Fattoush Salad

About This Recipe

Fattoush is the Levant's great bread-recycling salad, and the Jordanian version is distinguished by an exceptionally generous hand with sumac and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses in the dressing that gives it a fruity tartness. Torn or fried pieces of khubz flatbread are tossed with chunky tomato, cucumber, radish, spring onion, romaine lettuce, fresh mint, and parsley, then finished with the sumac-heavy dressing. The bread absorbs just enough of the dressing to become tangy and chewy but retains enough crunch to provide texture contrast. It is typically served as part of a mezze spread alongside hummus, baba ghanoush, and grilled meats.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 largekhubz flatbreads
• 3 mediumtomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 largecucumber, diced
• 6 radishesthinly sliced
• 4 spring onionssliced
• 1 headromaine lettuce, torn
• ½ cupfresh mint leaves
• ½ cupfresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 green pepperdiced (optional)
• 4 tbspextra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsplemon juice
• 1 tbsppomegranate molasses
• 1½ tspsumac, plus extra to garnish
• 1 clovegarlic, minced
• ½ tspsalt
• oilfor frying bread

Instructions

1. 1

   Crisp the flatbread

   Tear flatbreads into rough bite-sized pieces. Either shallow-fry in 1 cm of oil over high heat until golden and crisp (2 minutes per side), or brush with oil and bake at 200 °C for 8–10 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season lightly with salt.

2. 2

   Make the dressing

   Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, sumac, minced garlic, and salt until emulsified. Taste — it should be boldly tart and slightly fruity.

3. 3

   Assemble

   In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, spring onions, lettuce, mint, and parsley. Toss with three-quarters of the dressing.

4. 4

   Add bread and serve

   Add the crispy bread pieces and toss gently. Drizzle remaining dressing. Plate immediately and dust with a generous pinch of sumac.

Variations

• •

  Add sliced purslane (baqleh) — traditional and adds a pleasant crunch.

• •

  Sprinkle crumbled feta for a richer version.

• •

  Use whole-grain flatbread for extra nuttiness.

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

Storage

Dress and assemble only just before serving. Undressed vegetables keep refrigerated for 1 day. Fried bread keeps in an airtight container for 2 days.

Frequently Asked Questions