If ouzo has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 6 recipes to try it in.

What is ouzo?

Ouzo is the anise-flavored spirit of Greece, a clear, dry liquor that tastes of licorice and turns milky white the moment you add water. It is poured at the table before a meal, sipped slowly alongside small plates of seafood, cheese, and olives.

The flavor comes from distilling alcohol with anise seed, often with fennel and a little mastic in support. It is usually bottled at around 40 percent alcohol (80 proof).

That cloudiness has a name. Add cold water or ice and the clear spirit turns opaque white, the so-called ouzo effect, as the anise oils that were dissolved in alcohol fall out of solution into tiny droplets.

How to Use Ouzo

In the kitchen, ouzo is a seasoning as much as a drink. A small splash sharpens seafood the way lemon does, cutting through richness with a clean anise lift.

Shrimp Baked with Feta Ouzo and Cognac shows the idea, the spirit perfuming a tomato and feta sauce around the shrimp.

It is a natural flambe spirit for the table. Pour a little over hot seafood or cheese, touch a flame to it, and the alcohol burns off while the anise aroma stays behind. Greek saganaki, the pan-fried cheese, is the classic example.

Ouzo also works in sweets. It poaches fruit into something fragrant, as in Greek Yogurt Cheesecake with Ouzo-Poached Figs, and it scents traditional cookies. Kourabiedes, the powdered almond shortbread, often carries a spoonful in the dough.

Use it with a light hand. A teaspoon or tablespoon flavors a whole dish; pour like wine and the licorice takes over everything.

Cooking and Pairing

Anise has natural friends. Ouzo pairs with shrimp, mussels, octopus, and grilled white fish, and it stands up to feta, tomato, garlic, and fresh dill. Fried Mussels and a simple Easy Gyro both sit comfortably in this Greek-table world where a glass of ouzo is rarely far away.

The biggest mistake is overdoing it. Anise is assertive, and a heavy hand turns a delicate seafood dish into a mouthful of black licorice.

Measure rather than free-pour, and add it early so the alcohol has time to mellow.

The second mistake is boiling it hard for too long. You want to cook off the raw alcohol, not drive away the aromatic oils that are the whole point. A brief simmer or a quick flame is enough.

Substitutes

The closest swaps are other anise spirits. French pastis, such as Pernod or Ricard, has the same licorice backbone and also clouds with water, though pastis is sweeter and often colored. Italian sambuca works too, but it is a sweetened liqueur, so cut back on any sugar in the recipe.

For a non-alcoholic version, steep a little crushed anise seed or fennel seed in hot water and strain it. A few drops of anise extract do the same job. You lose the alcohol that carries aroma in cooking, so add the substitute near the end.

Plain raki or arak from the eastern Mediterranean are also fair stand-ins, since they share the anise profile.

Buying and Storing

Look for ouzo in the liqueur or international section, sometimes near other Greek goods. Better bottles list a higher share of true distillate over neutral spirit, which gives a rounder, less harsh flavor.

A protected name, ouzo of Plomari or ouzo of Mytilene, points to a respected style from Lesvos.

As a high-proof distilled spirit, an unopened bottle lasts for years in a cool, dark cupboard. Once opened, the anise aroma slowly fades, so aim to use it within a year or two for the best flavor.

Store it upright with the cap sealed, away from heat and sunlight. It needs no refrigeration, but a bottle chilled in the freezer pours thick and cold, the way it is often served in Greece.

Quick facts

In Chinese

茴香烈酒

British (UK) term

Ouzo

en français

ouzo

en español

ouzo

Recipes using ouzo

There are 6 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 6 recipes