Mezze Platter – The ultimate Mediterranean appetizers to feed the crowd with elegance and minimal effort.
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What’s your favourite party platter? Mine is this Meditteranean style mezze platter loaded with hummus, dips, chips, veggie sticks, cheese, falafel, olives, and figs. This easy-to-refill appetizer platter is always a crowd favourite and gives me time to shake a leg or two while hosting the party.
What is a Mezze Platter?
The word ‘Mezze’ literally means sharing. Hence, the purpose of a mezze platter is to have shareable appetizers on the table – an important aspect of Arabic and Middle Eastern cuisine. A Mediterranean appetizer platter is an assortment of several Middle Eastern bite-size snacks served on one platter.
A mezze platter can be both vegetarian or meat-based (with kebabs, meat skewers, or roasted chicken), depending on personal preference.
Most mezze platters contain popular appetizers like hummus, tabbouleh, feta cheese, olives, pita, or any other bite-size bread, crackers, and one or two Mediterranean dips.
My Tried and True Tips
Here’s what you need to keep in mind while creating a Mezze platter:
Will it be Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian? The choice depends on the people you are serving the snacks to. If it’s a mixed crowd or if you’re unsure of preferences, it’s recommended to go for a vegetarian mezze platter. Since the appetizers are served on a single platter, vegetarians may not feel comfortable eating from the same tray in which meat is also served.
How Many Snacks: The idea of a snacks platter is to serve easy-to-eat finger food. It is not the display of your cooking skill. So try not to over-crowd the platter. One or two fulfilling snacks like falafel/kebab accompanied by dips, munchies, and fresh cheese/veggies is good enough.
Selection of Snacks: Try to serve snacks that complement each other. Like hummus with crackers. Soft cheese with marinated olives or fresh fruits. It is essential to have harmony among the various dishes on a mezze platter. Also, include snacks that are easy to eat (non-drippy, not huge pieces that become embarrassing to tear or require cutlery).
Keep it non-greasy: Nobody likes the sight of a calorie-loaded appetizer platter. Hence, it is crucial to keep your snack platter a bit refreshing and non-greasy. Try to include minimal deep-fried snacks, that too accompanied by loads of fresh produce such as – fruits, veggie sticks, cheese, olives, and a cooling dip.
Vegetarian Mezze Platter Guide
Here is my complete guide to building a perfect vegetarian mezze platter at home without breaking a sweat or hours of planning.
Falafel: The chickpea falafel is an essential snack on an authentic mezze platter. You can add other kinds of fulfilling nibbles such as mixed veg cutlets, kebab, cheese balls, soya kebabs, or grilled paneer tikka to this platter.
Hummus: No mezze platter is complete without a creamy hummus. Try to introduce flavor and color to the mezze platter with avocado hummus and beetroot hummus.
Dips: Apart from hummus, I like to add baba ganoush, roasted red pepper dip (muhammara), tzatziki, or tomato salsa to my mezze platter for extra dipping sauce.
Marinated Olives: I love olives, and for me, they are a must-have item in any Mediterranean appetizer platter. The olives do not necessarily have to be marinated. The ones soaked in brine solutions work fine too.
Crackers: From crispy pita bread, and lavash to cheese crackers or any readymade munchy that has a nice crunch to it is perfect for this party platter. These can be easily purchased from the nearby bakery or supermarket.
Veggie Sticks and Fresh Fruits: Bite-sized and easy-to-dip sticks of crunchy, fresh vegetables and fruits give so much freshness to the platter. Some options are cucumbers, carrots, radish, cherry tomato, green and red bell peppers (served raw), or grilled veggies like herb potatoes, roasted carrots, stir fried broccoli, sweet potato fries, etc. Some of the fruits that taste best on a platter like – figs, red seedless grapes, black grapes, strawberries, cantaloupes, or watermelon.
Tabbouleh: This Mediterranean Couscous Salad is – fresh, vibrant, and vegan. Bursting with colours, textures, and flavours, this vegan salad is a testament to the fresh flavours and wholesome ingredients that define Mediterranean cuisine.
Cheese & Nuts: A non-crumbly soft cheese cut into the bite-size, and a choice of assorted dry fruits or nuts will give your snacks platter an edge. The dry fruits that taste good in a mezze platter are – dried figs, apricots, salted cashews, sweet dates, or toasted hazelnuts.
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Vegetarian Mezze Platter
Ingredients
- 6 – 8 falafel ( see recipe here)
- 1 bowl chickpea hummus ( see recipe here)
- 1 bowl roasted red pepper dip ( see recipe here)
- 1 bowl couscous salad (see recipe here)
- 2 medium-size cucumber, cut into sticks
- 2 medium-size carrot, cut into sticks
- 1 Cup black and green marinated olives
- 200 gram feta cheese cut into cubes
- 5 – 6 fresh figs cut into halves
- Pita chips or crackers of your choice
Instructions
- Prepare both the dips few hours before the party and keep in the fridge.
- Next, prepare the mixture for falafel, shape them, arrange in a plate and keep in the fridge until ready to deep-fry.
- Meanwhile, arrange the remaining elements in a large, serving platter except for nuts and keep that as well in the fridge.
- Before serving, heat oil in a frying pan for falafel. Fry them in small batches and transfer to a plate lined with an oil absorbent paper.
- Arrange prepared dips, falafel and assorted dry fruits in the mezze platter.
- Enjoy mezze platter with friends and family!
Shruthi Reddy says
What a lovely platter 🙂
Dina B says
Made the platter as pictured! Wowed my quests. Next time leaving cheese out of pepper dip. It was very tasty served with Nan bread
Hina Gujral says
I am so happy to read your feedback! Glad you liked it
Nikki says
Amazing!
Utsav patel says
I like your instructions and discription about all things and i also like the platter.
Hina Gujral says
Thank you for your sweet feedback! I am so glad you liked it.