How To Assemble a Mediterranean Meze Platter for Easy Entertaining
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This Mediterranean Meze Platter is a delicious and trendy way to cater for a small outdoor gathering, an impromptu lunch or to just have as an enjoyable sharing platter that you can enjoy with your partner whilst dreaming of distant lands!
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Mediterranean Meze Platter
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading all the way through for any tips or substitute suggestions, to ensure that you have any specialized ingredients and equipment required and that you understand the steps and timings involved.
We all know that charcuterie boards have taken Pinterest by storm, but a similar, yet overlooked “picky bits” meal would be a Mediterranean meze platter.
A traditional meze (also mezze or mazza) is a collection of fresh and inviting small plates often served with alcohol. Think of it a bit like Spanish tapas!
Meze dishes can be enjoyed as a hearty starter, a light meal, or even a full meal with several courses.
My dad is from Cyprus, and in Greek-Cypriot mezes, the small plates of food make up a full meal, from dips, cold meats, cheese, and salads, to meat, fish, seafood and more hearty dishes.
This type of eating is enjoyed all over the Mediterranean (including the Middle East and Northern Africa) and with similar flavors and dishes from the different regions, you can create amazing mezze platters to enjoy!
The recipes pictured in our Mediterranean Meze Platter are:
but you could also use:
There are so many different ways of constructing this vibrant and tasty masterpiece, meaning you can recreate it, mix it up and impress time and time again.
Create an edible work of art as you add olives, pistachios, veggies, fruits, almonds, pita bread, and crackers. (Mezze platters usually include generous amounts of warm pita or other soft bread, so make sure you have plenty on hand!)
Rather than a true “recipe,” the following serves as a guideline for constructing a mouth-watering Mediterranean platter featuring many traditional ingredients. It is by no means all-encompassing, so feel free to swap out the recommendations with whatever you have on hand that fits the theme.
And if you don’t have time to make dishes from scratch, by all means, substitute store-bought dips, but elevate them! For example, ready-made hummus can be topped with a little high-quality olive oil and smoked paprika before serving.
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
While most ingredients can be bought in grocery stores, for your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients (and equipment) needed for this recipe have been listed below and linked to Amazon or other stores if available online.
It does not include staple ingredients such as oil, salt, and pepper, as you’re likely to have those in your kitchen already. The complete list of ingredients with measurements is found in the recipe card.
- Fresh Produce – Parsley, Cherry Tomatoes, Red Bell Pepper, Carrots, Cucumber, Red Grapes, Radishes, Pomegranate, Lettuce
- Dairy – Feta Cheese
- Almonds
- Pistachios
- Green Olives
- Kalamata Olives – or any kind of black olive you prefer.
- Pita Bread
- Good Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil – for drizzling and dipping.
- Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Dip – one of our previous recipes.
- Roasted Garlic Hummus – one of our previous recipes, but you could buy a package of ready-made hummus.
- Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade – one of our previous recipes too as part of a fish recipe – just make the tapenade for this platter though! Or you could buy some ready-made.
Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog. I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. Please note, you can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never mix imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, litres, etc.,).
More Recipes for Entertaining
Love to entertain at home? Check out these recipes next:
- How to Assemble An Italian Charcuterie Board For Parties & Entertaining
- Niçoise Salad with Seared Ahi Tuna, Green Beans, Eggs, & Potatoes
- How To Set Up An Easy Cheese Board For A Dinner Party
More Mediterranean Recipes
Looking for more Mediterranean dishes to make? Check these recipes out next:
- Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Basil, Kalamata Olives, and Feta
- Mediterranean Grouper with Tomato-Cucumber Salad
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Feta & Olives
How Do I Set Up a Mediterranean Meze Platter?
Check out the printable recipe card below with full ingredients and instructions. Any demonstration photos do not print out to save your ink.
Mediterranean Meze Platter
This Mediterranean Meze Platter is a delicious and trendy way to cater for a small outdoor gathering, an impromptu lunch or to just have as an enjoyable sharing platter that you can enjoy with your partner whilst dreaming of distant lands!
Ingredients
- Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Dip
- Roasted Garlic Hummus
- Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade
- 4 oz (100g) sliced Feta cheese topped with extra virgin olive oil and chopped parsley
- 1 pint (500g) cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 large red pepper, sliced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled
- 1 medium cucumber, sliced
- 1 lbs (450g) red seedless grapes
- 1 small bunch radishes
- 1 medium pomegranate
- 4 oz (100g) almonds
- 4 oz (100g) pistachios
- ½ cup marinated olives (green and Kalamata shown)
- Leaf lettuce (to make hummus and vegetable wraps)
- Warm pita bread cut into triangles
Instructions
- Select a convenient location to arrange your Mezza platter. This can be directly on the counter, and/or use an attractive and functional collection of cutting boards and/or serving platters as part of the composition.
- Transfer the roasted red pepper & Feta dip, hummus, sun-dried tomato tapenade, sliced Feta cheese, and marinated olives into individual serving bowls. Arrange these bowls in the area you’ve selected for the Mezza platter.
- Fill in around the serving bowls with the fruit, vegetables, and nuts to create an attractive display. Add the warm pita or other soft bread, if using, and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 322Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 620mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 7gSugar: 16gProtein: 10g
This site uses Nutritionix to provide estimated nutrition. Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
Make It A Full Meal
Take a look at my post How to Prepare a Greek Cypriot Meze for Six at Home for the way us Greek-Cypriots would enjoy this kind of meal with lots of yummy picky bits to nibble on!
You can enjoy this meze platter as a starter, or even as part of a full meal with other dishes like my Greek-Cypriot meze mentioned above. Here are some of my suggestions:
- Salad: Greek Steak Salad with Feta & Kalamata Olives
- Main Dish: Dolmades (Stuffed Vine/Grape Leaves)
- Side Dish: Cypriot Potato Salad
- Beverage: Spiked Fresh Watermelon Cocktail: Watermelon Breeze
- Dessert: Honey-Roasted Figs with Labneh & Pistachios
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too.