16 Popular Greek Mezes And Side Dishes

Print Friendly and PDF A meze is a small dish - an appetizer or side dish - and it is very popular here for people to eat a selection of these as lunch or dinner. More often than not they are accompanied by ouzo  or tsipouro . There is something quite idyllic about sitting by the sea, listening to the waves lapping onto the shore and nibbling at your mezes whilst slowly sipping your drink!

The word meze came from the same Turkish word, which in turn came from the Persian word maze, meaning 'taste, flavour, smack, relish'.

Below you will find 16 popular Greek mezes and side dishes. Just click on the links to go to the recipes.



Greek Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata) RecipeMmm!! One of my favourites! Smooth and tangy. This is traditionally made with Greek strained yoghurt but can also be made with mayonnaise instead. Try both ways and see which you prefer - with mayonnaise it has a slightly thicker, richer taste.




Greek Tzatziki Recipe
This is a classic Greek side dish, which can be served with meat and vegetable dishes, as well as accompanying souvlaki or gyros.


Keftedakia

Greek Keftedakia (small meatballs) Recipe
The classic Greek meatballs are called Keftedes and Keftedakia are a smaller version of them (akia at the end of a word in Greek means "small" in the plural). They can be eaten as a snack, as a meze with ouzo and/or beer or just as part of a buffet meal. Children love these! And they are easy and quick to prepare!






This is a traditional spicy cheese dish, which can be served as a meze with ouzo or beer, or as a dip. It is quick and easy to make.



Greek Butterbeans Plaki (Gigantes) Recipe
This delicious dish can be eaten at any time, but is especially associated with Clean Monday, when Lent begins before Easter.
Greek Dolmades (Stuffed Vine Leaves) Recipe
Another "classic" Greek dish. Dolmades can be eaten as a meze with ouzo or as a side dish. It can also be accompanied by Greek strained yoghurt as a tasty little snack on its own. Ideally, the vine leaves you use should be the first tender leaves of spring.


Stuffed Green Peppers With Feta Cheese

Greek Stuffed Green Peppers with Feta Recipe
These are different from the large, stuffed green peppers with rice - which is a main dish. These peppers are a delicious side dish and the filling is quite spicy - it has a nice tang to it! Once again, this recipe is quick and simple. 



Greek Saganaki Recipe
This is a delicious - and filling - side dish. It has to be a hard cheese and in Greece it is best made with Kefalograviera, which is a little softer, or Kefalotiri, which is a little harder. So, if you can, you should try and use one of these cheeses. 



Greek Taramosalata RecipeThis is another dish that is traditionally eaten on Clean Monday at the beginning of Lent before Easter. It is also well-known worldwide. It is made from taramas, which is the fish roe from cod (most common) or carp. You may know Taramosalata as being bright pink in colour, but this is usually due to food colouring being added. It should be a colour varying from beige to light pink, depending on the fish roe.



Greek Zucchini Fritters (Kolokithopitta) Recipe
These tasty fritters are very easy to prepare and can be served as one of several side dishes - they go nicely with Tzatziki - or as a light snack on their own.



Greek Eggplant Fritters (Melitzanokeftedes) Recipe


This is a delicious meze! You can have it as an accompaniment to a meal, as a meze - which tastes wonderful with Tzatziki - or as part of a buffet.



Greek Tomato Fritters (Domatokeftedes) Recipe


This is a delicious and easy-to-make Greek summer snack. This is a speciality from the island of Santorini and is especially tasty with Santorini tomatoes. However, I imagine it may be difficult to obtain them if living outside Greece, but the quality of the tomato definitely makes a difference to the taste. You can eat these as a side dish or a meze and are especially delightful with tzatziki and Greek salad.




These patties are really easy to make and are a tasty side dish or snack as well as being extremely nutritious.



Greek Eggplant Rolls (Boorekakia) Recipe
These are delicious little rolls that you can have as a side dish or as part of a buffet. Ideally, the Greek cheese anthotiro is used, but if this is unavailable, riccota can be used. Likewise, the Greek hard cheese kefalograviera is used ideally, but if this is unavailable, parmesan can be used (the Italians have a few nice cheeses as well :) ) As stated in the recipe, you should get sun-dried tomatoes that have been preserved in olive oil.





These are easily prepared and tasty little rolls that you can have as a side dish on the table or as part of a buffet. The cheeses used are regatto and Greek anthotiro, which is quite widely available abroad. As I said, they can be prepared easily and quickly and are a tasty addition to any meal or simply a delicious snack.



Greek Gavros (Whiting) Mezes Recipe

This is a simple Greek meze, usually accompanied by the Greek drink ouzo. The fish gavros (whiting) is very popular in Greece. This meze can also be a side dish at a meal or as part of a buffet.


Eat and Enjoy!


7 comments:

moongoddesslei said...

the taramosalata looks like melted tofu. I wonder what it tastes like.

Anonymous said...

Great page! I love the authenticity of the recipies. Cheers to you.

Keira Moran said...

Your post is extremely helpful. best greek restaurant in camden Thank you for sharing this information.

jesica said...

Togel Online
Bandar Togel Terpercaya
Judi Togel
Agen Togel

restaurant management software India said...

Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. This was a really great post..

Best Restaurant Management Software India said...

very nice post, i am glad to discover this page : i have to thank you for the time i spent on this especially great reading !! i really liked each part and also bookmarked you for new information on your site.

Bizmax Software said...

Nice post, thank you for sharing...
Restaurant Management Software India

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Web Analytics