Fattoush Salad makes a frequent appearance on the Middle Eastern dinner table. A simple chopped salad dressed in a zesty lime vinaigrette. Homemade pita chips serve as croutons! See the video and step-by-step for how to make fattoush below.
In the Middle East, the pursuit of fresh-out-of-the-oven pita is real, but that doesn't mean leftover pieces go to waste!
There are many creative ways people of the Middle East utilize pita scraps. In fact, day-old pita inspired an entire food genre known as "Fatta," or "Fatteh." In fatteh dishes, like this Lebanese Chicken Fatteh or fattoush salad, leftover pita is given a second chance as a main ingredient.
See video tutorial for how to make our simple fattoush salad:
What is Fattoush?
Fattoush is essentially a "bread salad," said to have originated in Northern Lebanon. Lebanese farmers would fry leftover pita scraps in a bit of olive oil for extra flavor. And to build their fattoush, they'd simply throw the pita chips in with whatever in-season vegetables and herbs they have on hand.
For this reason, the ingredient list for fattoush may vary. And you will certainly find different versions of fattoush throughout the Middle East.
Basic Fattoush Recipe
If you were to order a basic fattoush salad at a local restaurant, you likely find: cucumbers, tomatoes, purslane leaves (or lettuce), radish, and green onions. Fresh herbs like parsely or mint, or both. A simple zesty vinaigrette and a generous dash of sumac spice give fattoush its distinctly complex flavor.
Tips for Making Fattoush
As with any fresh salad, fattoush is the sum of its parts. So here are just a few tips:
- Start with selecting the best produce you find, ripe tomatoes, freshly-picked herbs, etc.
- Don't use store-bought pita chips (there is certainly a place for those, but not in fattoush salad). Take the time to toast and fry your pita at home, making sure you season them well.
- Please try not to skip sumac. It is a special spice from ground sumac berries, and it's tart flavor is very hard to replicate.
- Use the best quality extra virgin olive oil you can find. It's peppery, fruity taste is essential here. Remember, olive oils that are simply labeled “pure” have usually been heat-treated and refined by mechanical mean and, consequently, lack character and flavor.
- Lastly, remember, this is a "basic" fattoush recipe. If you like, try your own variation by adding in-season vegetables like colorful heirloom tomatoes or even green peppers. Add more herbs or crushed garlic. And if it's available to you, jazz up the vinaigrette with 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses. Enjoy!
Fattoush Salad
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: serves 6
Description
Fattoush Salad makes a frequent appearance on the Middle Eastern dinner table. A simple chopped salad dressed in a zesty lime vinaigrette. Homemade pita chips serve as croutons! See the video and step-by-step for how to make fattoush below.
Ingredients
- 2 loaves pita bread
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 2 tsp sumac, divided, more as needed
- 1 heart of Romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 English cucumber, cut in half, seeds scraped, then chopped or sliced into half moons
- 5 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 5 green onions (both white and green parts), chopped
- 5 radishes, stems removed, thinly sliced
- 2 cups chopped fresh parsley leaves, stems removed
- 1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves (optional)
Vinaigrette/Dressing
- Juice of 1 lemon or 1 ½ limes
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses, optional
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tsp sumac
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- scant ¼ tsp ground allspice
Instructions
- Break the pita bread into small bite-size pieces. Heat 3 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan until shimmering, and add the pita bread. Fry briefly until browned, tossing frequently. Using a pair of tongs, transfer the fried pita chips to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Season with salt, pepper and sumac.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions with the sliced radish and parsley.
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together the lemon or lime juice, olive oil, pomegranate molasses (if using), salt, pepper and spices.
- Pour toss lightly. Finally, add the pita chips, and more sumac if you like, and toss one more time. Transfer to small serving bowls or plates. Enjoy!
Notes
- Variations: fattoush salad dressing often includes pomegranate molasses. If that's available to you, add 1 to 2 teaspoons to the dressing, it really does make it extra special. For the salad, you can also add more herbs or other greens such as arugula (not traditional to fattoush but wonderful!)
- To bake the pita chips instead, follow baking instructions in my homemade pita chip recipe and season with kosher salt and sumac when ready.
- Recommended for This Recipe: quality extra virgin olive oil; all-natural sumac spice; all-natural allspice.
- SAVE! Try our Exotic 4-pack of spices or our Everyday Olive Oil Bundle!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Category: Salad
- Method: Counter Top
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Step-by-step photos for how to make fattoush
Toast the pita bread in your toaster oven until it is crisp but not browned.
Heat 3 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan. Break the pita bread into pieces, and place in the heated oil. Fry briefly until browned, tossing frequently. Add salt, pepper and ½ teaspoon of sumac. Remove the pita chips from the heat and place on paper towels to drain.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions with the sliced radish and parsley.
To make the lime vinaigrette, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil and spices in a small bowl.
Dress the salad with the vinaigrette and toss lightly.
Finally, add the pita chips (and another generous pinch of sumac, if you like) and toss one more time.
Transfer to small serving bowls or plates. Enjoy!
More Recipes to Try:
3-Ingredient Mediterranean Salad
*Post last updated: July 2017
I fell over this salad recipe which is excellent. The other recipes are just perfect as well. Thanks for not being too breezy and making every thing quite clear how the food is bought, prepared and cooked!
So glad to hear it, Edith. Thank you for sharing!
Simply one of our favorite salads ever. We first discovered it at a local Mediterranean restaurant, and their crispy pita is tremendous. But since COVID, we've not ordered in or eaten out,. Was so happy to find this recipe online, together with Suzy's other recipes in the little cookbook.
But you simply must try this salad. And if you don't have sumac, well rush right out and get some. We ordered it from Williams but your local ethnic grocer is just as likely to have it. The complex flavors of the vinaigrette and the sumac and the olive oil cannot be beaten.
Thank you for the lovely framework! Best salad, ever!
Thank you for sharing, James!
Love all the recipes on this site and always look forward to more but the amount of ads on it - both video and pop-ups are too much! Wish there were less.
Thank you for sharing, Dana. So glad you're enjoying the recipes. The controlled number of ads on our site, relative to many others our size, is what allows us to share content with all our readers 100% for FREE. We do not charge membership fees or our email list and everyone is welcome to access and enjoy the content free of charge, thanks to the few ads you see here. I hope this explains it.
Love this salad, especially the dressing. Even my daughter who is not a fan of tomatoes and cucumber can’t get enough of this recipe!
I read the other comments and am always amused at how people find the need to nitpick ingredients and say it’s not traditional. Home cooks world over put their own spin on recipes according to what is on hand and their own taste. Lighten up people! I put feta on mine and I love how the herbs replace lettuce.
I am going to try it with pomegranate molasses because I love it!
I am enjoying your recipes, looking forward to summer in Australia so I can make use of our wonderful Mediterranean produce.
Thank you for the kind words, Jane! So glad you and your family enjoyed the salad!
This was completely delicious. We had it last night with grilled marinated chicken. My 11 year old declared that she "loves" it! I love the spices and texture of the pita! It's a keeper!
Awesome! Thanks, Katie!
I have also been told that a sprinkle of zatar on the pita as it comes out of the pan is a good thing. We recently bought a bag of Lebanese zatar that has quite a few more ingredients than just the classic sesame,thyme,sumac, and oregano. (real delish)
I feel like a sprinkle of Za'atar on just about anything is a good thing :). Thanks, Dave!
Our fav fattoush recipe! We use an Udi's gluten free pizza crust in place of the pita - works well.
Yay! Thanks for the gluten free variation idea!
Hi, the recipe in general is very close to how it's made in its place of origin i.e Syria ( not Lebanon) and I'm Syrian Lebanese. Lebanon as a country is less than 100 year old (1938) when Fattoush has been in existence for hundreds if not a thousand of years. The ingredients that I disagree with are the pepper, cinnamon and all spice which have no place in Fattoush while sumac as you said is a must. Mint is not optional but radish is and like Sarah said pomegranate molasses is another must. There is another ingredient that's always used in Fattoush which is Portulaca but it might not be available outside of the Mediterranean and Middle East regions so this is optional if not available.
Hello, Hala! Thanks for sharing. This is just our own variation of fattoush, and yes, we did take some liberties with spices that we enjoy. I personally love pomegranate molasses, but because it is not always available in the USA markets, we offer this variation that allows folks to use ingredients they may find more easily.
Great recipe but a fattoush salad is not a fattoush salah without pomegranate molasses in the dressing, i would skip on the cinnamon and all spice and just add olive oil, lemon, pomegranate molasses and salt pepper, sumac and oregano
Glad you liked it, Sarah! Thanks for the suggestions!!
Easy quick recipe!!!
It IS! Hope you enjoyed it!
Great recipe; thank you! Reminds me of our travels to Greece and Turkey. Please give us more recipes for sumac now that I own a good supply! You must be a fast chopper - it took me a lot longer than 20 minutes to wash and chop all. The mint is a must, I think.
I've enjoyed fattoush salads for years, but had no idea that it referred to the pita. I thought it pertained to the sumac. But now I know and I have a jar of sumac to use.
That's great, now let's put that sumac to use, eh?!
My wife and I have made this a couple times now, and thoroughly enjoy it. Can you help me understand the function of 2 cups of parsley? We have opted to use less, and still find the parsley overwhelms the rest of the dish. What am I missing about its role? Thank you!
Hi Wayne! So glad to hear it! You can adjust the parsley to your liking; fattoush is a traditional Middle Eastern salad that uses a generous bit of parsley. It's fine if you want to take that down a bit.
Is it a good idea to mix with hummus?
You can certainly serve it on top of hummus and enjoy with warm pita bread.
Is sumac the same thing as summak? All I can find in grocers near me is summak.
There could be more than one spelling Hayley,but I can't be certain. This is the sumac I use: https://shop.themediterraneandish.com/product/sumac/
I found your recipe interesting since I live in india in a place called bengaluru I wish I knew where I could get sumac nd pomegranate molasses