Middle Eastern cuisine is centred around sharing. It’s generous, deeply flavourful, and perfect for long lunches and celebrations. The strength of serving Middle Eastern dishes lies in how they scale so easily. Trays of spiced rice, slow-roasted large meat dishes, and spreads of dips, salads, and breads make share-style Middle Eastern food both practical and deeply delicious. If you’re looking for some feast ideas, this style of cooking is the way to go.
Why Middle Eastern Cuisine Is Perfect for Group Dining
Across the Middle East, food is a form of hospitality. Meals are made to be inviting and enjoyed by all. That’s why they’re often served in large platters, with food that is as healthy as it is delicious: to show respect to the person being fed, and care for their health and wellbeing. Grilled meats beside fresh salads, creamy dips and warm breads. They allow people to build their plate to suit their own taste, controlling the ratios themselves.
Classic Middle Eastern Group Dishes to Serve at a Feast
The best group meals follow a simple rule of one or two large proteins, a grain, fresh, healthy sides for contrast and balance, and bread as a vessel for flavour.
Lamb Ouzi (Slow-Roasted Lamb with Spiced Rice)
Lamb Ouzi is one of the most recognisable foods of a Middle Eastern feast and one of the best meat dishes for a large group, combining mouthwatering, fragrant rice and roasted lamb with spices, nuts, and dried fruit.
For a basic Lamb Ouzi recipe, use a lamb shoulder, and season it liberally with baharat (a Middle Eastern spice blend) and salt, then oven roast low and slow until the meat easily separates from the bone. Toast the rice in oil or ghee with whole cinnamon and cardamom, then add stock and a touch of turmeric for colour.
To serve, spread the rice across a tray, top with the shredded or sliced lamb, and finish with toasted almonds and raisins. It’s the pinnacle of sharing dishes, holding heat well and easily reheatable.
Mixed Grill Platters (Shish Tawook, Kofta, Lamb Chops)
A mixed grill offers a variety of large meat dishes, allowing everyone to have their favourites. For the Shish Tawook, use chicken thighs marinated in Greek yoghurt, lemon juice, and garlic. The Kofta should be made from minced lamb, but you can use beef or even pork for a non-traditional kofta. Mix the mince with finely diced onion, parsley, baharat, and salt, then shape it onto bamboo or metal skewers. Lamb chops can be prepared with the same seasonings, then left to marinate and dry brine.
For a traditional Mixed Grill, cook over charcoal. If this isn’t accessible, you can use a BBQ. Set up your two heat zones so you can first sear over a high heat to build flavour and colour, then move over to the low heat zone to finish cooking through.
Mezze Platters for Sharing
A mezze platter is an assortment of small, shareable snacks that act as an appetiser to the main meal. It gives the crowd something to enjoy immediately.
Common inclusions include hummus, baba ganoush, muhammara (a walnut and roasted pepper dip), falafel, olives, pickles, and fresh vegetables cut into batons for dipping.
Mansaf (Jordanian Lamb and Rice Dish)
Mansaf is a unique dish because of its use of jameed, a fermented, dehydrated yoghurt. A traditional Jordanian-style Mansaf recipe uses slow-cooked lamb, braised in a simple blend of whole spices and water. The rice is toasted with ghee and turmeric, then cooked in the lamb broth. The jameed is usually crushed up and mixed with water the night before to soften, then mixed with cornstarch so it thickens over the flame. Once heated, the lamb is added to infuse its flavour, and the dish is plated by spooning ladles of the jameed onto markook bread, adding the rice on top, and finally the lamb, even more jameed, parsley and almonds.
Whole Roasted Fish with Herbs and Spices
For a different protein, whole roasted fish can bring a lighter, more balanced option to the table dominated by red meat.
Use a firm fish like barramundi, and delicately score the skin, and liberally season the inside and out with garlic, lemon, cumin, coriander and salt. Roast until just cooked through, keeping the flesh moist while the skin goes deliciously crisp. Served on a tray with fresh herbs and wedges of lemon, it’s a great way to add a seafood sharing platter that contrasts richer dishes.
Essential Side Dishes to Complete the Feast
Fresh Salads (Tabbouleh, Fattoush)
A traditional tabbouleh is a must for any Middle Eastern feast. It acts as something sharp, herbaceous, and contrasting. A traditional tabbouleh is a simple combination of parsley, bulgur, finely diced tomatoes and onion, mint, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. The ratios are really up to you, so taste as you go until you’re happy with it. As a guideline, there should be as much, if not more, parsley than bulgur, and the taste should be slightly too sharp on its own but perfect when balanced out with the richness of the other dishes.
Arabic Bread and Dips
Bread is essential. Not simply as a side, but as a vessel. It’s the way that food is scooped, wrapped, and soaked up. A classic pita or a flatbread like markook are perfect choices, served alongside tahini, garlic sauce, or muhammara.
How to Plan a Memorable Middle Eastern Feast at Home
Start by planning your dishes. As mentioned previously. Aim for 1–2 large meat dishes, a rice or grain, two salads, bread, and a mezze spread.
Prepare your proteins first, allowing them to brine, cook and rest while you prepare your other elements. Cold sides like tabbouleh, homemade dips, or your mezze spread can be made in advance and stored in the fridge.
Lastly, serve everything on large platters, ensuring each dish is easy to serve, and that hot dishes stay warm by using deep, heavy-set dishes.
Experience Middle Eastern-Inspired Group Dining at Hunter & Barrel UAE
The same principles that define a great Middle Eastern feast are what sit at the core of our Hunter & Barrel restaurants in the UAE.
Here, we serve meat dishes for large groups built around open flame grilling. If you’re searching for a restaurant offering group dining in the UAE, book your table at Hunter & Barrel today.
