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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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 salads of Lebanon; 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, and packed with fresh vegetables and herbs
- It pairs with so many foods
- It's dietary friendly, naturally 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. Here's a quick list of purslane recipes.
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 at 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 on 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), or any of the types of mujadara.
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 occasions, 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 (you might want to learn about tabbouleh vs fattoush, and what is the difference) or this common Arabic salad.
Here are a few other's to try, a refreshing cucumber and yogurt salad, quinoa taboula, or my go-to when I am short on time but want something filling is balela.
Rocca Salad is 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.
I've also put together a list of Lebanese salads.
I recommend checking out my glass noodle salad, it's refreshingly good, albeit not Lebanese.
Did you enjoy making this recipe? I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment below and give me a ★★★★★ rating. If you love sharing your vegan food pics, join the PBF community group
Fattoush Salad (My Family's Recipe - الفتوش)
Ingredients
- 2 cups Tomato chopped, bite sized
- 2 cups Cos Lettuce (Romaine) chopped
- 2 cups Lebanese cucumber chopped, bite-sized
- 1 cup Capsicum (Bell pepper) chopped, bite-sized
- ¾ cup White Onion chopped, bite-sized
- ½ cup Radish sliced
- ½ cup Purslane roughly chopped, take hard parts of stalk off
- ¼ cup Fresh mint chiffonade (thinly sliced)
- ¼ cup Fresh parsley roughly chopped, take hard parts of stalk off
- 1 piece Lebanese pita bread
Instructions
- Bake Lebanese flatbread in a preheated oven 180C (356F) until golden brown. Approx. 5 minutes. Set aside.1 piece Lebanese pita bread
- Whisk all fattoush salad dressing ingredients together, set aside¼ cup Lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Sumac, ½ teaspoon Pomegranate Molasses, ½ teaspoon Dried mint, ⅓ cup Olive oil
- In a large salad 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 immediately2 cups Tomato, 2 cups Cos Lettuce, 2 cups Lebanese cucumber, 1 cup Capsicum, ¾ cup White Onion, ½ cup Radish, ½ cup Purslane, ¼ cup Fresh mint, ¼ cup Fresh parsley
Notes
Equipment
Nutrition
N.B., nutrition info is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. This will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.
Agnieszka
Awesome salad recipe. Loved all the flavors!
nancy
one of my favourite salads!! love the flavours and freshness of this fatoosh
Jere Cassidy
The greens are very interesting with the mint and purslane. We have a vendor at farmer's market selling purslane but I have never bought it. Also, I cant to find the pomegranate molasses, that sounds like a great ingredient.
Alexandra
Love the delicious, fresh flavours of this salad.
Such great textures and the fresh herbs are wonderful.
Jeannie
I love a good salad recipe, and this recipe has been with you for generations, its hard to find lebanese cucumber here and I‘ll just use what is available to make this recipe
Janelle Hama
Hi Jeannie,
You can use any cucumber that is available. If the cucumber has too many hard seeds, deseed before using. Enjoy.
J
amanda
I loved the flavors of this fattoush salad, so delicious and sour!
Renee
I came across this fattoush at one of my friends pot lucks and had to remake it for myself. I love your Fattoush salad. I’ve been dieting so I just took out the bread and replaced it with the crunchy bits of red cabbage. Perfect!
Kayla DiMaggio
Yum! This fattoush salad was so delicious! I loved how easy it was and the flavors were so bold!
Megan Ellam
One of my all time favourite salads thanks for the inspo!
ella
this was the salad i took to my family bbq.
Janelle
Sahtein, fattoush is perfect for a family bbq