Ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions and torn grilled flatbread pulled together by a tangy buttermilk dressing and a hint of lemony sumac. This delicious fattoush salad is not to be missed!
Serve this delicious salad with Chicken Souvlaki for the taste of the Mediterranean!
Warm weather is absolutely unimaginable without fresh, seasonal salads. If you are anything like me, you probably also default to what you know. The familiar and the comfortable are not bad things but they could get boring! Quickly.
Fattoush Salad
So let me introduce you to a new salad that is fresh, creative and all around delicious. The taste is exciting and somehow vaguely familiar.
If you grew up eating this simple Tomato and Cucumber Salad all summer long like I did, you will fall head over heels in love with this Lebanese version of it.
This salad is obviously at its best when made with ripe, in season tomatoes, cucumbers and loads of herbs. Visit a local farmer’s market for the best produce. Even better if you grow your own because nothing compares to sweet and juicy tomatoes ripened under the sun instead of a hot house.
What makes fattoush salad even more special is grilled and torn flatbread that gets mixed into the vegetables! It’s almost like a Lebanese cousin of the Italian Panzanella salad.
They share a similar concept. Simple fresh vegetables plus day old bread, so nothing goes to waste!
The dressing
You can go two ways here. The dressing for fattoush salad could be oil or buttermilk based. They are both delicious but I lean heavily towards creamy dressings as a result of me growing up on sour cream!
The dressing I am sharing today is a mix of buttermilk, vinegar, lemon juice, mint, garlic and oil oil. It’s wonderfully tangy and flavourful!
Sumac spice is added at the end to add a nice tang to the salad. If you are not familiar with sumac, give it a try. Its bright orange colour and bold lemon flavour will brighten up any dish!
What to Serve with Fattoush Salad
I am a huge fan of the Middle Eastern style of eating. Loads of bold flavours, vibrant vegetables and fresh herbs. What could be better! It seems very complicated at first glance but nothing is further from the truth when you dig a bit deeper.
I love serving this salad with freshly baked falafel and a side of tabbouleh. I always add some baba ganoush and hummus to the mix!
With a little help from good cookbooks and online recipes it’s easy to recreate the flavours you love at home.
One of my favourite cookbooks is by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi “Jerusalem.” A collection of the authors’ personal favourites from their childhoods spent in Jerusalem. This Fattoush salad comes from that book.
More Middle Eastern inspired recipe to try:
This recipe was originally published 02/2014. Updated and republished in 06/2020.
Middle-Eastern Fattoush Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Stale Naan or Turkish flatbread grilled, large
- 3 Ripe Tomatoes large, diced into ¼ inch
- 1 Thin English Cucumber or mini cucumbers 1 large or 3 mini, diced into ¼ inch,
- 2-3 green onions thinly sliced
- 25g/1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
- 250ml/1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
- 1 tbsp dried mint
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¾ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sumac orange Middle Eastern spice (lemon flavour)
Instructions
- Grill or toast your naan or flatbread.
- In a large bowl combine diced cucumbers, tomatoes, sliced onions, crushed garlic and chopped parsley.
- In a small bowl combine buttermilk, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, olive oil, dried mint.
- Pour the dressing over your vegetables, stir to combine and season with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle with sumac and let it sit for 10 minutes for the flavours to blend. Tear the bread into small pieces and mix in the salad.
Marina says
What I can substitute buttermilk with? Perhaps kefir? Thx
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
I would go with plain yogurt first and if you don’t have any, then yes, kefir!
Teri says
I can not find this place in Vancouver. Where exactly did you find this place?
vikalinka says
That place was actually in Thunder Bay, Teri. 🙂
sue/the view from great island says
I’ve been wanting to try this salad, it’s almost a Middle Eastern version of panzanella, which I love. Isn’t Jerusalem just a treasure?
vikalinka says
It really is, Sue! The authors are speaking at the Food Blogger Connect conference in London this June, I can’t wait to hear them. 🙂
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
I love fattoush salad, this would make a perfect lunch!
Angela says
This looks so good! I must try it!! I love those flavors mixed together…and it’s also healthy! 🙂