Mediterranean Salmon Platter with Homemade Tzatziki Recipe
This Mediterranean salmon platter is simple to make, and fun to eat! Serve salmon baked in a delicious marinade of lemon, herbs and spices with a sun-dried tomato couscous, feta, tomatoes, roasted red peppers and a scoop of tzatziki!
Platter meals are my favorite kind of meal.
I love to eat dishes that have a lot of things going on, meals where every bite of food has different flavors and textures. You know how some people like one topping on their pizza and others prefer closer to 17? I’m in the latter category. My taste buds get bored easily, and apparently that can happen within a single meal.
To keep my taste buds happy, I often make platter meals, although more often it could be described as throwing a bunch of crap that kinda sorta goes together on a plate. The best way to get rid of leftovers imho!
This baked mediterranean salmon platter is a favorite because it combines so many of my favorite Mediterranean flavors in one dish. The star of this platter meal is salmon baked in a marinade of smoked paprika, garlic, dill, and mint along with lots of lemon and olive oil. Baked at a low temperature, it turns out moist and tender and bursting with flavor from the simple marinade. To round out the platter, I serve it with a quick sun-dried tomato and herb couscous, a creamy tzatziki, feta, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and sliced avocado.
How to Make Baked Mediterranean Salmon
The baked Mediterranean salmon in this dish is a recipe you’ll come back to again and again! It uses a technique I learned from my friend Kara’s blog, where salmon gets roasted low and slow, which yields a super moist and tender result. It’s almost buttery tasting! I had always cooked salmon at high temperatures, usually on the stovetop, which is delicious when you get it right (love that crispy skin!), but that’s hard to do. Plus, if your ventilation is like what we’ve got in our old kitchen, it’ll smell like salmon for the next week.
This slow baked Mediterranean salmon is practically impossible to mess up - since it is cooked at a low temperature, it’s hard to overcook. At 300 degrees F, the salmon will retain it’s natural oils and give it a melt-in-your-mouth texture. It should take about 20-25 minutes for a large salmon filet, but thicker pieces might take longer. Just look for the salmon to be tender but slightly opaque, and check it after about 20 minutes of baking.
For marinade, I used a mixture of olive oil, lemon, dill, mint, oregano, paprika and lotsa garlic. Because the mix has lemon in it, you’ll want to marinade the fish rather quickly, not much longer than 10 minutes. We’re not making ceviche over here! Lemon juice denatures the proteins in fish, essentially “cooking” it. That said, since it’s a big chunk of salmon rather than the small pieces ceviche is cut into, you don’t have to worry too much. However if you leave it a bit too long the salmon might just be a little dry.
Make the Best Homemade Tzatziki for this Mediterranean Salmon Platter
Tzatziki is a creamy yogurt sauce/dip made by mixing Greek yogurt with cucumber, garlic, olive oil, herbs and a bit of lemon. I’ve tried lots of recipes for tzatziki before, but this one adapted from Modern Greek Cooking is my favorite because it uses a few tricks to keep it rich and creamy.
First, it’s essential to use a full fat Greek yogurt. Full fat (or at the very least, 2%) for creaminess and flavor, and Greek yogurt so that it stays thick and doesn’t get watered down.
Next, be sure to drain the cucumber by pressing the grated cucumber between paper towels to remove some of the liquid. Since cucumber is a watery vegetable, and the salt in the sauce will release its liquids, if you skip this step it will water down the tzatziki sauce.
Finally, make sure you press the garlic, or if you don’t have a garlic press, make sure you very finely mince it. There’s nothing worse than a chunk of raw garlic in your sauce! I know a lot of people like to make tzatziki with store bought roasted garlic puree, which is nice to have on hand.
Baked Mediterranean Salmon Platter Recipe Adaptions
As you know, I like to treat recipes as suggestions rather than step by step rules to follow. Recipes can be a great starting place for getting creative! Here’s a few ideas for other ways to serve this Mediterranean salmon platter recipe:
While I love to make this with couscous, since it cooks up so quickly, it’s also fun to experiment with other grains. Try this with orzo or farro tossed with sun-dried tomatoes, herbs and butter, or lemon rice. It would also be delish with Greek lemon potatoes.
You can use the same marinade for roasted chicken thighs, grilled pork tenderloin, or even shrimp! If using chicken or pork, do marinade it a bit longer to soak up the flavors, since it won’t “cook” the same way fish does in citrus.
To save time, use store bought tzatziki and a box of flavored couscous.
I rounded out this platter with cherry tomatoes, jarred roasted red peppers, feta and sliced avocado, but feel free to add or swap kalamata olives (I ran out when making this!), dolmades, marcona almonds, grilled zucchini, diced cucumber, marinated artichoke hearts, or toasted pita bread. You could also use a different type of cheese, like mini mozzarella balls, grilled halloumi cubes, or ricotta salata.
How to Serve This Mediterranean Salmon Platter
This salmon platter is a simple one to throw together! Feel free to make individual plates, like what’s pictured here, or serve all the ingredients individually, so each person can put together their own platter with as much or as little of the platter ingredients they like.
If you like this Mediterranean salmon platter recipe, follow my pinterest board for salmon recipes for more inspiration.
This Mediterranean salmon platter recipe was originally published March 2017. Recipe, images and text have been updated to give you the best possible content.
Mediterranean Salmon Platter with Homemade Tzatziki Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Salmon:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon, plus juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon mint, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dill, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 salmon filet, about 1 1/4 lbs
Tzaziki (adapted from Modern Greek Cooking)
3/4 of an English cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
1 garlic clove, pressed
Couscous:
1 cup couscous
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomato
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
To Serve:
Halved cherry tomatoes
Sliced roasted red peppers
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
Cubed feta
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
First, marinate the salmon. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon, mint, dill, oregano, smoked paprika, and garlic, and season with a large pinch of salt and black pepper. Place salmon in a baking dish, pour the marinade over the top, and let sit 10 minutes.
While salmon is marinading, make the tzatziki. Grate the cucumber on the large holes of a cheese grater over a few layered pieces of paper towels. Pull the ends of the paper towel over the cucumber and squeeze together over the sink to wring out some of the liquids. This will help prevent the tzatziki from getting watered down. Mix the cucumber with the yogurt, olive oil, lemon, dill, mint and garlic, and season to taste with salt. Set aside until ready to use.
When the oven is preheated, place the salmon in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 20 minutes until it is cooked through and flakes easily, but is still moist.
While salmon is roasting, make the couscous. Boil one cup water and olive oil with a large pinch of salt in a small pot. Quickly stir in the couscous, cover and remove from heat. After 5 minute, remove the lid, stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, dill and mint, and fluff with a fork.
When the salmon is cooked, divide the couscous between four plates. Top with a piece of salmon, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, avocado, feta and a scoop of tzatziki, plus extra on the side.
If you like this Mediterranean salmon platter recipe, you might also like:
Greek Lamb Gyro Skillet
Easy Mussels in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Baked Greek Gigantes Beans with Spinach
