Mezze Plates for a Party

Mezze Plates are one of the easiest and most delicious food offerings you can share when entertaining at home, and the variety they hold for you and your guests is fantastic. Check out these ideas for a fun and unique way to entertain at home.

You should definitely put a Mediterranean style party on your calendar of things to do, and include these Mezze platters to munch on. Mezze is a selection of appetizer items served with cocktails before a larger Middle Eastern meal, and even if you’re not familiar with the term {also spelled ‘Meze’} I’m sure you’re still familiar with the food!

I think it’s a fun idea to turn the Mezze plates INTO the meal by offering up variety and enough quantity to fill everyone. Either way you want to serve it, I’ve put together my favorite picks that you’ll want to include. I chose these for their palate pleasing flavor as well as their ease in serving. They were originally part of my Moroccan inspired party here.

Mezze Plates for fun Entertaining at Home:

The quintessential Mezze platter includes many items you’re already acquainted with, as well as items that are easy to find or make.

Start with:

Almonds

Olives

Roasted Red Peppers – patted dry and cut into strips

Feta Cheese, cubed

Artichoke Hearts, quartered

Arrange the roasted red peppers, feta, and artichokes in individual groupings alongside each other on a platter.

Provide picks for the olives and an empty bowl for pits if they’re not already pitted.

Next, add a couple of dips:

Hummus, is a must! Buy it pre-made or make your own with my hummus recipe here.

Cacik is similar to tzatziki. Use my tzatziki recipe and add chopped mint instead of dill.

Naan triangles, lightly grilled.

I don’t think any meal like this would be complete without naan or pita bread. Lightly grilling it gives you the pretty grill markings and a slightly crusty texture on the outside. Use it to scoop both dips.

Add sarmas for some real authentic cuisine. More commonly known to us as stuffed grape leaves {filled with seasoned rice}, these can be served warm or at room temperature, and also dipped into the cacik dip.

To make this super easy, I suggest picking them up from a restaurant or specialty prepared food section of the grocery store.

Chicken Shawarma

I think you always need to add in some protein for a well balanced meal and chicken shawarma is one of the tastiest dishes. This is my favorite recipe to use.

Thread chicken strips onto skewers for a cute presentation and easy pick up.

Of course there are many other items you could include, but I think these listed are so manageable and taste delicious together. Here’s a list of other foods that are a little more labor intensive {personally I would purchase them pre-made}, but you could also include:

Tabbouleh – a bulgur-based dip
Babaghanoush – an eggplant-based dip
Falafel – ground chickpeas or fava beans fried in a ball
Souvlaki – seasoned lamb skewers
Dolmas – rice-stuffed vegetables like peppers, zucchini, or tomatoes
Fattoush – garden salad with fried pita bread

Think of the Mezze plates as the Middle Eastern version of the Italian antipasti platter. It’s fresh food filled with flavor and tradition, and it makes for a really fun way to entertain at home!