Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Fattoush
A bright Syrian chopped salad of crisp vegetables and toasted flatbread in a tangy sumac and pomegranate molasses dressing.
Syrian · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 10 min
~56 cal · 2g protein · 11g carbs · 2g fat · 2g fiber · 4g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Fattoush is one of the great salads of the Levant, and in Syrian kitchens it is a bright tangle of chopped romaine, tomato, cucumber and radish tossed with shards of toasted or fried flatbread. Its name comes from the word for crumbs, a reference to those crisp bread pieces.
The defining flavours are , which lends its deep, fruity tartness, and , a Syrian favourite that gives the dressing its sweet-sour depth. It is a fresh, herby counterpoint to a spread of heavier dishes on the Damascus table.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, nut-, egg- 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
2 rounds pita or thin flatbread
1 heart romaine lettuce, chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
2 cucumbers, diced
4 radishes, sliced
3 , sliced
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1 tbsp ground
1 tbsp
1 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic, grated
1/3 cup olive oil
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Tear the flatbread into pieces, toss with a little olive oil and salt, and bake or fry until golden and crisp, then let cool.
2
Whisk the sumac, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and salt into a tangy dressing.
✎ Chef’s note
Soak the sumac in the lemon juice a few minutes first to draw out its full fruity tartness.
3
Combine the romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, scallions, parsley and mint in a large bowl.
4
Toss the vegetables with enough dressing to coat and taste for salt and lemon.
5
Add the toasted bread just before serving so it stays crisp, drizzle with a little more dressing, and serve at once.
Damascus home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Damascus. The mezze table is a sequence rather than a spread. Cold dishes go down first, hummus, labneh, pickles and vine leaves, then hot small plates, then grilled meat, and bread does the work of cutlery the whole way through. The point of it is that it takes a long time.
🗺️
Syria. Aleppo and Damascus are not interchangeable. Muhammara, red pepper and walnut pounded with pomegranate molasses, is Aleppine; so is the kibbeh made with sour cherries, and so is the seven-spice baharat that goes into it. Aleppo pepper is a named cultivar, halaby, sun-dried and rubbed with oil rather than simply dried, which is why it is fruity rather than sharp.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Syria
KibbehTorpedo-shaped bulgur shells stuffed with spiced meat and pine nuts, fried until crisp.
BalilaWarm chickpeas dressed with cumin, lemon, garlic, and olive oil, a simple Damascene breakfast.
Chicken ShawarmaMarinated spiced chicken roasted and shaved into flatbread with garlic sauce and pickles, the Levant's great street lunch.
Browse all Syria recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Whisk.
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
Make it a Syria meal
Sous (Licorice Drink)Drink
Halawet el JibnDessert
KibbehDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Fattoush?
A bright Syrian chopped salad of crisp vegetables and toasted flatbread in a tangy sumac and pomegranate molasses dressing.
Where does Fattoush come from?
Fattoush is a Syrian dish from Damascus, Syria.
Can Fattoush be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Fattoush 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 Fattoush 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 Fattoush take to make?
About 30 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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