Palestinian Zucchini Dip

This creamy, nutty and completely addictive zucchini dip from Palestine is full of flavour with the most dreamy texture. Zucchini sits centre stage and creates the most wonderful meze dish, perfect for dipping, scooping and spreading.

Middle Eastern meze recipes are some of my most favourite. This healthy zucchini tahini dip, often called (Mutabal Kousa), calls on all the nutty goodness of sesame rich tahini sauce and creamy yoghurt together with silky mashed zucchini.

It's rich, but not heavy - it's creamy, tart and nutty. A wonderful aromatic combination of yoghurt, tahini and the earthy, sweet zucchini. The dried mint brings a unique mellow mint flavour (use dried, not fresh - for once, dried is better!).

To tip the taste over the edge, I liberally drizzle a little sour pomegranate molasses over the salad for serving which, let me tell you, is a very welcome addition and the perfect marriage of flavour.

What's Ahead?

Why it works?

• It's full of flavour - zucchini can be an overlooked ingredient, but when used in this creamy dip it's transformed to centre stage. All the accompanying flavours work to showcase the zucchini.
• It's the perfect shareable food - Meze is my favourite way to eat. Firstly, I love to have many choices of dishes and secondly it's a convivial way to serve food where everyone can mix and match the flavours they like the most.

Stuff You'll Need

The great thing about this Palestinian zucchini dip is that there are one a few ingredients. And the whole thing can be done and dusted in no time at all. Here's what you'll need.

• Zucchini - the star of the show with its the delicate flavour.
• Tahini - in all its sesame-rich deliciousness
• Yoghurt - brings creaminess and a light sourness
• Garlic - adds a little backbone to the dip
• Dried mint - In this part of the world, dried mint is common. It has a completely different flavour to fresh, a more mellow mint flavour. For the authentic flavours, on this occasion use dried and liberally
• Lemon - adds a fresh zing to the final dip
• Extra virgin olive oil - brings a little more rich creaminess
• Pomegranate molasses - drizzled over the salad at the end makes for a sour contrast to the earthy flavours of the dip. It's optional, but I never have this salad without it.

Step by Step

Making zucchini dip is easy, here's how it all comes together in a few simple steps.

1. Step 1 - Dice the zucchini then heat a little olive oil in a deep frying pan. Fry the zucchini for a few minutes until it's caramelised and soft. Remove from the heat and tip the zucchini into a sieve and let it cool completely - this will also help drain any excess water.
2. Step 2 - Tip the cooled zucchini into a bowl and using a fork, mash until semi smooth.
3. Step 3 - Add the tahini, yoghurt, garlic, mint and lemon juice and stir. Pour over the extra virgin olive oil and season with a little salt & pepper and mix well.
4. Step 4 - Decant the dip into a shallow bowl and smooth out with a spatula, leaving a little well In the centre.
5. Step 5 - Scatter with lots of fresh mint and some freshly cracked black pepper and drizzle over a little more extra virgin olive oil. Lastly, drizzle with a little pomegranate molasses.

Serve at room temperature alongside flatbreads or raw vegetables to dip in and scoop up the zucchini dip.

Serving & Storage Suggestions

• Serve as part of a larger Middle Eastern feast alongside a few other meze style dips or salads (there's a whole bunch of suggestions below). Be sure to serve lots of crisp breads, flatbreads or raw crudités like carrot, radish, celery or cucumber batons.
• Serve as a side dish to grilled meats, fish and poultry.
• You can make this dish using yellow squash too or fry eggplant instead.

• Fridge - the zucchini dip will stay fresh in the fridge for 5-6 days (cover the surface with plastic wrap to avoid discolouring)
• Freezer - I'm not a fan of freezing this style of dip. It tends to defrost on the watery side, so on this occasion I'd say fresh is best.

Ready to get cooking?

Build on your Meze repertoire with this fantastic go-to zucchini dip/salad - it's the perfect accompaniment to meats, fish or as part of a vegetarian table too. I'll often choose this over hummus or baba ganough for something a little different and it always goes down a treat. I hope you enjoy!

More Meze style recipes

If you're in the mood to create a meze selection that includes this delicious zucchini dip I have some suggestions from all across the region. I love to eat this way so, here are a few of my favourites. Everything on the list can be served together - all the flavours work magnificently with each other.

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