Greece’s Trahana Makes for a Creamy Carbonara Variation

The Greek dried wheat and dairy product trahana makes for an unctuous Carbonara equivalent when paired with cheese and pork.

By Emily Gerard

9:00 AM EDT on June 10, 2025

Greek “Trahana” as served at Olvo restaurant at the Andronis Minios hotel on the Greek island of Paros.

It’s not often that a hotel breakfast can rock your world, but that’s what happened to me this spring on my first morning at Andronis Minois on the sunny Greek island of Paros.

Five months pregnant, hungry, and jetlagged, I had been awake for hours and counting the minutes until the restaurant opened at 8am (3pm according to my NY-set body clock). But I did not have high hopes, even though the super-luxury Andronis hotels are a celebrity favorite and the Minois even earned a spot in the 2025 Michelin Guide, because hotel breakfasts are rarely worth writing about.

I needn’t have worried. A beautiful spread of local meats and cheeses and fresh-baked goods had been laid out for the hotel's guests. As I perused the à la carte menu options, one dish caught my eye. It was called “trahana,” a word I had never seen before. A quick Google search informed me that trahana is one of the oldest foods in the eastern Mediterranean, a dried wheat and dairy product that can be prepared in many different ways; the texture can resemble anything from soupy porridge to chewy pasta. Here, it was served topped with a runny egg with Gruyere cheese and salty nuggets of fried sausage. I immediately conjured an expectation of a Greek spin on Carbonara.

The breakfast terrace at Olvo restaurant overlooking Parasporos Beach.

The breakfast terrace at the hotel’s Olvo restaurant is perched over Parasporos Beach. It’s a stunning place to ride out your morning sickness. The deep blue Aegean Sea sparkling before me, I waited for my order to arrive and enjoyed the ocean breeze turning my hair into a mess of knots. When delivering my breakfast, the waitress instructed me to mix it all up before digging in. I pierced the yolk and swirled it through the trahana, which resembled pearl couscous in consistency. It’s finished with a dollop of thick Greek yogurt for extra creaminess, and a handful of greens.

It was like the Carbonara of my dreams, the ultimate breakfast-for-dinner meal turned back into breakfast. I spooned up every last morsel and felt like a new woman. When the waitress returned to clear, I told her how much I’d enjoyed this dish I’d never heard of, and her eyes lit up. She told me it had been on the debut menu when the hotel opened the previous year and was so popular among guests (and the hotel’s manager) that it had been brought back for another season. Every Greek family makes trahana their own way, she said. In her house, they serve it like stew, with tomatoes and chunks of feta. I had to talk to the chef about his version.

Anastasios Tsantila, who hails from Karitsa, a mountain village on the mainland, was excited to talk about the traditional dish beloved by Greeks but less known by tourists. His family has been making their own trahana (the actual pellets themselves) at home for generations. Stocked up on his grandmother’s supply, he had been inspired to cook it like risotto and found that the technique made for an even more velvety dish, quickly becoming a household favorite. “It’s a complete meal,” he said, “if you want a breakfast to keep you full through the afternoon and straight ‘til dinner. But it’s good at any time of day.”

Indeed, I found myself craving it at odd times, and I don’t think I can blame the pregnancy. I had to start my day with chef Tsantilas’ trahana every perfect Paros morning until it was time to leave, but before doing so, I begged him for the recipe to take home. And here it is below:

Trahanas with Greek Sausage, Gruyere and Fried Eggs

Recipe by Anastasios Tsantilas

0.0 from 0 votes

Servings

1-2

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

1 cup 1 sweet trahanas
3.5 ounces 3.5 Greek sausage
2-1/2 cups 2-1/2 chicken stock
2 tbsp. 2 olive oil
4 tsp. 4 butter
1/2 cup 1/2 spring onion, chopped
1/3 cup 1/3 leek, chopped
3 cups 3 baby spinach
2 tsp. 2 lemon zest
2 tsp. 2 chives
2 tsp. 2 fresh thyme
3/4 cup 3/4 Gruyère (preferably from Paros)
2 2 eggs
2/3 cup 2/3 Greek feta
1/2 tsp. 1/2 sea salt
1/4 tsp. 1/4 black pepper

Directions

Preparing the Trahana**
In a pan, sauté the sausage with olive oil over medium heat.
After 5 minutes, turn the heat to low and add the leek and spring onion until softened.
Put trahanas in the pan and turn the heat up and cook for 1 minute.
Add the stock and cook for 10-12 minutes.
Once the trahanas is ready, remove from the heat and add the lemon zest, fresh thyme, butter, baby spinach and grated Gruyere cheese and stir until the mixture thickens.
Season with salt and pepper.
Preparing the eggs
In a frying pan, fry the eggs over medium heat with a little olive oil until cooked but the yolk is still runny.
Dish composition
Place the trahanas in deep plates, with the eggs on top.
Finish with finely chopped chives and crumbling feta cheese on top. Serve with toasted sourdough bread and fresh olive oil.
Kali orexi!!