieces. You can absolutely use packaged breadcrumbs instead. However I love the addition of the ‘chunkier’ bread in this recipe.

The bread pieces are soaked in red wine for an extra burst of rich flavor. If you’d rather not use wine, just use beef or chicken broth/stock instead.

Extra virgin olive oil: I suggest adding around a quarter cup to the meat mixture for extra moisture. I also think this helps the meatballs to crisp slightly around the edges. Mmm!

Garlic: You can play around with the amount, but I find 3 crushed cloves to be about right.

A grated tomato: I like the hint of color and extra moisture that this adds.

Cumin and cinnamon: A teaspoon of each of these adds more authentic Mediterranean flavor.

An egg: To help bind the mixture together and stop the patties falling apart in the oven.

Fresh mint and parsley: For a hint of green and more yummy Mediterranean flavors! Combine most with the burger ingredients, save a little for sprinkling over at the end.

If you have eagle eyes, you may have noticed that I forgot to include the fresh herbs in my ingredients photo above, but don’t skip these in the recipe.

If you can’t get fresh herbs, it’s fine to replace them with a teaspoon or more of each in dried form.

Salt and pepper: Once again, don’t skip! The seasoning will help to enhance all the beautiful flavors.

How to make bifteki

Firstly, prepare the potatoes. Get them roasting in the oven while you prepare the meatballs, before adding them on top.

Start by pre-heating the oven to 375F/190C. You can also get the bread pieces soaking in the wine (or broth/stock if you prefer).

Then peel the potatoes and cut them into fairly chunky wedges – around an inch in width.

Put the potatoes into a large baking pan, then pour over the olive oil and lemon marinade. There will be quite a lot of liquid in the pan, which is fine.

Collage showing potato wedges in a white baking pan on marble background and then with a marinade poured over ready to be baked.

Roast the potatoes by themselves for around 30 minutes – just to get them started.

Meanwhile, prepare the bifteki burger mixture.

This one’s easy. Simply add all of the ingredients to a bowl. Before you add the bread, squeeze out the wine.

Overhead of all biftekia or Greek burger ingredients in a white bowl, including ground beef, spices, salt and pepper, soaked bread, crushed garlic, an egg, onion and grated tomato.

Then mix together (either with your hands or with a spatula) in a large bowl until really well combined.

Scoop up roughly equal amounts of the mixture (a bit larger than a golf ball) and shape into round burgers. You’ll get 8 to 9 burgers.

Collage showing biftekia or Greek hamburger mixture overhead in a white bowl on marble background, and then shaped into hamburgers on baking paper on a plate.

Take the part-roasted potatoes out of the oven. Place the burgers on top of them.

Overhead view of a white dish with blue rim of potato wedges with marinade and Greek biktekia or hamburgers on top of them, ready to be baked.

Return the pan to the oven and roast for about another 50 minutes, turning the burgers over half way through.

They’re ready when they’re golden and lightly caramelized on the outside and cooked through on the inside.

A closeup of an overhead of a baking pan of cooked Greek potatoes with Greek hamburgers and herbs on top, with a simple serving spoon in the corner.

Helen’s top tips

Don’t overcrowd the pan. Use a large baking pan. The potatoes should be mostly in one layer, although it’s OK to have a few overlapping.

When you turn over the hamburgers half way through cooking, move them slightly to a different spot. This way, the potatoes underneath will have chance to brown more evenly.

Consider using disposable kitchen gloves to mix the burger ingredients with your hands.

How to serve

Just in case you missed it earlier, the very best way to serve Greek biftekia and potatoes is with a lovely traditional Greek salad and tsatziki (or Greek yogurt cucumber garlic sauce) on the side.

Don’t forget extra lemon wedges for squeezing over the burgers at the table.

You won’t believe how well all the flavors go together. Make sure you scoop up a little feta cheese, salad and tsatziki with each bite of burger and potatoes!

Are there other ways to serve bifteki? Sure! They’ll be delicious with any vegetables or salad. Try a beetroot feta walnut salad, a Greek lettuce salad (a great simpler alternative to a Greek salad) or Mediterranean roasted vegetables on the side.

Planning on making a Greek themed feast? Take a look at these easy Greek side dishes.

Overhead of a blue plate of Greek burgers with lemon potatoes, Greek salad and tzatziki on a pale blue tea towel with the edge of the baking dish visible and herbs, tzatziki and Greek salad in a bowl visible around the plate.

Variations

Here are a few ways to put your own spin on your bifteki recipe.

Experiment with using different kinds of ground meat. Ground beef, pork and lamb are all common, or you can try a mixture of any of these. For a leaner version, try ground turkey or chicken.

Vary the seasoning to taste. You can add literally any fresh or dried herbs or spices. Try dill, coriander, sage, tarragon, thyme, paprika, curry powder or paste, red pepper flakes or mixed herbs.

For a tangy, cheese-stuffed bifteki surprise, stuff a cube of feta cheese, mozzarella (or any type of cheese) into the centre of the beef patties before roasting. This works especially well if you aren’t serving a Greek salad with your bifteki.

Got leftovers? Go on, make American burgers with them. You know you want to.

Or how about serving your Greek burgers and potatoes wrap style? Stuff a burger or two, some potatoes, salad and tsatziki into warm pita bread and… enjoy! Switch the tsatziki for tyrokafteri (spicy red pepper and feta dip) if you prefer.

Recipe FAQs

What’s the difference between hamburger and bifteki?

Bifteki is basically like a burger, but with zingy Greek flavors in the seasoning. They are more like flattened Greek meatballs. They have a softer texture since they are baked over liquid which keeps them beautifully moist. Also, unlike a burger it isn’t eaten in a bun. It’s usually eaten with lemon potatoes and sides.

Can bifteki be prepared in advance?

Covering and refrigerating the burger mixture up to a day ahead will allow the flavors to meld. Simply shape into meat patties at the last moment. You can also prepare the potatoes ahead, covering and keeping in the fridge. Also prepare sides such as a Greek salad and tsatziki ahead. All in all, this is a great make-ahead meal for a Greek themed dinner party!

Can I grill the bifteki patties instead of baking them?

Absolutely! Just fire up the grill, toss the patties on, and let them sizzle for about 5-6 minutes on each side until perfectly juicy and browned. If you choose this option, you might like to toss these famous Greek potatoes into the oven to enjoy them with.

More easy baked Greek dinners

Love easy chicken dinners? Your whole family will want to have Greek chicken and potatoes again and again. Alternatively, check out this list of 10 easy Greek chicken dinners.

Impress everyone you know with this authentic pastitsio recipe or this easy moussaka recipe!

Gemista! Otherwise known as Greek stuffed peppers and tomatoes, this is another Greek classic using ground meat. Great for a small crowd!

For something a bit different, try papoutsakia (Greek stuffed eggplant). It’s like moussaka baked inside of an eggplant!

Or check out all easy Greek recipes.

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