The cuisines from the areas around the Mediterranean sea are some of the most popular and beloved in the world. If you had to just pick one favorite, it would be incredibly difficult to do, especially since there’s such a wide variety of ingredients and techniques used to create these dishes.
Here, we’ve picked our favorite and most iconic dishes from around the Mediterranean, hailing from the likes of Turkey, Greece, Morocco and Spain.
Lori Rice
This take on the classic Middle Eastern salad centers on bulgur wheat, fresh herbs, tomatoes and other fresh ingredients. It’s a hearty dish, and great for lunches and leftovers.
Get Recipe: Easy Tabbouleh
Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek
Mercimek Çorbası is a rich, warming lentil soup recipe hailing from Turkey. We’ve included a few tips for ingredient substitutions if you can’t find the ones traditionally used.
Get Recipe: Mercimek Çorbası (Turkish Lentil Soup)
Elise Bauer
We highly recommend making this delicious braised chicken dish in a traditional Moroccan tagine, but if you don’t have one, don’t fret—just use a large, shallow, thick-bottomed skillet with a lid.
Get Recipe: Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives
Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek
Simply Recipes founder Elise Bauer says, “This Greek salad is a favorite of my father’s to make during the summer.”
Get Recipe: Easy Greek Salad
Elise Bauer
Quit buying store-bought hummus and make it yourself! With a few cans of chickpeas and a blender, it’s easy to make at home.
Get Recipe: Easy Homemade Hummus
Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
This spiced Turkish egg dish is traditionally served at breakfast, but the versatile combination of savory flavors gives it the flexibility to make a fantastic lunch or dinner.
Get Recipe: Menemen (Turkish Scrambled Eggs and Tomatoes)
Sally Vargas
Infused with saffron and laden with mixed seafood and meats, Valencian paella is a special dish that’s great for sharing. All you need with it is some wine, sliced bread and all your friends and family!
Get Recipe: Seafood Paella
Sally Vargas
To make this easy vegetarian Greek pie, spinach, feta, ricotta, and fresh herbs are encased in layers of flaky, buttery phyllo. It’s often folded into triangles, but here it’s made into a quick and simple casserole.
Get Recipe: Spanakopita
Alison Bickel
This is the Greek version of the layered dish found all over the Mediterranean. It takes time to put together, but the outcome is so worth it!
Get Recipe: Moussaka
Simply Recipes / Micah Siva
Author Micah Siva grew up eating sabich, a stuffed flatbread sandwich made with fried eggplant, boiled eggs, tahini sauce, hummus, and a tangy Israeli salad. Her recipe includes plenty of great tips for making it at home.
Get Recipe: Homemade Sabich
Elise Bauer
This classic Greek chicken and lemon soup is enriched with silky eggs. Our recipe gives you the foolproof methods you need to make it perfectly in your own home.
Get Recipe: Avgolemono Soup
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