“Mezze” is a style of dining common in the Mediterranean and Middle East where an assortment of small dishes are served at once to make up a whole meal. Personally, I love this style of dining because it allows you so much variety of flavors, while feeling like there is less obligation to eat a ton, compared to a large heavy meal served on one plate. You can graze and sample different things as you go, and it is a great way to serve dinner in a setting meant for interesting conversation.
In America, we have adopted this style of serving with the so popular ‘charcuterie board’ trend you see all over the internet, but I think it is important to pay homage to its roots. Though you can technically serve these any way, there are some key components that go into making an authentic mezze platter.
The Key Ingredients in a Mezze Platter
- Start with a delicious spread: hummus and baba ghanoush are easy and popular options.
- Fresh veggies: cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots are ideal, and should be cut for dipping.
- Pickled veggies: artichokes and pickled asparagus are two of my favorites. Don’t forget olives!
- Cheeses: a simple goat cheese or feta is great as the flavors mix well with other things on the plate.
- Nuts & Dried Fruit
- The perfect bread to scoop it all up with! I LOVE the flatbread recipe I have posted, and use it for dinners like this frequently.
- Cured meats: these are of course optional, and sometimes I prefer a vegetarian mezze platter. However, adding a few varieties of salami can add some nice spice if desired.
One thing to leave out is mention of presentation! I use these for entertaining often, but am known to even throw one together for my family just to make an evening at home feel a little more interesting. Tips for making your platter especially stunning would be to serve it on a special board or platter, and place dips in unique serving cups. I always hunt for serving items like these when traveling, as they make for a fun talking point and great memoires as you enjoy good food from them later with guests.
If you want to learn more from an authentic source about Mezze Platters, I would suggest checking out this post from the Mediterranean Dish.
Ingredients in the Mezze Platter pictured
The board pictured was one that I threw together with half a plan… some of these items I already had open at home and needed to use up. Others, I picked up to complete the look and maximize our snacking! The ingredients listed without a recipe I was able to find pre-made at Trader Joe’s.
Here are the ingredients I used if you want to create this exact Mezze Platter:
- Flatbreads – pictured are the ones from my Easy Flatbread Recipe! They are so herby and delicious and I highly suggest giving them a try.
- herbed chevre (goat cheese)
- feta cheese
- marinated artichokes
- pickled asparagus
- head of garlic, drizzled in olive oil and oven roasted for 30 minutes
- hummus
- jar olive tapenade
- cherry tomatoes
- grapes
- salami
For garnish, I picked some fresh rosemary and lavender from the garden. I think some Spanish almonds would have been the perfect addition to this platter, but I wasn’t able to find any this time.
What are some of your favorite ingredients you include when you make a mezze platter? I hope this gives you some great inspiration!
X.O. – Abbey Co.
P.S. – Below I have linked some items I use frequently when designing my boards. I think having an eye-catching cutting board that doubles as a serving platter is a great place to start!
*Disclaimer* I am an Amazon affiliate and get a tiny kickback if you purchase anything from my links… I only share things that I use and love, and it is just a small avenue for me to earn money to support my blog as I go.