20+ Easy and Flavorful Mediterranean Meals

Tahini-Marinated Chicken Thighs with Cucumber-and-Tomato Salad Recipe

Adding tahini to the marinade makes the chicken buttery tender without an overwhelming amount of sesame flavor in the finished dish. It also helps the chicken to char nicely on the grill.

Mediterranean Chicken and Couscous Bowls Recipe

These quick chicken-and-veggie bowls are endlessly adaptable depending on what you have on hand. Beyond cucumber and tomato, you could try thinly sliced carrots, steamed broccoli florets and zucchini, or roasted cauliflower. You could also sub flaked salmon or sliced cooked lamb for the chicken. Treat the couscous like pasta, simmering until tender and then draining. Unlike most pastas, you'll want to rinse and drain the couscous so the grains don't clump together.

Mediterranean Chicken Skillet Recipe

This single-skillet recipe is impressive enough to make it company-worthy, but easy enough to make on a weeknight. It's important to minimize moving the chicken and the onions as they cook in order to help them brown nicely and to reduce the chance of their releasing excess liquid into the pan. Pro tip: Keep a clean bowl or sheet tray handy when you're making a single skillet meal such as this; that way, you can easily take items out of the pan and set aside as needed. 

Greek Chicken Grain Bowls Recipe

These mediterranean-inspired grain bowls are perfect for make-ahead meal prepping. Hearty and filled with various flavors and textures, this is the kind of packed lunch you'll be satisfied with all week long. 

Pomegranate Molasses-Glazed Chicken and Carrots Recipe

Pomegranate molasses, a staple ingredient in the Eastern Mediterranean, gives this one-pot dish a delectable tang.

Greek Farro and Chickpea Salad Recipe

This greek-inspired salad works as a great make-ahead lunch that is not shy on flavor. The hearty farro grain gives the salad great texture, while the crumbled feta adds a delicious tangy flavor with each bite. For Sunday prep, omit the arugula and make enough farro mixture for the week. Stir in the greens just before you head out the door.

Charred Eggplant Dip with Tahini Recipe

Perfect for entertaining or a hearty spread to snack off of all week, this nutritious charred eggplant dip is as easy as to make it is delicious. Roasting the eggplant at a super high temperature leads to a creamy flesh that's the perfect backbone for a your dip. Don't worry if the skin is extra charred and looks burnt—this makes for a more flavorful end product. Mixed with Greek yogurt and tahini, this Meditteranean-inspired spread is ultra rich. Serve it with fresh veggies, warm pita, or smear it across a piece of toast. You could even use it as your sauce for a flatbread or pizza; simply top with roasted or fresh veggies and a sprinkle of crumbled feta or goat cheese.

Herby Lamb and Turkey Meatballs Recipe

The possibilities are endless with these simple, baked meatballs. By combining lamb and turkey, the meatballs possess that signature, rich flavor of lamb, but don't feel excessively indulgent. If lamb isn't your cup of tea (in terms of price or flavor), feel free to substitute for more ground turkey. Alternatively, if you'd like a stronger lamb flavor, adjust your ratio of lamb to turkey accordingly. Once made, you can serve these flavor-packed meatballs any number of ways. Plate them atop a bed of sautéed kale and a smear of Greek yogurt, topped with toasted pine nuts and feta cheese. Add them into a brothy, vegetable-heavy soup for a meaty kick, or crumble them into Mediterranean-inspired salads and pitas. Stick them with a toothpick and serve them as an easy appetizer alongside a lemony, herby yogurt dip. The fresh herbs and bold cumin pair beautifully with plain yogurt, tangy cheeses, and creamy dressings and condiments, like tahini.

Shaved Cucumber Greek Salad Recipe

Easy to make and absolutely stunning to look at, this fresh riff on a Greek salad offers beautiful flavor combinations. Mild Castelvetrano olives are meaty and buttery, green tomatoes are bright and acidic, green onions are pungent and savory, and feta cheese is creamy and salty. We love the subtlety of Champagne vinegar, but you can substitute white wine vinegar if you don't have it. Likewise with green peppercorns—they offer a different sort of peppery kick and stick with our color palette, but black peppercorns would also be delicious.

Pasta with Basil, Tomatoes, and Feta Recipe

Fresh veggies and flavorful feta cheese make this Mediterranean-inspired pasta dish big on flavor and short on prep time. 

Greek Cucumber and Chickpea Breakfast Bowl Recipe

Dill absolutely makes this salad, offering a fresh, herbaceous boost that livens up the canned chickpeas. It's a satisfying bowl of crunchy, creamy, chewy textures.

Harissa-Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas Recipe

Tangy yogurt meets bold harissa in the topping for this gutsy chicken dish. Fletcher adapted the recipe from one by her friend Ed Blonz, author of the syndicated column On Nutrition.

Avo-Tahini Toast Recipe

If you think you're over avocado toast, this topper will change your mind. Make sure to give your tahini a good stir before drizzling. These make for a filling snack, plus they're loaded with protein to help you stay fuller for longer.

Grilled Pork Souvlaki with Fresh Pita Recipe

Many of us associate souvlaki with roast lamb, but in the back alleys and on the roadsides of Greece, pork and chicken are actually more common. Charles Bililies, founder of Souvla restaurants in San Francisco, gave us this recipe for the quintessential Greek street food. It's very much worth making at home, especially for a party. Most of it can be done ahead, the meat and pita cook in minutes, and it's easy to serve. All you have to do is pile the hot skewers and the warm pita on platters, set out the toppings, and let everyone assemble their own sandwiches (or you can wrap them if you like, as directed below). Just make sure there are lots of napkins--souvlaki are deliciously drippy.

Quinoa Salad with Pistachios and Currants Recipe

Grains, nuts, and dried fruit are typical in the Sephardic community--Jews who immigrated from Spain, Yemen, and the Mediterranean. (Ashkenazic Jews brought bread and potatoes from Eastern Europe.) Quinoa is a modern twist. Dried currants are smaller and less sweet than raisins, but either will work in this dish.

Greek-Style Chicken Salad Recipe

This Greek-style main dish salad features parsley salad topped with homemade chicken salad and pita chips. 

Charred Eggplant with Chermoula Recipe

While not Israeli in origin (chermoula is actually a Moroccan condiment), this dish speaks to the many culinary influences of Israel's North African and Middle Eastern neighbors. The sauce is wonderfully complex--bright, herbaceous, and spicy. Israel has a vegetable-centric cuisine (they are eaten at every meal); cooking vegetables over an open flame until deeply charred is a favorite cooking method.

Harissa Shrimp Fra Diavolo Recipe

Our favorite peel 'n' eat seafood gets new life with one kitchen-friendly formula: Shrimp + Starch + Sauce = Delish

Greek Shrimp with White Beans, Tomato Sauce, and Feta Recipe

This simple, Tuscan-inspired stew is the perfect casual supper for two, though it can easily be doubled. Enjoy leftovers with a piece of whole-grain French bread baguette for dunking.

Greek-Style Couscous Recipe

Mix cucumber, tomato, and oregano into couscous and sprinkle with feta to make this Greek-Style Couscous. 

Greek Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Farro Recipe

Whole-grain farro bulks up this hearty Mediterranean salad. If you like the crunch of fresh red onion but not the full pungency, give the slices a 30-second dip in ice water to tame the flavor; drain and toss in the salad.

Grilled Lamb Kufta Kebabs Recipe

Kufta is the Hebrew word for meatball, similar to Lebanese kofta or Greek kefta. Ground sumac has a reddish-purple color and lemony flavor, a great addition to spice rubs and vinaigrettes. If you can't find it, substitute 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind.

Grilled Mediterranean Vegetable Sandwiches Recipe

Sunset reader Rebecca Jansen of Snohomish, Washington, won us over with this Mediterranean-inspired vegetable sandwich that cooks entirely on the grill.