Fasting calendar

Greek Orthodox cooking is shaped by about 180 fasting days a year. Pick a day to see how strict it is and which of our recipes suit it.

Fasting periods in 2026

• Great Lent23 February to 11 April

  strictest: no meat, dairy, eggs or fish; oil on weekends; shellfish allowed; fish only on Annunciation (25 March) and Palm Sunday. Begins on Clean Monday. Holy Week is stricter still.

• Apostles' Fast8 June to 28 June

  moderate: no meat, dairy or eggs; fish allowed on weekends and feast days. Starts the Monday after All Saints; length varies with Easter and can be very short.

• Dormition Fast1 August to 14 August

  strict: no meat, dairy, eggs or fish; fish allowed on the Transfiguration (6 August).

• Nativity Fast15 November to 24 December

  moderate: no meat, dairy or eggs; fish allowed on some days until 17 December, then stricter.

Every week

Wednesday and Friday: no meat, dairy, eggs or fish; oil traditionally permitted

What the marks mean

• Oil-free

  Plant-based and made without oil (xerofagia); suited to the strictest days.

• Oil day

  Plant-based, cooked with olive oil; suited to days when oil is permitted.

• Shellfish allowed

  Shellfish and molluscs allowed; no fish with backbone, meat, dairy or eggs.

• Fish allowed

  Fish allowed; no meat, dairy or eggs.

• Not a fasting dish

  Contains meat, fish, dairy or eggs; not a fasting dish.

Orthodox Easter dates

Easter moves, and the Lenten and Apostles' fasts move with it. We compute it ourselves from the Julian calendar and check it against this list.

Sources: own computation (Julian computus, Gregorian output); general Orthodox fasting practice. See also the fasting kitchen and oil-free dishes.