Chicken fatteh turns warmly spiced shredded chicken, toasted pita, mint yogurt sauce, and crunchy nuts into a generous dinner bowl, with Lebanese rice and a crisp salad if you like.
A Modern Take on Lebanese Chicken Fatteh
I took the beloved layered Lebanese dish and gave it a practical dinner-bowl twist. You still get the contrast that makes chicken fatteh so special: warm spiced chicken, cool minty yogurt, crisp pita, and toasted nuts in every bite.
Traditionally, the shredded chicken, pita, yogurt sauce, and nuts are layered casserole-style. In my version, I build individual bowls—a little like the fatteh version of my gyro bowl. Add Lebanese rice and a simple tomato and cucumber salad alongside, and dinner is complete.
There are a few components, but none of them is fussy. You can prepare everything in stages, then assemble the bowls when you are ready to eat.
What is Chicken Fatteh?
In Arabic, the word fatteh means “crumbs” or “broken pieces,” referring to the pieces of day-old or toasted pita that form the foundation of the dish. Fatteh is actually a family of Middle Eastern dishes, so the ingredients and layering vary from one household to another.
Chicken fatteh typically combines pita, shredded chicken, yogurt sauce, and toasted nuts. Some versions include chickpeas or rice. My meatless fatteh recipe layers chickpeas with tahini yogurt, while this chicken version gets its bold flavor from sumac, paprika, warm whole spices, and plenty of fresh mint.
Here, I serve the chicken fatteh in individual bowls with the toasted pita underneath. The optional Lebanese rice and fresh salad sit alongside the chicken, so everyone can build their bowl just the way they like it.
Ingredients for Chicken Fatteh
This chicken fatteh recipe relies on a handful of warm spices and contrasting textures. You’ll find the complete measurements in the recipe card below, but here is what each ingredient brings to the bowl:
- Chicken breasts: Use bone-in chicken breasts with the skin removed, as directed in the tested recipe. They are gently poached with whole spices before being deboned, shredded, and seasoned again in the skillet.
- Apple cider vinegar and whole spices: A splash of apple cider vinegar adds acidity to the poaching liquid, while bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, lightly crushed green cardamom pods, and cloves bring a warm aroma.
- Extra virgin olive oil: A good extra virgin olive oil is used to soften the onion and garlic before the shredded chicken goes into the skillet.
- Onion and garlic: These aromatics form the savory base for the chicken. The mint yogurt sauce gets an additional hit of garlic.
- Paprika and sumac: Sweet Spanish paprika adds mild sweetness and color, while sumac brings its distinctive tangy, lemony flavor.
- Lebanese pita bread: Toast the pita until lightly browned, then break it into chips. These crisp pieces are the defining ingredient in any fatteh.
- Mint yogurt sauce: Plain low-fat yogurt, rather than Greek yogurt, forms the base of the sauce. Garlic and plenty of fresh mint make it cooling, savory, and aromatic.
- Pine nuts and sliced almonds: Toasted nuts give the finished bowl richness and crunch.
- Fresh parsley: Parsley adds fresh flavor and color to the finished bowls.
- Lebanese rice and Mediterranean salad: Both are optional, but they turn the chicken fatteh into the complete dinner bowl pictured here.
How to Make Chicken Fatteh
Chicken fatteh comes together in a few simple stages, and you can prepare several components while the chicken cooks. Follow this order so everything is ready to assemble at about the same time.
- Make the mint yogurt sauce. In a small bowl, combine the plain yogurt, crushed garlic, fresh or dried mint, and a pinch of salt. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the chicken.
- Prepare the optional sides. If you are serving the chicken fatteh as a complete dinner bowl, make the Lebanese rice and Mediterranean salad and set them aside.
- Poach the chicken. Arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer in a heavy pot or Dutch oven and season with salt. Add the apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, lightly crushed cardamom pods, and cloves. Pour in enough cold water to cover the chicken by about 1 inch.
- Cook until the chicken is done. Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring the water to a boil. Skim away any white foam that collects on the surface. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken registers 165°F on a meat thermometer.
- Cool and shred the chicken. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board with a slotted spoon. Strain and reserve the flavorful broth for another use. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the bones and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.
- Season the shredded chicken. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook for 4 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Finish the chicken mixture. Add the shredded chicken, paprika, and sumac. Season with salt and black pepper, stir until the chicken is evenly coated, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until warmed through. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in most of the toasted pine nuts and sliced almonds, reserving some for serving. Garnish with parsley.
- Build the chicken fatteh bowls. Divide the toasted pita among serving bowls. Spoon the warm chicken over the pita and finish with a generous scoop of mint yogurt sauce and the reserved toasted nuts. Add the optional Lebanese rice and Mediterranean salad alongside.
Tips for Making Chicken Fatteh
- Use green cardamom pods. This is the type I use for poaching the chicken. Lightly crush the pods before adding them to the pot to help release their aroma.
- Season the chicken in two stages. The whole spices perfume the chicken as it poaches. After shredding, sauté it with onion, garlic, paprika, and sumac for another layer of flavor.
- Skim the poaching liquid. Remove the white foam that rises to the surface before covering the pot. This is especially helpful if you plan to save the broth.
- Do not throw away the broth. Strain it and reserve it for another recipe, such as soup or rice.
- Toast the pita well. It should be lightly browned and crisp before you break it into chips. The contrast between warm chicken, creamy yogurt, and crunchy pita is what makes the bowl.
- Assemble just before serving. You can prepare the individual components ahead of time, but wait to build the bowls until everyone is ready to eat so the pita retains its texture.
- Allow extra time for the complete bowls. The Lebanese rice and Mediterranean salad are optional, but plan on about 25 additional minutes if you are making both.
- Adjust thicker yogurt if needed. The tested recipe uses plain low-fat yogurt. If the yogurt you have is thicker, I loosen it with a little olive oil and a splash of citrus.
What to Serve with Chicken Fatteh
Chicken fatteh already brings protein, creamy yogurt, crisp pita, and toasted nuts together in one generous bowl. You can serve it just like that, or add Lebanese rice with vermicelli and my fresh Mediterranean tomato and cucumber salad to make the complete dinner pictured here.
The fluffy rice catches the spiced chicken and yogurt sauce, while the tomato and cucumber salad brings freshness and crunch. Set everything out separately and let each person build their own bowl.
You can also serve chicken fatteh casserole-style. Spread the toasted pita across the bottom of a serving dish, add the chicken, and spoon the mint yogurt sauce over the top. Finish with the toasted nuts and fresh parsley just before serving.
Make Ahead and Storage
Chicken fatteh is best assembled just before serving, but you can prepare the individual components ahead of time. Keep the chicken, mint yogurt sauce, toasted pita, nuts, rice, and salad separate, then build the bowls when you are ready to eat.
If you have leftovers, refrigerate the chicken and yogurt sauce promptly and keep the pita separate when possible so it does not soften. USDA guidance recommends refrigerating cooked chicken within 2 hours and using it within 3 to 4 days.
More of My Lebanese Favorites
Meat and Poultry
Chicken Shawarma
Sides and Small Plates
Loaded Lebanese Rice: Hashweh (video)
Middle Eastern
Kofta Kebab Recipe
Middle Eastern
Fattoush Salad
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in chicken breasts, skins removed
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 whole green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 6 whole cloves
- Water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon sweet Spanish paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground sumac
- Black pepper
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
- 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
- Fresh parsley leaves, for garnish
- 2 loaves Lebanese pita bread, toasted in the oven until lightly brown and broken into chips
Mint Yogurt Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt, not Greek yogurt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint, or 2 to 4 tablespoons dried crushed mint
- pinch salt
To Serve
- Lebanese Rice Recipe, optional
- Mediterranean Salad Recipe, optional
Instructions
- Make the mint yogurt sauce. Add the yogurt, garlic, mint, and salt to a small bowl. Mix with a fork until well combined. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the remaining components.
- Prepare the optional sides. If using, prepare the Lebanese rice and Mediterranean salad according to their recipes. Set the rice aside. Cover and refrigerate the salad until serving.
- Prepare the chicken. Arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer in the bottom of a heavy pot or Dutch oven. Season with salt, then add the apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and cloves. Pour in enough cold water to cover the chicken by about 1 inch.
- Poach the chicken. Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring the water to a boil. Skim away the white foam that collects on the surface. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken registers 165°F on a meat thermometer.
- Cool the chicken. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Strain and reserve the broth for another use.
- Shred the chicken. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the bones and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.
- Sauté the aromatics. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Season the chicken. Add the shredded chicken, paprika, and sumac. Season with salt and black pepper and stir until the chicken is evenly coated. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until warmed through.
- Add the nuts. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in most of the toasted pine nuts and sliced almonds, reserving some for serving. Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Assemble the bowls. Divide the toasted pita among serving bowls. Add the chicken and top with a generous spoonful of mint yogurt sauce. Finish with the reserved toasted nuts. Add the optional Lebanese rice and Mediterranean salad alongside and serve immediately.
Notes
- For the complete dinner bowls: Allow about 25 additional minutes to prepare the Lebanese rice and Mediterranean salad. You can also prepare them while the chicken cooks.
- To serve casserole-style: Spread the toasted pita across the bottom of a serving dish. Add the chicken, followed by the mint yogurt sauce. Finish with the reserved toasted nuts and fresh parsley.
- Cardamom substitute: If you cannot find whole green cardamom pods, use 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom.
- Make ahead: Prepare the individual components ahead of time and keep them separate. Assemble the bowls just before serving so the pita retains its texture.
- Storage: Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours. Keep the toasted pita separate when possible and use the refrigerated chicken within 3 to 4 days.
- Shop this recipe: Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sweet Spanish Paprika, and Ground Sumac.
Nutrition
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Thank you so much! I am adding the three recipes for the rice with vermicelli, Mediterranean salad, the Lebanese chicken fatteh, and the yoghurt sauce (which makes four recipes) to my special folder of recipes to return to again and again. It is light. The blend of ingredients and textures is so good. Very happy to have come across these recipes and your site!
Aww! Thanks, Cynthia!
hola! me gustaria saber si puedo usar pechugas de pollo sin hueso, ya que es lo que tengo por montones, y si si, me gustaria saber cuanto seria el tiempo de cocion. muchas gracias
Absolutely delicious! So glad I tried this dish!
I made this tonight for my wife. It was delicious with the cucumber/tomato salad and Lebanese rice. I tasted the chicken after boiling with the spices and didn’t think that step added much to the flavor of the chicken, so added just a bit of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves to the onion, garlic, chicken mix. The instant pot worked well for the rice, roasting the vermicelli on the sauté setting first and using 3.25c water on the rice setting.
Overall would definitely recommend!
I can easily find powdered cardamom. Could I use this instead of whole cardamom, slightly crushed?
Sure, Patrick! That will work.Generally speaking, 10 cardamom Pods = 1.5 tsp ground cardamom. So for this recipe, I’d use about 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. Enjoy!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it. I was hoping you could help me. My brother’s college roommate used to make a Mediterranean dish for us. He was either Lebanese or from Pakistan. My brother isn’t around and I was in high school–not paying much attention. The dish was (as well as I can remember) chicken, rice, yogurt and cucumber cooked together in a deep skillet. It was delicious! This dish sounds closest. Can you help point me in the right direction???
Hi, Amy… Hmmmm… that’s a tough. I’m not 100 percent sure, but here is a chicken and rice recipe that you might find similar: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/middle-eastern-chicken-and-rice/
To Amy F. If I may, Try Pakistani chicken biryani.
Hi Amy from what you’ve described looks like a Pakistani chicken biryani. Usually served with a yoghurt raita which has cucumber and tomato.
I could not find cinnamon sticks or cardamon pods, so used 1 T of each, ground. I found that some of the spices stuck to 1 piece of chicken and none to the others. Unfortunately, the chicken lacked flavor. I think it’s because the ground is not as potent as the actua l sticks and pods. Next time I’ll look at some exotic stores in our area for those items . Now the rice was so delicious, and of course the salad (always a fan). I didn’t have yogurt so used sour cream for the topping, and it was good as well. Looking forward to making it again, with the right ingredients called for, of couse.
Thank you for sharing, Ellen!
This looks delicious, but do I have to use cardamon pods when I already have cardamon in a bottle? Sometimes I buy spices and they end up in my pantry for years or they expire and I have to pitch them. I hate wasting.
Hi, Ellen! You can use ground cardamom, if that’s what you a have on hand. Generally speaking, 10 cardamom Pods = 1.5 tsp ground cardamom. So for this recipe, I’d use about 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. Enjoy!
it will be a good idea to print the pictures with the recipe
Thanks for sharing, Ahmed!
I am in the process of gathering ingredients for this recipe tonight to cook tomorrow. Cardamom pods have been brought up several times. My question is, black or green cardamom pods? I have the black pods, but have not used them (yet).
We love your recipes. We did Koftedes meatballs the other night and Wow.
We use green cardamom, Nick. Thanks for checking!
I made this the other day as lunch for this week after spending the the previous week convincing my boyfriend — who claims not to “really like much Mediterranean food,” but loves the same Lebanese restaurant as me — that he would probably like it. I’m super pleased to announce that, with a few tweaks, he very much did! I’d been wanting to try something like this for a while now and am pleased as well, so thank you!
Quick question re the cardamon. The grocery store had lots of ground cardamon — but only one offering of “whole” cardamon, which we got. However, they seem to be very small, like pellets about the size of sesame seeds. I can’t imagine the recipe is supposed to be multiples of 4 little seeds?? How much of that would equal a “pod”?
Additionally, as far as the yogurt sauce — I prefer regular yogurt to low fat, but it is thicker, I believe. What’s the best way to thin it? Lemon? Oil? Water?
Also, someone said about not using mint in the yogurt sauce. I made two versions, one with the mint for me, and one without for him — he loves it as is (and the sauce was something I had to convince him on)!
Thank you so much for sharing, Kelley! I am so so glad to hear it worked out for you and that your boyfriend also enjoyed it. As far as cardamom goes, I believe what you bought is cardamom seeds, which are the insides of the cardamom pods. In general, there is about a dozen cardamom seeds per pod. Note when using the seeds themselves, you have a bit of a stronger flavor as opposed to the pods (I usually open my pods up a little to allow the flavors to release). You may have to play with that a bit.
Any kind of yogurt works here. You can certainly use a little extra virgin olive oil and a splash of citrus to thin the yogurt a little.
So excited to make this, but was wondering how many this meal serves?
Hi Jessica. This should give you 6 servings or so.