Ladolemono sauce, the Greek dressing of olive oil and lemon for fish and chicken, scores 4.5 out of 5 from 38 ratings on Allrecipes.
Ladolemono sauce, the classic partner for grilled fish
The name explains the recipe. In Greek, ladi means oil and lemoni means lemon, so ladolemono sauce is simply the two shaken together with a few seasonings. The word, λαδολέμονο, is also transliterated as latholemono.
Grilled fish is a common match. Greek City Times’ guide to baking whole sea bass notes that oregano usually goes into this sauce for grilled fish.
It also appears on menus abroad: when Greek City Times covered Bakalò Mykonos in Miami in February 2024, its menu included branzino grilled with ladolemono and oregano.
The same pairing also suits vegetables. Horta, a plate of boiled wild greens, gets olive oil and lemon juice too, Greek City Times has noted.
Allrecipes member Thalia, who shared this version, says it usually goes to the table with the meal. That way, everyone can add as much latholemono as they like.
What you need
This ladolemono sauce makes four serves of 244 calories each, according to Allrecipes, and needs:
- 1/2 cup (about 120 ml) olive oil
- 1/4 cup (about 60 ml) lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt, a pinch
- 1 pinch of pepper
Reviewer naples34102 had seen latholemono made with ratios other than this two-to-one mix of oil and lemon. Even so, this reviewer wrote: “For my tastes this was the perfect balance.”
Good oil matters in a ladolemono sauce with so few ingredients. Greek City Times reported on 21 September 2026 that early estimates put Greek olive oil output for 2026/27 at 280,000 to 330,000 tonnes.
Several reviewers also swapped in fresh herbs for their ladolemono sauce. Suzanne Riess-Gorman, for instance, wrote: “I would recommend using Greek oregano.”
The Royal Horticultural Society lists Greek oregano as Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum. Kew’s Plants of the World Online gives that subspecies a native range that includes Greece, Crete and the East Aegean islands.
How to make ladolemono sauce at home
Allrecipes lists five minutes from start to finish. In addition, the only equipment is a small jar with a tight-fitting lid.
- Pour the olive oil and lemon juice into the jar.
- Add the oregano, salt and pepper.
- Seal the jar, then shake until the ladolemono sauce is well blended.
- Brush some onto the chicken or fish as it cooks.
- Keep the rest aside to serve at the table.
- Shake or stir again before serving, because the oil separates as it stands.
Thalia’s method uses the jar twice: first as a baste while the food cooks, then as a sauce at the table.
Using it as a baste or marinade
Several cooks also used ladolemono sauce as a marinade. Gail marinated skinless chicken breasts overnight before grilling them, and found the meat tender and moist.
Another reviewer, cmach, added garlic and poured it over chicken breast. Then cmach covered the dish with foil and baked it at 375°F (about 190°C) for 30 minutes. Afterwards, cmach warned against throwing out any extra latholemono, because the chicken needed it.
The US Department of Agriculture’s grilling guidance adds a food safety caution. It says to marinate in the fridge and to set aside the table portion before raw meat or poultry goes in.
Any used marinade needs a few minutes at the boil before going back on the food, the guidance adds. As a result, it pays to pour the serving share into a separate bowl early.
What home cooks say about this sauce
Of the 38 ratings, 24 are five stars and 10 are four stars. In addition, 49 home cooks say they have made the ladolemono sauce.
One reviewer, beccahleeeeee, had long tried to copy the sauce a local restaurant used on its pitas. Earlier attempts came out too lemony or too oily, so the reviewer’s verdict on this one was simple: “Perfect proportions!”
Garlic was the most common change. Chelsey Wolnowski, tania Khoury and manisha each added it, while Donna Fiola also grated in lemon peel for salmon. In contrast, naples34102 stirred in Dijon mustard and preferred the latholemono without garlic.
Cooks also used it well beyond fish and chicken. Reviewers tossed it through pasta, served it with prawns and spooned it over plain rice. Patricia Wilson even swapped in lime juice for a dish of glass noodles, vegetables and prawns.
Not every review was glowing, though. One cook, qow2, gave it one star and called it “Very bland.” Similarly, LushPeel7645 felt it may have lacked flavour without fresh oregano and garlic.
Overall, with only five ingredients, the quality of each one shows in this ladolemono sauce. One reviewer, manisha, credited fresh oregano with making all the difference. The original recipe on Allrecipes also includes four photos.
Source: Allrecipes
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