This fattoush salad is made with crispy bits of pan-fried pita bread, fresh herbs and veggies all dressed in a zippy lemon vinaigrette. Refreshing, delicious, and perfect as a side or light main dish!
I totally fell in love with fattoush the first time I tried it. It's an amazingly delicious and satisfying salad, and perfect even for non-salad folks.
Fattoush is a Lebanese salad made with fresh veggies and tangy dressing. But it's defining feature is the fried pita bread. So good! Little bits of pita get pan-fried in olive oil and mixed right in with the salad. They're like the ultimate croutons!
In addition to the delicious fried pita bits, fattoush features crispy romaine, cucumber, tomatoes and radishes. It's an excellent dish to make in the middle of summer when these veggies are abundant. On top of it all we've got a zesty, garlicky dressing that's good enough to eat by the spoonful.
This salad is absolutely flavor-packed and refreshing. It can stand on it's own as a main dish, or you can serve it as a side and pair it up with other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern favorites like Mediterranean red lentil soup, roasted garlic hummus, mujadara, or baked falafel.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Pita bread. I used whole wheat pita bread, but white pita will work just fine.
- Olive oil. Don't substitute this. Olive will give your salad the best flavor.
- Salt and pepper.
- Lemon juice. Use freshly squeezed juice. The bottled stuff doesn't have much flavor.
- Garlic.
- Pomegranate molasses. This is optional and will add a slightly sweet, fruity character to the dressing. Look for it in the international aisle of your supermarket.
- Ground sumac. Sumac is a quintessential flavor of good fattoush, so please don't skip it! You may be able to find it in the spice or international aisle of the supermarket. If not, try a Middle Eastern market or online.
- Romaine lettuce.
- Roma tomatoes. Other varieties of tomatoes will work fine, but you may want to remove the seeds before using them.
- Cucumber.
- Radishes.
- Scallions. Also known as green onions.
- Fresh parsley.
- Fresh mint.
How It's Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe.
Start by pan-frying your pita bread.
Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and add torn up bits of pita bread. Pan fry them for a few minutes, making sure to let them sit on the hot surface rather than stirring constantly.
You can flip the pita a few times while it cooks. It's done when the pieces have lots of brown and crispy spots. Sprinkle the pita bits with salt and pepper. Take them out of the skillet and let them cool while you make the salad and dressing.
Stir the dressing ingredients together in a small container, such as a liquid measuring cup.
Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients. Give it a toss, then add the fried pita bread and toss again.
Your fattoush salad is ready! Serve it right away.
Leftovers & Storage
If you think you'll have leftovers, I highly recommend keeping a portion of the fried pita separate, as it will quickly get soggy once you add dressing. The salad will keep (with or without pita) in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days. The pita will keep in an airtight container or sealed bag at room temperature for about a week.
More Salad Recipes
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Fattoush
This fattoush salad is made with crispy bits of pan-fried pita bread, fresh herbs and veggies all dressed in a zippy lemon vinaigrette. Refreshing, delicious, and perfect as a side or light main dish!
Ingredients
- 2 loaves pita bread, torn into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses, optional
- 1 teaspoon ground sumac
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
For the Salad
- 1 medium head romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
- 12 ounces Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 medium cucumber, diced
- 3 medium radishes, sliced
- 2 scallions, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
Instructions
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Pan-fry the pita bread first. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place it over medium-high heat.
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Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the pita bread pieces.
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Let the pita bread sit in the hot oil for a few minutes, until the pieces start to brown and crisp. Flip them and let them cook for a few more minutes. They should have lots of dark crispy spots when done.
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Sprinkle the pita bread lightly with salt and pepper. Remove it from the skillet and transfer it to a plate.
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Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl or container such as a liquid measuring cup. Taste-test the dressing and season it with more salt, if desired.
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Combine the salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add the dressing. Toss to coat the vegetables with the dressing.
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Add the pita bread and toss again to coat the pita with dressing.
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Serve immediately.
My mom is a "super gardener" - she has a fence around her garden to help keep baby bunnies out. She also uses pinwheels - the shiny ones we had as kids - and places those around the outside of the garden and the reflections scare off the bunnies and deer!
Ohhh...I hadn't heard that one! Thank you - I literally just went on amazon and ordered pinwheels. I was out back a little while ago and one of the bunnies was going at it, so hopefully they will help. I totally appreciate the advice :)
Fattoush is one of my all time favorite salads! I love your version of it with chickpeas!
Me too!!! The chickpeas really did make it hearty and meal-worthy. Thanks Dawn!
Hey Alissa, do you happen to know fat/calorie counts in this dish? TIA.
Hi Shef! Sorry, but I don't usually do the nutritional calculations for my recipes. I know there are a number of websites that you can plug the recipe into - here's one you could try.