Fattoush Salad (My Family's Recipe - الفتوش)

This fattoush recipe is unchanged from my childhood, passed down from my mother from hers and so forth. Fattoush is Lebanon’s version of a garden salad with sour dressing and toasted pita bread for extra crunch.

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Jump to:

• What is Fattoush Salad?
• 😋Why you’ll love this recipe
• 🥬Ingredients You’ll Need
• 🔪How To Make Fattoush Salad
• 💡What to serve with?
• 🌟Pro Tips
• 🥗Variations
• 🥗Related Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Community

What is Fattoush Salad?

Fattoush (الفتوش), pronounced as "faht-toosh" in Arabic and sometimes written as Fatoush, Fatoosh or Fatush in English.

It is one of the national salad's of Lebanese; it's made with a variety of chopped vegetables and fried pita bread pieces tossed through a sour dressing, which is served almost always with lunch or dinner. 

Nowadays, there are variations where the bread (typically Lebanese flat bread) is baked until golden or omitted altogether.

😋Why you’ll love this recipe

• It’s refreshing easy to make, packed with fresh vegetables and herbs
• It pairs with so many foods
• It's dietary friendly, natural vegan, corn free, soy free, nut free and can be made gluten free

🥬Ingredients You’ll Need

Note - Lebanese cucumber is also known as Persian cucumber.

Notes on some of the ingredients, the full list of ingredients and their measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Cos Lettuce (Romaine) is the best lettuce for this salad, however, Iceberg lettuce can be used also, as they are very similar.

Purslane is a wonderful green that is usually found growing in your backyard. It can be found at a Middle Eastern grocer. Personally, fattoush isn't complete without it.

Purslane can be consumed both raw or cooked, try my purslane puff pastry pockets. If you can’t get your hands on purslane, just leave it out.

Lebanese pita bread (affiliate link) - can be found at your local supermarket or online. You can use either white or brown varieties.

If you prefer to opt-out of bread, you replace it with red cabbage for some crunch.

Fattoush Salad Dressing

Sumac (affiliate link) - a widely used red spice (from the sumac berries) across the Middle East.

Sumac has a wonderful sour taste and is a key flavor in fatoush salad dressing. Sumac can be found in your local supermarket or online (affiliate link). Skipping this ingredient is not recommended.

Pomegranate Molasses (affiliate link) - another key flavor of fattoush which again has a light sour taste and a slight sweetness. Available at your local supermarket or purchased online - my go-to brand is Cortas. Skipping this ingredient is not recommended.

Fresh lemon juice is best as it elevates the sourness.

Try and only use extra virgin olive oil which is a key ingredient in the dressing. If you are on an oil-free diet, just leave it out.

Mint - my family loves using the combination of fresh and dried mint. It really does boost the flavor. It is best to mix this up with the dressing.

🔪How To Make Fattoush Salad

Step by Step Guide

Step 1 - Bake Lebanese flatbread in a preheated oven 180C (356F) until golden brown. Approx. 5 minutes. Set aside.

Step 2 -  Whisk all fattoush salad dressing ingredients together, set aside

Step 3 - In a large bowl, combine all vegetables and herbs and toss through the fattoush dressing.

Place fattoush in a serving plate and crush baked Lebanese bread into bite-sized pieces on top. Serve immediately

💡What to serve with?

Fattoush salad is generally served with all types of mishwe (Arabic word for bbq), try the tastiest vegan tofu skewers based on the flavors of shish tawook.

Or enjoy it with dishes such as vegan lebanese kibbeh (a burghul type of loaf), Mujadara (lentils and rice), Mujadara Hamra (lentils and bulgur), vegetable rice (mixed veggies with toasted nuts) or try the delicious bulgur pilav in a base of fresh tomatoes.

It is also delicious with maklouba, an extravagant dish of upside down rice and vegetables.

🌟Pro Tips

All cups are loosely filled

Adjusting the dressing - Pomegranate molasses (affiliate link) will darken this salad considerably if too much is added.

If you are wanting to increase the amount of sumac, I recommend doing this little amount at a time as it can be too strong for some people. 

For a crunchy fatoush, add the dressing just before serving and don’t mix the bread through or serve it on the side.

For a juicy fattoush - add the dressing 30 minutes prior to serving. All the ingredients would’ve had the time to soak in the juices, then add the broken pita pieces on top just before serving

🥗Variations

Traditionally Fattoush uses fried Lebanese pita bread, baking the bread is a healthier alternative.

Garlic - a couple of cloves of garlic can be crushed into the dressing if desired.

On rare occasion, I do this (add garlic), though it is not traditionally used in my family’s fatoush salad recipe.

🥗Related Recipes

Try Lebanon's other national salad called taboule or this common Arabic salad.

Here's a few other's to try is a refreshing cucumber and yoghurt salad, quinoa taboula or my go-to when I am short on time but want something filling is balela.

Rocca Salad is a much simpler, made with arugula as the main leafy green. Or one made of cabbage called Malfouf Salad.

Otherwise for something more starchy, tuck into Lebanese potato salad or I recommend checking out my glass noodle salad, it's refreshingly good.

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📖 Recipe