Levant Cuisine Recipes

What is Levantine food?

“Levant” is a loose geographic term for the eastern Mediterranean, and Levantine cuisine usually refers to the food of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Depending on who is drawing the map, neighboring areas, including parts of southern Turkey, Cyprus and Israel, are sometimes included too. The borders of a cuisine are blurry, and many dishes are shared across the region under slightly different names and with local variations.

What ties it together is a style of cooking: plenty of vegetables, legumes and grains, olive oil, lemon, fresh herbs, and meat used as one part of the meal rather than always the center. Food is typically served for sharing, with many small dishes on the table at once.

The Levantine pantry

You can cook much of this cuisine from a short list of staples:

• Olive oil, used generously for cooking and for finishing dishes.
• Lemon, for brightness in salads, dips and marinades.
• Tahini (sesame paste), the base of hummus and many sauces.
• Chickpeas, lentils and bulgur, the backbone of many everyday dishes.
• Sumac and za’atar. Sumac is a tart, deep-red spice; za’atar is a blend that typically includes thyme, sesame and sumac, though mixes vary.
• Fresh herbs, especially parsley and mint, used by the bunch.
• Yogurt and labneh, the strained yogurt covered in our labneh breakfast recipes.
• Pita or other flatbread to scoop and wrap. For a neighboring Mediterranean tradition, see traditional Greek bread recipes.

Mezze: dips and small plates

Mezze is a spread of small dishes meant to be shared. Common examples include:

• Hummus, blended chickpeas with tahini, lemon and garlic.
• Baba ganoush (or mutabbal), smoky roasted eggplant, often with tahini.
• Labneh, thick strained yogurt drizzled with olive oil.
• Warak enab, vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, sometimes with meat.
• Kibbeh, bulgur and meat shells, which can be fried, baked or served raw in some places.

A few dips, a salad and warm bread already make a satisfying meal.

Salads and vegetable dishes

Two salads show up on nearly every list of Levantine dishes:

• Tabbouleh is mostly parsley, with a little bulgur, tomato, mint and a lemon and olive oil dressing.
• Fattoush combines chopped vegetables with crisp pieces of toasted or fried bread, usually dressed with lemon and often sumac.

Vegetables are also stewed with olive oil and tomato, stuffed (zucchini and eggplant are popular), or roasted until soft.

Breads and breakfast

Flatbreads are central. Manakish is a baked flatbread topped with za’atar and olive oil, cheese, or spiced minced meat, and is commonly eaten for breakfast. A breakfast table might also include olives, cucumbers and tomatoes, eggs, and labneh. For more morning ideas, see our labneh breakfast recipes.

Mains: rice, meat and one-pot dishes

• Maqluba (“upside-down”) is a pot of rice with vegetables and sometimes meat, flipped onto a platter before serving.
• Mujaddara is lentils and rice (or bulgur) topped with caramelized onions. See the recipe below.
• Shish tawook and kebabs are grilled, marinated meats served with garlic sauce or bread. Iran has its own kebab tradition; see Iranian lamb dishes.
• Shawarma is meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced into bread or onto a plate. It is typically made at specialist shops, but home versions use a marinated roast or pan-seared meat.
• Stews such as bamya (okra) with tomato are served over rice.

Recipe: tabbouleh

Serves about 4 as a side.

Ingredients

• 3 large bunches flat-leaf parsley, washed and very well dried
• 1/4 cup fine bulgur, rinsed and soaked in a little water or lemon juice until tender
• 3 ripe tomatoes, finely diced
• 1/2 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
• 3 to 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• Juice of 2 lemons, to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Pick the parsley leaves and chop them finely with a sharp knife. Dry parsley keeps the salad from turning soggy.
2. Drain the bulgur and squeeze out any excess liquid.
3. Combine the parsley, bulgur, tomato, mint and spring onions.
4. Dress with lemon juice, olive oil and salt just before serving. Taste and adjust the lemon.

Serve with crisp lettuce or romaine leaves for scooping.

Recipe: mujaddara

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown or green lentils, rinsed
• 3/4 cup rice
• 3 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Salt and pepper
• Yogurt and a simple chopped salad to serve

Method

1. Simmer the lentils in plenty of water for about 15 minutes, until partly tender.
2. Meanwhile, cook the onions in the olive oil over medium heat, stirring often, for 25 to 35 minutes until deep golden brown. Set a third aside for topping.
3. Add the rice, cumin, salt and the rest of the onions to the lentils with enough water to cover by about 1 inch (2.5 cm). Cover and cook gently until the rice is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes, adding a splash of water if needed.
4. Fluff, top with the reserved onions, and serve with yogurt and salad.

Cooking times vary by lentil type and pot, so check for tenderness. If you enjoy this style of everyday food, see how a similar pantry shows up in our easy Israeli food recipes.

Sweets and drinks

Desserts range from syrup-soaked pastries such as baklava and knafeh (shredded pastry or semolina with cheese, soaked in sugar syrup) to ma’amoul, filled shortbread-style cookies often made for holidays. Everyday endings are simpler: fruit, nuts, or a small coffee. Many of these sweets appear during the month of fasting; see our guide to Ramadan feast food.

What is the national dish of Lebanon?

There is no single official answer. Kibbeh is frequently described as Lebanon’s national dish, and tabbouleh and hummus are also widely treated as national symbols. If someone asks, it is safest to say that several dishes compete for the title.

A simple Levantine home menu

If you want a first meal to cook:

1. Hummus and warm pita
2. Tabbouleh
3. Mujaddara with yogurt
4. Sliced cucumber, tomato and olives
5. Fruit and a few dates or sweets to finish

Most of it can be prepared ahead, which suits a relaxed table of shared dishes.

FAQ

What type of food is Levantine? It is an eastern Mediterranean cuisine built on vegetables, legumes, grains, olive oil, herbs and lemon, usually served family-style.

What are some popular Arab dishes? Hummus, tabbouleh, fattoush, kibbeh, maqluba, mujaddara, shawarma, manakish and knafeh are often named, though Arab cuisines vary widely across countries.

What is a good home-cooked meal to start with? Mujaddara or a mezze spread with a couple of dips and a salad are forgiving and need no special equipment.