A crunchy Lebanese salad of mixed greens, tomato, and cucumber tossed with crispy fried pita and a tangy sumac-lemon dressing.
Fattoush is one of Lebanon's most iconic salads, built on a mix of chopped romaine, tomato, cucumber, radish, and herbs, tossed with crispy fried or toasted pieces of pita bread and a distinctive dressing built on sumac, pomegranate molasses, and lemon juice. It exists specifically to use up stale flatbread -- a practical, resourceful origin shared by bread salads across many cuisines -- but has become one of the Levant's most beloved and refined dishes in its own right. The technique that defines fattoush is the bread and the dressing: pita is torn into pieces and either deep-fried or toasted until genuinely crisp (soggy pita ruins the salad's textural contrast), and the dressing combines tart sumac with pomegranate molasses and lemon for a layered sourness that's more complex than a simple vinaigrette. The bread should be added at the very last moment before serving to preserve its crispness against the moisture of the vegetables. Served as a starter or alongside grilled meats, fattoush showcases Lebanese cuisine's talent for turning humble, practical ingredients -- stale bread, garden vegetables -- into something vibrant and genuinely craveable.
Serves 4
Tear pita into small pieces. Toast in a 190C/375F oven for 8-10 minutes, tossed with a little olive oil, until deeply crisp, or shallow-fry until golden.
Combine romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, scallions, mint, and parsley in a large bowl.
Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, sumac, and salt together.
Toss the vegetables with the dressing just before serving.
Add the crispy pita pieces and toss briefly to combine, keeping the bread from sitting in the dressing too long.
Serve immediately, dusted with extra sumac.
Toast or fry the pita until genuinely crisp -- soft or chewy bread pieces ruin the textural contrast that defines fattoush.
Add the bread at the very last moment before serving so it stays crunchy rather than absorbing dressing and turning soggy.
Use good quality sumac and pomegranate molasses; both are central to the dressing's distinctive tang and can't be substituted convincingly.
Add crumbled feta cheese for a richer, saltier version.
Use purslane (a traditional addition in some Lebanese households) if available for extra freshness.
Add pomegranate seeds for a burst of color and sweetness.
Best assembled and eaten immediately. Store the toasted bread, dressing, and chopped vegetables separately in the fridge up to 2 days, and combine just before serving.
Fattoush belongs to a broader family of Levantine bread salads (fattet), historically devised as a way to use up stale flatbread, and it has since become one of the most iconic and internationally recognized Lebanese salads.
Sumac is a tangy, deep-red ground spice made from dried sumac berries, common in Middle Eastern cooking; it's available at Middle Eastern grocery stores and many well-stocked spice sections.
The bread was likely added too early, or wasn't crisped enough beforehand. Toast or fry it until genuinely crunchy, and toss it in only right before serving.
A mix of lemon juice with a small amount of brown sugar or honey can approximate the sweet-tart balance, though it lacks pomegranate molasses's distinctive fruity depth.
Per serving (220g / 7.8 oz) · 4 servings total
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