Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Maftoul
Hand-rolled Palestinian couscous simmered with chicken and chickpeas in a warmly spiced broth, a warming village dish.
Palestinian · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 60 min
~900 cal · 66g protein · 126g carbs · 13g fat · 12g fiber · 14g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Maftoul is Palestine's hand-rolled and the comforting dish built around it, a staple of village kitchens especially in the West Bank. Larger and chewier than North African , the beads are rolled by hand from and flour, a communal, time-honoured task.
The pearls are steamed and then served with a stew of chicken and chickpeas simmered in a broth warm with caraway, cinnamon, and allspice, often reddened with tomato and sweetened with softened onions. Ladled over the maftoul, it is a homely, one-platter meal that speaks of Palestinian land and tradition.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
3 cups maftoul (large hand-rolled )
1 1/2 lb chicken pieces
2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 onions, sliced
3 cups butternut squash or pumpkin, in chunks
1 tbsp caraway, cinnamon, and allspice
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 tomato
Instructions
1
Simmer the chicken with the onion, caraway, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, bay leaf, and tomato into a fragrant broth.
✎ Chef’s note
Caraway is the signature spice here. It is not in every household version, but for many Palestinians it is what makes the dish taste of maftoul rather than of couscous.
2
Steam the maftoul over the broth (or cook it in some of the broth) until tender.
✎ Chef’s note
Steam the maftoul rather than boiling it hard, so the beads stay separate and chewy instead of turning to mush.
3
Simmer the squash and the chickpeas in the broth until the squash is tender, its sweetness playing against the earthy, warm spicing.
4
Mound the maftoul on a platter and top with the chicken, chickpeas, and plenty of broth.
Palestinian village tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
West Bank. Maqluba means upside down, and the pot is turned out in one piece so that the fried aubergine or cauliflower lining the base ends up on top. The dish is older than it looks, appearing in Baghdad cookbooks as far back as the thirteenth century.
🗺️
Palestine. Musakhan means heated, and the dish began as a way of using day-old taboon bread: soaked with new olive oil, piled with onions cooked slowly with sumac, and topped with chicken. It is associated with the Tulkarm and Jenin area and is made at olive-harvest time, when the first pressing of the year is running and the oil is at its sharpest.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Palestine
MusakhanSumac-and-onion roasted chicken over olive-oil-soaked taboon bread, showered with toasted pine nuts, Palestine on a platter.
Labneh with Za'atarThick strained yogurt swirled with olive oil and za'atar, scooped with warm taboon bread.
QatayefLittle stuffed pancakes filled with sweet walnuts, fried or baked and soaked in syrup, the classic sweet of Ramadan.
Browse all Palestine recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Palestine meal
Kharroub (Carob Drink)Drink
QatayefDessert
Palestinian MaqlubaDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Maftoul?
Hand-rolled Palestinian couscous simmered with chicken and chickpeas in a warmly spiced broth, a warming village dish.
Where does Maftoul come from?
Maftoul is a Palestinian dish from West Bank, Palestine.
Can Maftoul be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Maftoul recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Maftoul safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Maftoul take to make?
About 85 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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