This traditional Lebanese Salad "Fattoush" is a colorful Mediterranean dish made with fresh vegetables, tangy lemon dressing, and crisp pita croutons. It's a refreshing, delicious, and healthy side dish you can serve with your favorite summer meals, BBQs, or picnics. Alternatively, same as Taboule Recipe (Lebanese Tabouli Salad), you can serve this Fattoush Salad as a healthy, light meal perfect for summer evenings.
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Fattoush Salad is a perfect way to use up leftover pita bread or Homemade Wheat Tortilla Bread hanging around. You can use any fresh and crunchy garden vegetables you have in your fridge for this nutritious and bright middle Eastern Salad.
What is Fattoush?
According to Wikipedia, Lebanese Fattoush Salad is originally from North Lebanon and is known by other names such as Fattoush (Arabic: فتوش; also fattush, fatush, fattoush, and fattouche). Same as Turkish Shepherd Salad (Coban Salatasi), this salad is highly popular among all communities in the Levant.
Fattoush Salad is traditionally made with fresh garden vegetables and a simple tangy lemon-olive oil dressing. Leftover fried Greek Pita Bread pieces are added to soak in the tangy dressing and create a crunchy texture. Sumac gives fattoush its sour taste, along with lemon juice and pomegranate molasses.
Ingredients and Substitutes
To make a Lebanese Fattoush Salad, you will need lettuce, radish, cucumber, tomato, fresh herbs, and pita chips, along with the tangy pomegranate dressing. You can add a few extras such as purslane leaves, green onions/red onions, peppers, and pitted olives.
Ingredients For the Chopped Salad
- Lettuce - I use a baby gem or romaine lettuce for this summer salad. Alternatively, you can use iceberg lettuce or purslane leaves.
- Tomatoes - I prefer using a variety of cherry tomatoes as they give extra brightness and sweetness to the salad. You can also use large varieties such as plum or vine tomatoes. If you don't want your salad overly juicy, scoop the seeds out of your tomatoes before adding them to the salad.
- Cucumbers - It is a very popular salad ingredient in Turkish - Middle Eastern cuisine. I prefer Persian cucumbers for my salad recipes such as Kisir (Turkish Bulgur Salad), Persian Shirazi Salad, and Greek Cucumber Salad. Alternatively, you can use large cucumbers. If using large cucumbers, make sure to peel and remove the seeds before adding them to the salad.
- Radish - They add a crispy texture as well as a peppery flavor. I use small pink breakfast radishes for some crunch and color.
- Red Onions - I love using red onions in my salad recipes. Slice them thinly to add a bit of crunch to the salad. You can use spring onions or white onions if you prefer. If you find the taste of raw onion too strong, soak the chopped onion in ice water for 10-15 minutes before adding it to the Fattoush Salad.
- Green peppers - I prefer using long Turkish green peppers for salads. They are one of the most popular peppers used in Turkish cuisine. They are usually mild but some of them can be quite hot. You can also use bell pepper or Spanish Padron peppers.
- Fresh herbs - I use fresh mint leaves, they are key in fattoush salad! However, you can use parsley, chives, or dill for this Mediterranean summer salad!
Ingredients For the Dressing
- Lemon juice - I always use lemon juice squeezed from fresh lemons instead of bottled lemon juice for a fresher and more delicious taste.
- Olive oil - I use good quality extra virgin olive oil for my salad dressings. It makes a huge difference in taste!
- Pomegranate molasses - It is a thick syrup made with pomegranate juice and is commonly used in Middle Eastern / Turkish recipes. It has an intense sweet-and-sour flavor and is perfect to use for salad dressings or marinade. You can buy it from most Turkish / Middle Eastern shops or online from Amazon. Don't substitute it with any other molasses. Instead, use extra lemon juice or balsamic glaze.
- Garlic - It is a great flavoring for Fattoush sauce and is absolutely essential. You can turn it into a paste with a mortar and pestle or grate it with a Microplane.
- Sumac - You can find sumac in most grocery stores and Middle Eastern / Mediterranean stores. They are also available to buy from Amazon.
- Dried mint - I use it to intensify the mint flavor along with the fresh ones.
- Pita chips - You can use store-bought pita bread or you can make your own.
Step-by-step Instructions
This Fattoush Salad recipe is very easy to follow and straightforward. However, to achieve the best results, you need to follow a few simple steps and tips:
Prepare the Fattoush Dressing
Grate, paste or finely chop the garlic and place it in a bowl. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients to the bowl and whisk them until combined.
You can also use a mason jar to make your salad dressing. Simply put everything in a jar, close the lid tightly, and give it a good shake until all is combined.
Make the Pita Chips
Cut the pita bread into bite-sized dice or triangles. Toss them with a tablespoon of olive oil and place them on a baking sheet. Broil in the oven for a few minutes, or until browned and crispy. Alternatively, you can fry them in a pan or you can use your air fryer to make pita chips.
Prepare the Vegetables
Wash, dry, and then roughly chop the lettuce leaves.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves. If using large tomatoes, cut them into bite-sized cubes. You can deseed the tomatoes if you don't want your salad too juicy.
Slice the cucumbers and peppers, peel and deseed the cucumbers if using large cucumbers. Chiffonade the fresh mint leaves to avoid them getting dark.
Finely slice the radish and red onions. Alternatively, you can cut the radishes into quarters and dice the red onion.
Build Your Fattoush Salad
Place the lettuce, chopped vegetables, and mint leaves into a large mixing bowl. Pour on the salad dressing and sprinkle on the ½ teaspoon of sumac along with ½ teaspoon of dried mint and half of the pita chips.
Mix them gently until they are all combined and garnish them with the rest of the pita chips just before serving your salad.
Top Tips From the Chef
- As with any fresh salad, use the best and freshest ingredients you can possibly get. Always use extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice for the dressing. Avoid ready-made pita chips if possible, it only takes a few minutes to make your own!
- Make sure you taste the salad dressing before you add it to your vegetables and adjust the amount of the ingredients to your taste.
- Top your Fattoush Salad with some leftover homemade Lebanese Falafel patties for a delicious vegan meal!
Recipe FAQs
Sumac is a popular spice in Middle Eastern and Turkish cooking. It is a versatile seasoning that adds bright red color and tartness to the salad. I use it in my onion salads to serve with Tantuni and Arnavut Cigeri recipes.
You can prepare the dressing up to two weeks in advance and keep it refrigerated in an airtight container or jar until needed.
You can make your pita chips up to five days in advance and keep them at room temperature in an airtight container.
I don't recommend preparing your vegetables and herbs in advance.
This delicious Mediterranean salad is the perfect side dish to pair with:
BBQ Garlic Butter Prawns, Salmon and Spinach Quiche, Baked Boneless Chicken Thighs, Beyti Kebab, Cokertme Kebabi, Vegan Moussaka Without Béchamel, and Grilled Lamb Kofta - Izgara Kofte.
Related Recipes
For more delicious Mediterranean Salad recipes why not try:
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this authentic Lebanese Fattoush Salad as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!
Lebanese Fattoush Salad
Equipment
- 1 peeler
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Vegetables
- 1 head baby gem lettuce (roughly sliced)
- 3 Persian or Turkish cucumber (sliced)
- 10 cherry tomatoes (cut in halves)
- 1 Turkish green pepper or ½ green bell pepper (sliced)
- 8 small radishes (thinly sliced)
- 1 small red onion (thinly sliced)
- 10 fresh mint leaves (finely shredded)
For the Garnish
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- ½ teaspoon dried mint
- 1 pita bread (cut in small pieces)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Prepare the Fattoush Dressing
- Grate or finely chop the garlic and place it in a bowl.
- Add the rest of the dressing ingredients to the bowl and whisk them until combined.
- You can also use a mason jar to make your salad dressing. Simply put everything in a jar, close the lid tightly and give it a good shake until all combined.
Make the Pita Chips
- Cut the pita bread into bite-sized dice or triangles.
- Toss them with a tablespoon of olive oil and place them on a baking sheet.
- Broil in the oven for a few minutes, or until browned and crispy. Alternatively, you can fry them in a pan or you can use your air fryer to make pita chips.
Prepare the Vegetables
- Wash, dry, and then roughly chop the lettuce leaves.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves. If using large tomatoes, cut them into bite-sized cubes. You can deseed the tomatoes if you don't want your salad too juicy.
- Slice the cucumbers and peppers, peel and deseed the cucumbers if using large cucumbers.
- Chiffonade the fresh mint leaves to avoid them getting dark.
- Finely slice the radish and red onions. Alternatively, you can cut the radishes into quarters and dice the red onion.
Build Your Fattoush Salad
- Place the lettuce, chopped vegetables, and mint leaves into a large mixing bowl.
- Pour on the salad dressing and sprinkle on the ½ teaspoon of sumac along with ½ teaspoon of dried mint and half of the pita chips.
- Mix them gently until they are all combined and garnish them with the rest of the pita chips just before serving your salad.
Notes
- Fattoush Salad is a perfect way to use up leftover pita bread hanging around.
- If you don't want your salad overly juicy, scoop the seeds out of your tomatoes before adding them to the salad.
- You can prepare the dressing up to two weeks in advance and keep it refrigerated in an airtight container or jar until needed.
- If you find the taste of raw onion too strong, soak the chopped onion in ice water for 10-15 minutes before adding it to the Fattoush Salad.
- Make this vegan salad gluten-free by substituting regular pita bread with a gluten-free version.
- As with any fresh salad, use the best and freshest ingredients you can possibly get. Always use extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice for the dressing.
- If using large cucumbers, make sure to peel and remove the seeds before adding them to the salad.
Nutrition
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Dana
Absolutely magnificent taste follow the steps and it will turn out beautiful every time.
Zoe
Delicious salad!! Was a hit with the family - colourful, healthy and tasty.