Lent (Sarakosti) 2027 in Cyprus: Fasting Food, Nistisima Dishes and Where to Buy Them

Great Lent, called Sarakosti in Cyprus, starts on Green Monday, 15 March 2027, and runs to Orthodox Easter Sunday on 2 May 2027. People who keep the traditional fast give up meat, dairy, eggs and most fish, but octopus, squid, prawns and fish roe are allowed. That gives a whole cuisine of nistisima (fasting dishes), which you can buy in every supermarket, market and bakery on the island.

The 2027 dates are fixed by the Orthodox calendar. Supermarket Lent ranges and offers for 2027 haven't been announced yet, so where ranges or prices are mentioned, the year they applied is given.

When is Lent 2027 in Cyprus?

Orthodox Easter falls on Sunday 2 May 2027, and Lent begins 48 days earlier, on Green Monday. The key dates for food:

For the start of the season, see our guide to Green Monday 2027, and for the end, Easter in Cyprus.

What does the Lent fast mean, and what can you eat?

The fast prepares the faithful for Easter. In April 2026 households in Paphos villages were keeping a strict fast for the seven weeks from Green Monday, but in practice how strictly people fast varies from family to family, and many expats' colleagues and neighbours keep only part of it. If you are invited to a Cypriot home during Lent, it is polite to ask whether your hosts are fasting and to bring something nistisimo.

The traditional Orthodox rules, as set out by Greek Orthodox parishes and by Cypriot cook Ivy Liacopoulou on her Kopiaste site, are:

Fish, wine and oil are allowed on the Annunciation and on Palm Sunday. In 2027 the Annunciation falls in the second week of Lent, so the fish day applies. Holy Week is stricter still: many people eat one simple meal a day, and Good Friday is a day of total or near-total fasting. Practice differs between parishes and families, and Orthodox guidance advises asking your spiritual father in doubtful cases, so treat this as a guide rather than a rulebook.

Which Cypriot dishes are nistisima?

Lent food in Cyprus is far from a sacrifice. The Deputy Ministry of Tourism's food guides and the island's cooks list a long range of fasting dishes, many of them vegan by tradition.

Main dishes

• Fakes (lentils): lentil soup or stew, and fakes moutzentra, lentils cooked with rice and topped with fried onions.
• Louvi me lahanaBlack-eyed beans cooked with greens, dressed with olive oil and lemon. Our louvi recipe is fasting-friendly as it is.
• Koupepia nistisimaVine leaves rolled around rice, onion, herbs and tomato instead of mince. Our koupepia recipe uses pork; for Lent, replace the meat with extra rice and herbs.
• Kolokasi (taro), the Cypriot root vegetable usually cooked with pork; families who fast make a meat-free version, so check before you order it in a taverna.
• Wild greensMallow (molohes), wild artichoke (pangali) and chicory (radikia), gathered after the winter rains and cooked or served as salads.
• Patates antinahtesSmall potatoes cooked in red wine, a weekend dish for strict fasters because of the wine.
• SeafoodGrilled octopus, octopus in wine, stuffed squid, calamari and prawns.

Breads, pies and dips

• LaganaThe flat sesame bread baked for Green Monday.
• TahinopitaA sweet tahini pastry, traditionally sweetened with carob syrup. Visit Cyprus says it is eaten all year but is particularly popular in Lent, and you find it in most bakeries.
• KolokotesPastries filled with red pumpkin, bulgur wheat and raisins, made from before Christmas until just before Easter.
• Spanakopita nistisimiA spinach pie made without eggs or cheese. Many home and bakery spinach pies include feta and eggs, so ask for the fasting version.
• Taramosalata (fish roe dip), tahini dip, hummus and aubergine salad.

Sweets

• TahinopitesTahini and cinnamon pastries finished with syrup or honey, a Lent favourite.
• TziertzelouthkiaSmall cookies simmered in carob honey, made in fasting periods and especially for Green Monday.
• Pittes tis satzisThin pies cooked on a griddle and filled with sugar and cinnamon, served with honey, carob honey or grape syrup.
• HalvaTahini halva is a Lenten staple in every supermarket.

If you want to cook these with an expert, look out for workshops: in February 2026 the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation held a free Lent cooking workshop in Nicosia on Cypriot fasting ingredients such as pulses, tahini, carob syrup, olives and greens.

Where can you buy Lent food in Cyprus?

Supermarkets

Every large chain stocks the basics all year: pulses, tahini, halva, olives, frozen octopus and squid, plant-based spreads and vine leaves. Around Green Monday, shelves fill with ready-made taramosalata, lagana and tahinopita.

To compare prices, use e-kalathi, the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry platform launched in June 2025, which lists the prices of 478 products in supermarkets with a turnover of more than €5 million. Before Green Monday the Consumer Protection Service also runs a Price Observatory survey. On 19 February 2026 it checked 67 shops and found:

• LaganaAverage €1.44, ranging from €0.99 to €2.15 depending on the shop (up 18% on 2025).
• Small fresh octopus€17.99 a kilo, up 25%; large fresh octopus ranged from €12.50 to €25.99 a kilo.
• Large fresh squid€11.95 to €20 a kilo.
• Tahini€3.81 on average; aubergine salad: €4.35.
• Halva€4 to €6 for a 400g pack.

Prices like these vary widely between shops, so it pays to compare before the big Green Monday shop. Our supermarkets in Cyprus guide covers the chains in more detail.

Municipal markets and farmers' markets

Markets are the best place for wild greens, seasonal vegetables, olives, pulses and fresh seafood. Our guide to the best markets in Cyprus has days, hours and parking for each.

Go in the morning: stalls sell out of greens and seafood early, especially in the days before Green Monday and the Annunciation.

Bakeries

Neighbourhood bakeries bake lagana for Green Monday and sell tahinopita, koulourakia and fasting pies throughout Lent. Bakery chains such as Zorbas have branches across the island and an online Click & Pick service. Demand for lagana peaks on the weekend before Green Monday (13 and 14 March 2027), so buy it then or ask your bakery to put one aside.

Fishmongers

For the fish days, demand at fishmongers and supermarket fish counters rises, so order a few days ahead. Fresh octopus and squid sell fast before Green Monday, and the 2026 price survey shows how much prices vary, so frozen octopus and squid are worth considering for stews.

Can you eat out during Lent?

Yes. Restaurants, tavernas and fish taverns stay open, and a seafood or vegetable meze is the easiest fasting meal out. Many tavernas can put together nistisima dishes such as beans, greens, potatoes, dips and grilled octopus if you ask. Menus change each year, so ask for nistisima when you book, and check whether dips such as tahini or taramosalata are on the table.

If you are vegan, Lent is the easiest time of year to eat in Cyprus. Just remember that "nistisimo" is not the same as vegan: fasting dishes can include seafood, fish roe or honey.

Tips for expats during Lent

• Office life: colleagues may skip shared lunches or birthday cake. Offer a fasting option when you order food for the team.
• Dinner invitations: ask your hosts if they are fasting, and bring olives, tahinopita or fruit rather than cheese or charcuterie.
• Shop early for the holidays: Green Monday (15 March), 25 March and Good Friday (30 April) are public holidays, so do the big shop the day before.
• Holy Week: flaounes and red eggs appear only at the end. Eggs are dyed on Holy Thursday and festive baking starts on Good Friday.

What to do next

1. Put the 2027 dates in your calendar: Green Monday 15 March, Annunciation 25 March, Palm Sunday 25 April and Easter Sunday 2 May.
2. Try one fasting dish a week, starting with louvi or meat-free koupepia.
3. Check e-kalathi and the supermarket leaflets from mid-February 2027 for Lent offers.
4. Plan your Green Monday picnic with our Green Monday guide.
5. Read up on Easter in Cyprus so you are ready for Holy Week.