Name: Lebanese Fattoush Salad
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 4 cups of romaine lettuce, washed, cut into bite-size pieces; 2 tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces; 3 mini cucumbers, diced; 2 green onions, sliced*; 4 radishes, diced; 2-3 coloured peppers sliced; 1/4 cup mint, stems removed, finely chopped; 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped; 1/4 cup olive oil; 1/8 cup lemon juice; 1 tsp lemon rind; 1/2 tsp salt; 1-2 garlic, crushed; 1 tsp sumac* (optional); 1 tsp pomegranate molasses* (optional); 2 pieces of stale pita bread; 2 tbsp olive oil

Jump to Recipe

This Lebanese Fattoush Salad is one of my favourite Lebanese recipes! A bowlful of lettuce, herbs, and veggies, drizzled with a tart garlicky-lemon dressing and topped with crunchy pita chips. This salad is fresh, loaded with flavour, and so healthy.

A white bowl filled with salad ingredent. The fattoush salad it topped with pita bread and sumac

I'll never forget the first time I ate a fattoush salad....I ordered a shawarma plate at a local restaurant; that day, they had run out of the regular salad and only had the fattoush left. I reluctantly accepted my fate and ordered the fattoush.

It was love at first bite, the spicy garlic, tangy lemon, the sweet crispy veggies, and refreshing herbs, followed by the perfect crunch! I was so blown away by all of its deliciousness. From that day forward, I was officially a fattoush lover!

What is a Fattoush?

The word Fattoush is derived from the Arabic word "Fatteh," which means crumbs. The Fattoush is basically a different variation of a Fettah.

The Authentic Fattoush is a bread salad with lots of seasonal veggies and herbs; unlike the Fattah, it's coated in a lemony dressing instead of a yogurt sauce. There are no rules when choosing your vegetables for your fattoush salad; you can use whatever in-season vegetables you have on hand.

This salad is also known as farmer's salad because the Lebanese farmers would fry stale pita bread and toss it with whatever vegetable they had available. This is the reason why you'll find so many variations of the fattoush salad throughout the Arab world.

A wooden cutting board with cut vegetables a plate of fried pita bread and a bowl of fresh mint.

What You'll Need

Salad Greens. Choose whatever is the freshest and in season. You can completely omit the salad greens and use only fresh herbs and veggies.
Herbs. The traditional herbs are mint and parsley. If you want to be adventurous, you can try oregano, tarragon, and thyme.
Veggies. Select whatever is in season. However, the most popular variation is cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and radishes.
Onion. You can use green onions, shallots or red onions for this recipe. I highly recommend you don't leave them out.
Garlic Lemon Dressing. The lemon-garlic-olive oil trio is the most popular dressing in the Eastern Mediterranean! Every country uses this trio for vegetable recipes, and if I do say, I don't blame them.
Sumac. This Mediterranean tart berry is a very famous addition to this salad and gives its signature flavour. If you don't have it, it's ok to leave it out; the salad will still be tasty, but I strongly recommend trying it with the sumac.
Pomegranate molasses. This ingredient may be a little tricky to find for most people. It's an optional ingredient, and if you don't have it, it's OK to skip it. It gives the salad a little sweet and tart notes, which you may 100% love or hate. I love it and eat it off the spoon, my husband hates it and won't eat it. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Pita chips. Frying stale pita bread is one of my favourite no-waste kitchen hacks. They're perfect for snacking on and for creating fettah recipes. You can also bake them too!

a white bowl of salad with a cutting board of cut veggies

How do you assemble an authentic Fattoush salad?

Prepare your pita chips. Bake or fry the day-old bread.
Chop up all of the veggies, herbs, greens, and onions and toss them into a bowl.
Make the dressing add all of the ingredients into a jar with a lid, and shake.
Pour the dressing onto the salad, and give everything a toss.
Top with the pita chips before serving. Feel free to ignore my photos and pile those pita chips on the salad!

Expert Tips and Tricks

You can prepare all the salad ingredients ahead of time and store the salad components separately.
Frying stale pita bread is a great way to reduce waste, and they last for months when properly stored in an airtight container.
If it's tomato season, try making this salad with tomatoes, cucumber, radishes and shallots. The salad is out of this world and delicious this way. Try it and let me know what you think in the comments below.

More Classic Lebanese Recipes to Try

If you love this salad, you must try these

IF YOU LOVE MEDITERRANEAN RECIPES, subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates and recipes.

Yield: 6 servings

Lebanese Fattoush Salad

This Authentic Fattoush Salad is one of my favourite Lebanese recipes! A bowlful of lettuce, herbs, and veggies, drizzled with a tart garlicky-lemon dressing and topped with crunchy pita chips. This salad is fresh, loaded with flavour, and so healthy.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

4 cups of romaine lettuce, washed, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 mini cucumbers, diced
2 green onions, sliced*
4 radishes, diced
2-3 coloured peppers sliced
¼ cup mint, stems removed, finely chopped
¼ cup parsley, finely chopped

dressing

¼ cup olive oil
⅛ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon rind
½ teaspoon salt
1-2 garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sumac* (optional)
1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses* (optional)

pita chips

2 pieces of stale pita bread
2 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

Prepare the pita chips. Break or cut the pita bread into small pieces and fry them olive oil on the stovetop. Take them out as soon as they are golden brown and crispy. Alternatively, you can toss them with olive oil and place them in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350ºF until crispy and golden.
Chop the veggies: Chop up your veggies into small cubes or slices then add them to a large bowl and toss in the fresh parsley and mint.
Prepare the dressing: In a small mason jar add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, sumac and pomegranate molasses. Place the lid on the jar and shake everything together.
Combine your salad: Pour the dressing onto the salad and mix. Add the pita chips and Serve it up!

Notes

*If you don't have green onions, use 1 shallot or 2 tablespoons of red onion.

*If some family members don't like the tartness of pomegranate molasses, omit putting it into the dressing. Instead, add it to the top of your individual salad.

* Sumac is an important signature flavour to this salad, however, you can leave it out if you can't find it. I've included some links in the recipe card to help you find sumac.

Comments