Hummus with Spiced Ground Beef Recipe for Hummus bil Lahme. Best Middle Eastern recipes. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Best Middle Eastern Recipes for Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Fattoush, Kofta and More

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Our best Middle Eastern recipes include recipes for everything from Middle Eastern dips served as mezze starters and appetisers that are made to be shared, such as hummus and baba ganoush, to Middle Eastern salads fattoush, tabbouleh and hummus balila. We’ve also got recipes for quintessential Middle Eastern dishes such as beef kofta and shish taouk.

This compilation of our best Middle Eastern recipes includes the Middle Eastern dishes that are most popular with our readers, which also happen to be the dishes from the Middle East that we have long loved to cook since we lived in the Middle East, in the United Arab Emirates, and travelled the region for work and pleasure.

We’ve got recipes for everything from Middle Eastern mezze, dips, snacks and appetisers that are made to be shared such as hummus and baba ganoush, to Middle Eastern salads such as fattoush and hummus balila. We’ve also got recipes for quintessential Middle Eastern dishes such as beef kofta and shish tawook.

But before I share our best Middle Eastern recipes, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve cooked our recipes and enjoyed them, please consider supporting Grantourismo. One way is by making a donation to our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon, which you can do for as little as the price of a coffee. Or you could buy us a coffee and we’ll use our coffee money to buy cooking ingredients for recipe testing.

Another option is to use links to the products below on Amazon or buy something, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellersJames Beard award-winning cookbookscookbooks by Australian chefsclassic cookbooks for serious cookstravel books to inspire wanderlust, and gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers. We may earn a small commission but you won’t pay any extra.

Alternatively, you could use these links to buy travel insurancerent a car, book accommodation, or book a tour on Get Your Guide. You could also browse our Grantourismo store for gifts for food lovers designed with Terence’s images. Now let me tell you all about our best Middle Eastern recipes.

Best Middle Eastern Recipes for Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Fattoush, Kofta and More

Our best Middle Eastern recipes include recipes for quintessential Middle Eastern dishes, from a traditional homemade hummus to a crunchy fattoush salad with crispy pita chips.

Homemade Traditional Hummus

Hummus is a beloved Arabic dip typical eaten with an array of mezze or starters right across the Middle East. Thought to have originated in medieval Egypt, hummus is found right across the Arab world, from North Africa through to the Levantine countries of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine, and throughout the Arabian Peninsula.

Our easy authentic hummus recipe makes a homemade traditional creamy hummus that a Lebanese friend taught Terence when we lived in Abu Dhabi and it tops our list of best Middle Eastern recipes. Tip: try to source sumac to sprinkle on your hummus, but if you can’t use ground paprika; while quite a different flavour profile it works.

Easy Authentic Hummus Recipe for a Creamy Homemade Traditional Hummus

Muhammara Recipe for Syrian Walnut Roasted Red Pepper Dip from Aleppo

This easy muhammara recipe will make you the famous Syrian walnut and roasted red pepper dip from Aleppo that we fell in love with on our first trip to Syria many years ago. It’s one of our favourite Middle Eastern recipes. Our recipe is based on the Academie Syrienne Gastronomie recipe with just a couple of tweaks.

If you haven’t tasted muhammara before, it’s a deliciously smoky, savoury, sweet, and subtly spiced dip that’s traditionally served as one of an array of mezze or starters that are eaten with warmed flatbread then left on the table to be enjoyed alongside plates of mains, such as grilled meats and kebabs.

While muhammara hails from Aleppo, it’s a staple mezze throughout Syria and you’ll also spot muhammara on the menus of Syrian restaurants and Arabic restaurants right across the Middle East and in the Middle Eastern diaspora. Outside Syria it’s nowhere near as ubiquitous as hummus, baba ganoush or mutabal. It should be!

Muhammara Recipe for Syrian Walnut Roasted Red Pepper Dip from Aleppo

Hummus with Spiced Ground Beef Recipe for Hummus bil Lahme

This addictively delicious hummus with spiced ground beef recipe for hummus bil lahme makes a delicious Arabic mezze that has provenance in the Levantine cuisines of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan, but is eaten right across the Middle East.

Another of our best Middle Eastern recipes, hummus bil lahme is drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with cumin powder, and topped with a generous layer of aromatic, richly-spiced ground beef and roasted pine nuts. It’s a breeze to make.

Simply pulse the chickpeas, garlic powder, extra virgin olive oil, tahini paste, ground cumin, and lemon juice in a food processor or blender. Make the spiced beef mince, spread the hummus on a plate, pile the spiced beef on top, sprinkle on finely chopped parsley, and serve with zingy pickles, fresh pita bread or homemade toasted pita chips. Too easy.

Delicious Hummus with Spiced Ground Beef Recipe for Hummus bil Lahme

Authentic Baba Ganoush Recipe

Our authentic baba ganoush recipe will make you the traditional Middle Eastern eggplant dip – also spelt baba ghanoush, baba ghanouj and baba ganouj – that’s eaten with flatbread as one of an array of Arabic mezze or appetisers.

Made with smoky grilled eggplants, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil, it’s super easy to make and tastes so much better homemade than store-bought, and it’s  another of our best Middle Eastern recipes.

Authentic Baba Ganoush Recipe for the Traditional Middle Eastern Eggplant Dip

 

Pita Chips Recipe for Crunchy Baked Pita Crisps

This quick and easy homemade pita chips recipe will make you super crunchy baked pita crisps that are made within minutes, making it another of our best Middle Eastern recipes.

They’re perfect for scooping up dips such a hummus, baba ghanoush, guacamole, and salsas, or using in the Arabic salad fattoush. They’re also versatile – brush them with olive oil flavoured with spices or herbs to complement any dip.

Easy Homemade Pita Chips Recipe for Crunchy Baked Pita Crisps Made in Minutes

 

Hummus Balila Recipe for Creamy Warm Chickpeas Spiced with Cumin

When we first moved to the Middle East many years ago, we looked forward to weekends away in Beirut, Damascus or Cairo and a traditional breakfast spread of labneh, olives, pickles, radishes, fresh salad vegetables, and a comforting bowl of warm soupy beans, such as hummus balila or ful medames (recipe coming).

Also known simply as ‘balila’, the Levantine dish has long been a popular breakfast or snack everywhere from Lebanon and Syria to the Arabian Peninsula. It’s another of our best Middle Eastern recipes.

Creamy warm chickpeas are gently spiced with ground cumin, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, and served with pita bread, pickles, fresh herbs, and salad. Make a big batch so you can turn it into a balila salad the next day; recipe below.

Middle Eastern Hummus Balila Recipe for Creamy Warm Chickpeas Spiced with Cumin

 

Fattoush Salad Recipe with Pita Chips Made from Stale Pita Bread

This classic fattoush salad recipe makes a traditional Lebanese village salad of ripe tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, zingy radishes, fresh fragrant herbs, and quintessential Middle Eastern ingredients such as extra virgin olive oil, and it’s one of our best Middle Eastern recipes, especially if you need to use up stale pita bread.

Tossed in a delightful salad dressing distinguished by the beloved Middle Eastern ingredients of pomegranate seeds and ground sumac, fattoush is often called a pita bread salad, as it’s textured with crispy pita chips. There are instructions for making super simple unseasoned pita chips from scratch in the fattoush recipe in the post.

Fattoush Salad Recipe for a Traditional Lebanese Village Salad

 

Balela Salad Recipe for a Delicious Warm Chickpea Salad

My easy balela salad recipe makes a warm chickpea salad and it’s another of our best Middle Eastern recipes. Creamy hummus balila, the rustic cumin-spiced hummus textured with whole chickpeas and drizzled with a lemony olive oil, above, is topped with a traditional Arabic salad of crunchy cucumbers, sweet tomatoes, zingy purple shallots, crispy radishes, and fresh fragrant mint and parsley.

This balela salad can also be scooped up with pita bread, but as a warm chickpea salad, you could also tuck into it for a shared lunch or dinner as part of a mezze spread of starters or sides. A note on the spelling: I used ‘balila’ for hummus balila and ‘balela’ for the salad because that’s the most common spellings on search engines and I want you to find our recipes.

Balela Salad Recipe for a Delicious Warm Chickpea Salad from the Middle East

 

Roast Beetroot Salad Recipe with Feta, Rucola and Pistachios on Carrot Hummus

My roast beetroot salad recipe with feta, rucola and pistachios on cumin-spiced carrot hummus is not strictly traditional but rather takes inspiration from the food of the Middle East and Mediterranean. It makes my twist on the classic beetroot salad with feta, walnuts and rucola or arugula roca or rocket.

The bed of carrot hummus adds another dimension of flavour and texture, while pistachios add crunch and are better suited to this version than walnuts. My inspiration is the Middle Eastern balela salad and the Antalya version of a Turkish white bean salad. in which the salad is also piled onto the creamy white beans.

Roast Beetroot Salad Recipe with Feta, Rucola and Pistachios on Cumin Spiced Carrot Hummus

 

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Creamy Hummus, Crispy Chickpeas, Pickled Shallots and Mint

A Middle Eastern inspired dish, my roasted cauliflower recipe makes a dish of cauliflower florets roasted in gently spiced extra virgin olive oil, plated on creamy hummus, and topped with crispy fried chickpeas, tangy pickled shallots, and fragrant fresh mint. It’s easily another of our best Middle Eastern recipes.

What I love about this roasted cauliflower dish is that it makes a great companion to other Mediterranean dishes. We enjoy it with this braised chicken with olives and capers and Hassleback potatoes and I love to serve this radish cucumber salad with feta, rucola and fresh herbs on the side.

I use this pickled shallots recipe which, while it’s a Mexican recipe, tastes exactly like the pickled onions our favourite Lebanese restaurant in Abu Dhabi served. I use a cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar, or sometimes a combination of the two.

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Creamy Hummus, Crispy Chickpeas, Pickled Shallots and Mint

 

Roasted Pumpkin Recipe with Yoghurt Garlic Lemon Sauce and Dukkah

This roasted pumpkin recipe makes a delicious Middle Eastern side dish of sweet roast pumpkin doused in a delightfully tangy yoghurt, garlic and lemon sauce, generously sprinkled with dukkah and sumac, scattered with toasted cashews and pistachios, and garnished with fresh dill.

The dukkah and whole nuts add texture, while sumac gives the dish a distinctively Middle Eastern flavour. This roast pumpkin recipe is one of my favourite Middle Eastern recipes. We’re so fond of Levantine food, where grilled and roasted vegetable dishes are often served with a tangy yoghurt sauce and this dish epitomises that style of dish.

This roasted pumpkin dish makes a fantastic side for mains such as garlicky shish tawook or kofta kebab. Start off the meal with mezze such as hummus and baba ganoush and serve with Middle Eastern salads such as tabbouleh and fatoush and you have a proper Middle Eastern feast.

Roasted Pumpkin Recipe with Yoghurt Garlic Lemon Sauce and Dukkah

Middle Eastern Rice Recipe with Spices, Pistachios, Cashews and Raisins

This Middle Eastern rice recipe makes an aromatic spiced rice dish infused with Middle Eastern spices and textured with nuts and raisins. It’s inspired by Arabic rice dishes from the Middle East, such as Arabian machboos and kabsa, Palestinian qidreh and Syrian maqluba.

While my Middle Eastern rice recipe is authentic in taste – there are few more quintessential Middle Eastern spice blends than the ‘seven spice’ mix known as ‘baharat’ and nuts such as pistachios and cashews – the technique I use is inauthentic. Instead of the pilaf method, I use the Asian stir-fry method to use up leftover rice.

This spiced rice is fantastic with kofta kebabs, shish tawook, vegetable sides and salads. If there are leftovers, I combine the remaining spiced rice with finely chopped kebab meat and stir-fry again. The result is a wonderful fusion rice dish that makes an easy meal for a filling lunch or casual dinner.

Middle Eastern Rice Recipe with Spices, Pistachios, Cashews and Raisins

Easy Shish Tawook Recipe for Garlicky Lebanese Grilled Chicken Skewers

Our shish tawook recipe makes the Lebanese grilled chicken skewers or chicken kebabs that are popular throughout the Middle East and it’s another of our best Middle Eastern recipes based on the shish tawook or shish taouk that we used to eat when we lived in the Middle East.

Served with a garlicky sauce or toum, mezze such as hummus and baba ganoush, and salads such as tabbouli and fattoush, shish tawook is an essential component of a ‘mixed grill’ platter of barbecued meats.

We loved winter in Dubai when we lived in the UAE. In the cool evenings families filled the parks for one of the most quintessential local experiences (one of our favourites), winter picnics and barbecues. Women spread dishes of mezze and salads out on mats, while the men fanned coals and turned kebabs on portable grills, filling the air with mouthwatering aromas. Heaven.

But it’s easy to make shish tawook at home. You can prep the skewers ahead of time and marinate them in the fridge, then cook them on the kitchen stove in a griddle pan for nice char marks or grill them on an outdoor barbecue, as the locals do.

Easy Shish Tawook Recipe for Garlicky Lebanese Grilled Chicken Skewers

 

Beef Kofta Recipe for Grilled Ground Meat Kebabs

Our beef kofta recipe makes traditional Lebanese kafta – grilled, spiced, ground meat kebabs that are made throughout the Middle East, everywhere from the Arabian Peninsula to the Levantine countries of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Cooked at home, served at restaurants, and barbecued in parks at family gatherings on weekends and holidays, these Arabic minced meat kebabs are one of the most beloved dishes in a region that loves its grilled meats.

This recipe was also one of our popular recipes to make in January for our readers, and it’s easily another of our best Middle Eastern recipes.

Beef Kofta Recipe for Lebanese Kafta – Grilled Spiced Ground Meat Kebabs

 

Easy Baked Meatballs Recipe with Middle Eastern Baharat Seven Spices

This easy baked meatballs recipe with Middle Eastern baharat or seven spice blend makes moist, melt-in-the-mouth, tender meatballs and is one of our best meatball recipes. Gently spiced with the classic Arabic baharat or seven spice mix, they are fragrant and flavourful.

The small size ensures they cook quickly and baking instead of frying makes them healthier. They’re also versatile. Serve them with toothpicks at a social gathering or eat them as an appetiser or a main with Middle Eastern dips hummus and baba ganoush and salads such as fattoush and tabbouleh.

I love to roll the meatballs up in soft warm pita bread spread with carrot ‘hummus’ or beetroot ‘hummus’ and sprinkled with loads of fresh mint and parsley. They’re also fantastic stuffed into crispy baguettes on layers of hummus, shredded lettuce and pickles for a Middle Eastern style banh mi.

Easy Baked Meatballs Recipe with Middle Eastern Baharat Seven Spices

Please do let us know in the comments below if you make any of our best Middle Eastern recipes as we love to hear how our recipes turn out for you.

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A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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