This Feta Pasta with Dill is made with just 4 ingredients and one pot! It’s a simple but flavorful vegetarian dinner recipe, ready in 20 minutes.
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This Feta Pasta with Dill is so simple to make! I am a firm believer in creating incredible meals with just a few really special ingredients, and this one tops the list.
When my garden is bursting with fresh dill, this is a great way to enjoy it. The creamy feta sauce is luxurious but not too heavy, and the fresh herby flavor helps to cut through the richness of the cheese.
I created this recipe after a recent trip to Greece — the birthplace of feta cheese!
We had a similar pasta at Akadimia restaurant which was part of one of the most incredible meals.
Thanks to a press trip coordinated by Feta PDO, myself and 7 other food writers were lucky enough to explore Greek dairies and feta production facilities. Although this post is not sponsored, I am excited to share some of the knowledge I learned with you while we were hosted!
If you love quick and easy dinners, check out all of my Six Ingredient Suppers here and fine more One Pot Meals over here.
What is Feta?
Feta cheese is a sheep’s milk cheese that has a Protected Designation of Origin — this means that the product itself is tied to the region in which it is produced.
What does that mean?
It means that “feta” cheese products that are produced outside of Greece are, in fact, not actually feta.
Here are a few more FAQ’s:
Feta is made with sheep milk or up to 30% goat milk.
This is regulated by those that oversee the PDO designation and there is no wiggle room, which means that the “feta” you see in the store made of local cow’s milk is not feta at all.
The PDO legislation is an EU law, which means that other countries are not bound by it.
Interestingly enough, we learned that Canada will soon be adopting PDO legislation which means you will soon see only authentic Greek feta using the name on packaging.
Look for the red and yellow PDO symbol. You can see it below in the two brands that I found at my local (Canadian) grocery store. 
Feta can keep nearly indefinitely if sealed and in brine. Once it is opened, it can still keep in the brine for a year or so. Many packages include a recipe to create additional brine to keep the cheese covered if need be.
Ingredients needed:
- Pasta: you can use any pasta in this recipe! I like to use a long pasta like this Tagliatelle because when I had it originally in Greece, it was prepared with a long pasta. Gluten free, fresh pasta or whole grain work well as well.
- Feta cheese: look for the PDO symbol to make sure you’re getting authentic Greek Feta cheese for the best flavor and texture! I like to use a creamy feta (stay away from the crumbles!) for this recipe so that it has a nice silky sauce.
- Pasta water: I recommend reserving 2 cups of pasta water to thin the feta into a smooth sauce. The pasta will absorb the sauce and thicken it considerably, so you may find you need to keep adding pasta water until it is the right consistency.
- Dill: fresh is best. Since this recipe has only 4 ingredients, I recommend making it with the best ingredients possible. Unfortunately dried dill is a poor substitute for fresh, so I would save this recipe for when it is readily available (or try another fresh herb you enjoy).
- Garlic: again, freshly minced has the best flavor!
- Salt and pepper: go easy on the salt in this recipe until you have tasted the final product! Feta is often a salty cheese which adds tons of flavor on its own.
How to make Feta Pasta with Dill:
- Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente — go a little easier on the salt with this recipe because feta can be a salty cheese!
- Reserve at least 2 cups pasta water, then drain and remove pasta. Combine Feta, dill, garlic and a small amount of pasta water in the pot.
- Cook on medium heat and whisk until a smooth sauce forms.
- Add cooked pasta and toss to coat in sauce, adding more pasta water as needed to coat the pasta.
Tips and Variations:
- Chop Feta and bring to room temperature while pasta cooks so that it melts more easily.
- More pasta water is better! Save as much as you can but at least 2 cups — you’d be surprised how much is needed to thin the sauce to a smooth consistency. Start with a small amount, and add more once the pasta is added to the sauce.
- Mix things up! A little lemon zest or finely chopped zucchini are great additions to this recipe.
- Serve it with some Baked Chicken Breast or Grilled Pork Tenderloin for a delicious, protein-packed meal. Add Air Fryer Broccoli or Roasted Green Beans for a vegetarian dinner!
More pasta recipes
Feta Pasta with Dill
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta (any kind – I used tagliatelle)
- 2 cups reserved pasta water (divided)
- ¾ cup Feta cheese (chopped)
- 2-4 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
- 2 cloves freshly minced garlic
- fresh cracked pepper and salt (as needed)
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water, cook pasta until al dente (about 8-12 minutes).
- Reserve at least 2 cups pasta water.
- Drain and remove pasta from pot.
- To the pot, add ½ cup pasta water, Feta cheese, dill (start with 2 tablespoons dill and add more as you desire) and garlic. Cook and stir on medium heat just until melted and smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add cooked pasta and toss to coat, adding additional pasta water as required until the sauce coats all the pasta. You may find you have to keep adding pasta water as it sits, so don't dump it!
- Taste and add salt and pepper as needed, or additional fresh dill if desired.
Nutrition Information
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Cam says
Sauce didn’t work at all. Feta clumped up with the dill and basically made a feta-dill cheese curd, separate from the sauce entirely. The saving grace was the feta, Parm and pepper I put on top of the pasta.
Wouldn’t recommend this recipe unless the author can adjust the actual instructions to better explain how to make the sauce creamy.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Cam, I’m sorry to hear you had trouble. There are notes in the blog post as to how to get your feta to melt, so we already gave advice on it ahead of time. It’s located under the “Tips and Variations” section.
Bee says
I’m not a Feta fan, would could I swap it with?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Bee, the main ingredient in this particular pasta is feta. I’d take a look at some of my other pasta dishes and see if you find one that fits.
alexandra says
WOW! I came home questioning what I was going to make tonight, and saw leftover dill in my crisper thinking “I wonder if this would taste good in a pasta…” One minute on google later, I find this recipe and decided to give it a go! and I’m so pleased I did. It is the perfect easy dinner (mine came together in about 15min) and really tastes good. I made just a few modifications to play with it:
1. After removing the pasta, I added 2 tbsp salted butter to the pot with garlic and cooked for one minute before adding the feta + dill
2. I doubled the amount of garlic (I’m a garlic + butter type of gal!)
3. I used gluten free pasta
Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Steph says
Not creamy and not good. Feta loses a lot of flavor when “melted” and I say melted loosely. It is not a melty or creamy cheese. I will not try again.
The Recipe Rebel says
I’m sorry to hear it hasn’t worked out for you, Steph! The recipe has worked well for me (and others) so I wish it would of been a hit for you too.
Nick says
We agree about the feta not melting and was a bit chunky.
Wondering if crumbled feta would work better than brined feta, which is what we used. Still, it was tasty once you put in the pasta, which helped the cheese melt.
Too bad the author didn’t give you any practical advice about how to make the sauce creamier though!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Nick, I’m sorry to hear you had trouble. There are notes in the blog post as to how to get your feta to melt, so we already gave practical advice on it ahead of time. It’s located under the “Tips and Variations” section.
yttap_us@yahoo.com says
How simple this will be with a chicken breast. My husband will be all over it. I followed your link to the feta PRO and browser through their recipies and they look lovely and delicious can’t wait to try two of them, the grilled vegetables with tabbouleh and the tomato tartan with herbs. I’ll have to work around the tomato tartan since its not translated into english.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hope you enjoy it!