Lebanon's vibrant bread salad — a fresh toss of tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, herbs, and crispy toasted pita, dressed in a bright lemony sumac vinaigrette. The crunch is everything.
Fattoush is the Lebanese answer to the eternal question of what to do with day-old pita bread. The answer, it turns out, is to make something better than what you started with. The word fattoush comes from the Arabic "fatteh," meaning crumbled bread — and crumbled bread, in Lebanese hands, becomes architecture. The salad's defining flavor is sumac — a deep ruby spice ground from dried berries that grows wild across the Levant. Sumac brings a tart, almost citrusy bite that brightens every element it touches. Combined with fresh lemon juice and good olive oil, the dressing of fattoush is one of the most refreshing things you can pour over vegetables. Nothing is wilted here. Nothing is tired. Every bite crunches. Fattoush belongs to the mezze tradition — the Lebanese art of laying many small dishes on a table and eating communally for hours. It appears alongside hummus, tabbouleh, baba ganoush, and fresh bread, each dish a different texture and temperature. In Lebanese homes, fattoush is never the same twice: some families add pomegranate molasses for sweetness, others include fresh mint and purslane. The bread is always last — added just before serving so it stays crisp long enough to eat.
Join FlavorBridge to explore authentic recipes from cultures around the world — with comments, ratings, and the stories behind every dish.
Open Interactive Recipe →