How to Build a Mediterranean Mezze Platter
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A Mediterranean mezze platter brings dips, roasted eggplant, fresh vegetables, olives, cheese, fruit, and warm pita together for a meal made to share.
A Mezze Platter Made for Sharing
Where I come from, a gathering is not complete without mezze. These small dishes are meant to be shared. They might start a meal, but in many parts of the Mediterranean, they can be the meal.
I often serve mezze in separate little dishes. For this platter, I bring everything together: two kinds of hummus, tzatziki, roasted eggplant finished with sumac, and plenty of fresh and briny things to eat alongside them. Set it out with warm pita, and let everyone make a plate as the conversation goes on.
You can make the dips yourself or use good-quality store-bought hummus and tzatziki. Start by salting and roasting the eggplant, then arrange everything else while it cooks.
What Goes on This Mezze Platter
- Dips: Creamy hummus and roasted red pepper hummus go on opposite sides of the platter. Spoon the tzatziki into the cored half-bell pepper and place it at the center.
- Roasted eggplant: Baby eggplants roast with olive oil, then get a sprinkle of sumac, a tart, citrusy spice. Their soft texture is especially good with the dips and pita.
- Fresh vegetables: Campari tomatoes and small, thin-skinned Persian cucumbers add something crisp and juicy for scooping and snacking. If you can’t find them, English cucumber and grape, cherry, or Roma tomatoes also work for this platter.
- Briny bites: Kalamata olives and marinated artichoke hearts bring contrast to the creamy dips and cheeses.
- Cheese, meat, and fruit: Cubed feta, baby mozzarella, prosciutto, and fresh figs round out the platter. Seedless grapes work in place of the figs.
- Bread: Warm pita bread is ideal for scooping up the dips. Rustic bread, crostini, or crackers work too.
How to Build a Mezze Platter
Start with the eggplant. Once it goes into the oven, you can arrange the rest of the platter while it roasts. Allow about 40 minutes if your dips are ready to use; making the dips from scratch takes additional time.
- Salt the eggplant. Slice the two baby eggplants lengthwise into pieces about 1/2 inch thick. Set them on paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and leave them for about 20 minutes. Pat them dry.
- Roast the eggplant. Heat the oven to 400°F. Put the slices on a lightly oiled baking pan, drizzle generously with olive oil, and roast for about 20 minutes, until they are medium brown.
- Set out the dips. Place the classic hummus and roasted red pepper hummus on opposite sides of a large serving platter. Put the tzatziki in the cored half-bell pepper and set it in the center.
- Fill in the platter. Arrange the tomatoes, cucumber spears, olives, artichoke hearts, feta, mozzarella, prosciutto, and figs around the dips. When the eggplant is done, sprinkle it with 1 teaspoon of sumac and add it to the platter.
- Serve with bread. Set out warm pita or rustic bread for scooping up the dips and vegetables.
Tips for Putting Your Mezze Platter Together
- Use the largest platter you have. Mezze is meant to be shared, and a generous platter gives everyone room to choose what they like. I sometimes use several small dishes instead; for a larger gathering, make more than one platter.
- Make the dips yourself or take a shortcut. Homemade hummus and tzatziki are welcome here, but good-quality store-bought versions make the platter easier to put together. Allow extra time if you make the dips from scratch.
What Else Can You Serve With Mezze?
You can serve this platter as an appetizer spread or put it at the center of a meal. Mezze is meant for lingering and sharing, so add other small dishes if you want a larger table.
Tabouli salad makes a fresh addition, and baba ganoush gives you another eggplant dish with a very different texture. You can also set out pickled vegetables, roasted vegetables, or spiced nuts in small bowls. Choose what suits your gathering; you don’t need all of them on the platter.
There really is no right or wrong way to mezze. The one rule: share.
Can You Make a Mezze Platter Ahead?
You can prepare the dips according to their own recipes and cut the vegetables before assembling the platter. If you put it together before guests arrive, cover and refrigerate it. Take it out a few minutes before serving, and warm the pita when you’re ready to eat.
More Mediterranean Dishes for Sharing
Mediterranean Mezze Platter
Ingredients
- 2 baby eggplants, sliced lengthwise into pieces about 1/2 inch thick
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Traditional Creamy Hummus, or 10-ounce tub of quality store-bought hummus
- Homemade Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, or one 10-ounce tub of quality store-bought roasted red pepper hummus
- 1/2 bell pepper, any color, cored
- Homemade Greek Tzatziki, or quality store-bought tzatziki
- 6 Campari tomatoes, quartered
- 6 Persian cucumbers, sliced into spears
- Pitted Kalamata olives
- 1 (15-ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts
- 6 ounces Greek feta cheese, cubed, not crumbled
- 6 ounces baby mozzarella cheese balls
- 3 ounces prosciutto di Parma
- 6 fresh California figs, halved, or seedless grapes
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- Pita bread or rustic European bread, for serving
Instructions
- Salt the eggplant. Set the eggplant slices on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Leave for about 20 minutes, then pat dry.
- Roast the eggplant. Heat the oven to 400°F. Put the slices on a lightly oiled baking pan and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast for about 20 minutes, until medium brown.
- Arrange the platter. While the eggplant roasts, put the two hummus spreads on opposite sides of a large serving platter. Fill the cored bell pepper with tzatziki and set it in the center. Arrange the tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, artichoke hearts, feta, mozzarella, prosciutto, and figs around the dips.
- Finish the eggplant. Sprinkle the roasted slices with 1 teaspoon of sumac and add them to the platter.
- Serve. Serve with warm pita or rustic bread. You can cover and refrigerate the assembled platter, then take it out a few minutes before guests arrive.
Recipe Notes
- The preparation time assumes the dips are already made or purchased. If you make the hummus or tzatziki from scratch, allow the time given in those separate recipes.
- Shop this recipe: Find sumac, Kalamata olives, and olive oil in The Mediterranean Dish shop.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Shop Suzy’s curated selection of Mediterranean olive oils, spices, and more.
Try our all-natural Sumac!
This tangy, smokey, slightly sour spice is just what you need to give your recipe extra zing.
I love the mediterranean diet I was born in italy and i must say its very healthy
AnnMarie, thank you for sharing! Welcome to The Mediterranean Dish
This looks amazing and I’m making it tomorrow. Can’t figure out what kind of eggplant you used to get that shape from the slices. Are they the Japanese eggplants and you sliced them vertically and then across?
I love all the recipes and having spent several years in the Middle East all of the ingredients are familiar and delicious. I would love for you to post an ingredient list for each dish. I guarantee it will not put me off but I am counting low carbs.
Hi Rita, thank you! Glad to have you here! We have started using a new program that allows us to share nutrition information. Is that what you’re looking for? You’ll find our more recent recipes include this information.
Hi. This one is a great recipe. Thanks a lot for sharing! I just want to know the kind of meat on the plate. How did you prepare it?
Hi Rose. So sorry I’m just getting to your comment. I used prosciutto, but you can use any Italian cured meat.
Shared on FB, as well!
Really interesting, and so lovely and colourful! It’s still amazing to me how these platter ideas make for such easy entertaining. We learned this concept in exploring French cooking, but find it all over that area. It suits our style of casual entertaining very well. We do like to put on fancier meals, but especially in summer, this seems so fitting!
I’m happy for you, that you were sponsored by Sabra, as we like their products. I wish they could use olive oil instead of canola, though. Anyway, I digress. I appreciate your simple, humble writing style. It’s not trying to be super snappy or overly bubbly, which can be so distracting and unnecessary, but just conversational and clear. And the photos turned out really well!
Thanks for a lovely post that, yet again, shares from the culture and ethos of the Mediterranean lifestyle.
Nancy, thank you so much for the thoughtful comment. I really appreciate your kindness and constructive feedback. Thank you for taking the time to write. Please let me know when you try other recipes!
Dear Suzy, new to your site but so happy I found you. My Husband has multiple health issues what they call intermingling automune disease so trying to get him on a healthy diet proved very difficult. I have found the Mediterranean diet to be the best and gratefully I found you and your delicious recipes. Have you published a cookbook, if not please keep your delicious recipes coming. I have even cooked your dishes for company and everybody has been so generous with the compliments. Can’t wait to serve the mezzanine platter. Have a happy 4th and again, thank you.
Dear Leigh, thank you so much for the kind comment! I am grateful to have you here, and honored that you’ve found the site helpful! I do not have a cookbook published as of yet, but that is not out of the question someday…hopefully in the near future. I’ll be posting recipes regularly here, so please stay in touch as you try them!
Fantastic idea and recipe! This was so easy to assemble and was devoured by guests. Served with grilled shrimp and an orzo salad. Lovely, thank you!
Awesome, Deena! Thanks so much for giving it a try!
Love Mediterranean dishes part of my families background.
Appreciate your ideas and recipes. Thank you so much.?
Wonderful, Leslie! Thank you so much for taking the time to share. Enjoy!
You bet, that is a good dinner.
Glad we agree!
We’re having a heatwave here in So Cal, so this is a perfect dinner..all I need is a glass of wine!
Ya, it’s pretty hot here in Atlanta as well!
You are so right about that. I love Mezze.
Some days, it is all I crave!
Some of my favorite things but why buy hummus? it’s so easy to make and it stores well. Good make ahead treat.
Maureen, thanks for stopping in! Great feedback. Most of the time, when I make hummus, I like to use dried chickpeas, soak them over night, and then I cook them of course before I make the hummus. But when I don’t have time to do that, I use quality ready made hummus like Sabra because they actually make their hummus from dried chickpeas (not pasteurized or from cans) and real Mediterranean tahini. We all take short cuts once in a while, as long as we don’t sacrifice the quality 😉
Love this!!
Looks delicious to me! I don’t need anything else, I love everything about this!
Hummus and FIGS! Yes! Your platter is lovely, and I could make dinner out of that, any day. Love the Sabra brand…it is so high quality and tasty!
Thank you, Dorothy! Glad you like this platter.