Recipes › Middle East

Middle Eastern recipes

159 Middle Eastern recipes, from Egypt, Iran, Lebanon. Each one says which country it belongs to and where the recipe came from.

• Abgoosht, sourced from Iran. It is cooked in one pot and then strained, and the solids are pounded into a second course. Lamb.
• Aboukir Almonds, sourced from Egypt. A whole roasted almond is wrapped in marzipan, shaped back into an almond, and dipped in hot syrup. Egg, vegetarian.
• Advieh, sourced from Iran. It is two different blends, and the one for rice goes on after the rice is cooked. vegan.
• Aish as-Saraya, sourced from Lebanon. There is no egg and no butter in it at all — the body is breadcrumbs soaked in caramel syrup. vegetarian.
• Albaloo Polo, sourced from Iran. The cherries are cooked down with sugar and their syrup is held back to pour over at the end. vegan.
• Ash-e Doogh, sourced from Iran. The yogurt is the liquid rather than a finish, so it is tempered before it is heated. Lamb, Egg.
• Aush Reshteh, sourced from Iran. The noodles go in at the end and the kashk is stirred in off the heat so it cannot split. vegetarian.
• Baba Ghanoush, sourced from Lebanon. Charred whole over a bare flame until the skin blisters black, then bound smooth with tahini. vegan.
• Baghali Ghatogh, sourced from Iran. The eggs are cracked in whole at the end and there is no meat in it at all. Egg, vegetarian.
• Baghali Polo, sourced from Iran. The beans are boiled in the rice water and the dill is layered in dry. Lamb.
• Baharat, sourced from Lebanon. Allspice leads it, and the whole spices are toasted and ground together rather than blended from jars. vegan.
• Barazek, sourced from Lebanon. Sesame on one face and pistachios on the other, put on by pressing each side into its own tray before baking. Egg, vegetarian.
• Barbari Bread, sourced from Iran. It is glazed with a flour-and-water mixture before baking, which gives it a skin like a pretzel. vegan.
• Basbousa, sourced from Egypt. Desiccated coconut goes into the batter, and it is cut only after all the syrup has gone in. vegetarian.
• Bastani, sourced from Iran. Flakes of frozen clotted cream are stirred in at the end and stay solid in the finished ice cream. Egg, vegetarian.
• Batata Harra, sourced from Lebanon. The garlic and coriander go in off the heat, after the potatoes are already crisp. vegan.
• Bataw, sourced from Egypt. Barley and maize rather than wheat, so it will not stretch at all and is patted out between the palms. vegan.
• Bonab Kababi, sourced from Iran. Three ingredients and no pepper, made as one enormous skewer rather than several small ones. Lamb.
• Borani, sourced from Iran. The vegetable is boiled and then fried before the garlicky yogurt goes on. vegetarian.
• Bozbash, sourced from Iran. The green version of the mashed stew: herbs and leeks where the other has potato and tomato. Lamb.
• Chelow Kabab, sourced from Iran. The skewer is laid on the rice and pulled out from under a piece of flatbread held on top of it. Beef, Lamb.
• Delal Sauce, sourced from Iran. It is herbs preserved by being heavily salted, and it is eaten on raw fruit. vegan.
• Doogh, sourced from Iran. It is fermented for three or four days after the salt goes in, so it is not diluted yogurt. vegetarian.
• Dopiaza, sourced from Iran. The onions go in twice, boiled into the sauce and then fried on top. Lamb.
• Duqqa, sourced from Egypt. It stays dry and crumbly, because bread is dipped in oil first and then pressed into it. vegan.
• Eggah, sourced from Egypt. The egg is there to bind the filling rather than the filling to fill the egg — it is far firmer than an omelette. Egg, vegetarian.
• Eish Baladi, sourced from Egypt. Dusted with bran rather than flour, and baked hot enough that it puffs into a hollow pocket. vegan.
• Eish Fino, sourced from Egypt. A soft enriched roll with a thin crust, shaped long and narrow so it can be split and filled. Egg, vegetarian.
• Eish Merahrah, sourced from Egypt. Ground fenugreek goes into the dough, and the loaves are spread out wide and thin with the hands. vegan.
• Eish Shamsi, sourced from Egypt. The dough is left to rise in the sun, which is what the name means and what gives the sour, open crumb. vegan.
• Falafel, sourced from Lebanon. The chickpeas are soaked raw and never cooked before grinding, which is the one rule that cannot be broken. vegan.
• Faloodeh, sourced from Iran. The cooked starch batter is pressed through a sieve straight into iced water. vegan.
• Fatayer, sourced from Lebanon. Folded into a three-cornered pyramid and sealed on three seams, so it is closed where the open pie is not. vegan.
• Fatteh, sourced from Lebanon. Three layers built in the dish and never stirred together, so each spoonful goes down through all of them. vegetarian.
• Fattoush, sourced from Lebanon. The bread is fried and goes in at the last second, so it is still crisp when it reaches the table. Lamb.
• Fesenjan, sourced from Iran. The ground walnuts are cooked until their oil comes out and the sauce goes dark. Chicken, Duck.
• Feteer, sourced from Egypt. Always filled or topped, and the filling goes between two stretched sheets rather than into a parcel. Beef.
• Feteer Meshaltet, sourced from Egypt. Served plain, and nothing is ever baked inside it — the layers are the whole dish. vegetarian.
• Ful Medames, sourced from Egypt. The beans cook overnight in a narrow-necked pot, so almost nothing evaporates and they collapse in their own liquid. Egg, vegetarian.
• Ful Nabet, sourced from Egypt. The beans are sprouted for two days before they are cooked at all, which changes them into something else entirely. vegan.
• Gaz, sourced from Iran. An egg-white nougat whose original sweetener is an insect honeydew, now usually replaced with glucose syrup. Egg, vegetarian.
• Gerashi Yogurt Kebab, sourced from Iran. The cubes are spread on a cloth to dry before the yogurt goes on, and then marinated for at least a day. Veal, Lamb.
• Ghandi Bread, sourced from Iran. There is no yeast in it at all: it is raised with baking powder, barely kneaded, and pricked with holes an inch apart. Egg, vegetarian.
• Gheimeh, sourced from Iran. The potatoes are fried separately into crisp straws and go on at the table. Lamb.
• Ghormeh Sabzi, sourced from Iran. The herbs are fried slowly until they darken and smell nutty, and that is most of the flavour. Lamb.
• Gollash, sourced from Egypt. The filo is layered flat in a tray with the meat as a filling between, never wrapped round it. Beef, Egg.
• Gondi, sourced from Iran. Chickpea flour binds it instead of bread or rice, and cardamom is the only spice in it. Chicken, Veal, Lamb.
• Gosh-e Fil, sourced from Iran. The dough is rolled thin, pinched into an elephant's ear and deep-fried with no filling in it. Egg, vegetarian.
• Hamam Mahshi, sourced from Egypt. The cavity is filled only two-thirds, because green freekeh swells and will split a bird that is packed.
• Hawawshi, sourced from Egypt. The raw meat goes inside the bread and they bake together, so the bread crisps in the meat's own fat. Beef.
• Hrisseh, sourced from Lebanon. Cooked until it pours from the spoon like thick cream, with no grain left whole. Chicken, Lamb.
• Hummus, sourced from Egypt. The chickpeas are peeled, which is the only thing that makes it genuinely smooth. vegan.
• Iranian Pizza, sourced from Iran. The base is thick, the cheese goes on in quantity, and it is often made with no tomato sauce at all. Beef.
• Jujeh Kabab, sourced from Iran. The marinade is onion, lemon and saffron and its own article names nothing else in it. Chicken.
• Kabab Barg, sourced from Iran. The meat is cut into thin strips, which is what barg means, and marinated in olive oil rather than yogurt. Beef, Lamb.
• Kabab Koobideh, sourced from Iran. The mince is kneaded semi-frozen so the fat stays in separate particles and bursts as pockets of juice. Lamb.
• Kabab Torsh, sourced from Iran. The marinade is a thick paste of crushed walnuts and pomegranate juice rather than a liquid. Chicken, Beef.
• Kahk, sourced from Egypt. The filling is agameya, a cooked paste of honey, ghee and nuts, made and set before the dough is touched. vegetarian.
• Kalehjoosh, sourced from Iran. Walnuts and kashk carried by dried fenugreek and dried mint, with no noodles in it at all. vegetarian.
• Kamounia, sourced from Egypt. Cumin by the tablespoon, which is what the name is built on and what makes the liver edible in quantity. Beef.
• Kar' Assaly, sourced from Egypt. A béchamel goes over the top, which is unexpected in a pumpkin dessert and is the whole point of this one. vegetarian.
• Kashk, sourced from Iran. The yogurt is boiled first and fermented afterwards, which is the reverse of how yogurt is made. vegetarian.
• Kashk Bademjan, sourced from Iran. It is a dip rather than a stew, and the kashk goes in off the heat. vegetarian.
• Kateh, sourced from Iran. The water is absorbed rather than drained, which is why it is sticky and has no tahdig. vegetarian.
• Kaware', sourced from Egypt. Cooked until the broth sets to a jelly when a spoonful is cooled, which is the only test that matters.
• Kersha, sourced from Egypt. Soaked in vinegar and salt and then parboiled twice, with both waters thrown away. Beef.
• Khoresh Bademjan, sourced from Iran. The aubergines are salted, fried and added at the end so they keep their shape. Lamb.
• Khoresh Karafs, sourced from Iran. It is soured with verjuice and the celery is the bulk of it rather than a flavouring. Chicken, Beef, Lamb.
• Kibbeh, sourced from Lebanon. Shaped into a pointed torpedo between wet palms and deep-fried, so the shell goes crisp and the filling stays loose. Lamb.
• Kibbeh Nayyeh, sourced from Lebanon. Pounded with ice rather than water and never allowed out of the cold, because it is eaten raw. Lamb.
• Knafeh, sourced from Lebanon. Filled with cheese and eaten hot the moment it leaves the tin, so the cheese pulls into threads.
• Koftet el Hati, sourced from Egypt. Laid straight onto the grill bars with no skewer at all, which is why it is shaped short and fat. Beef, Lamb.
• Koftet Rozz, sourced from Egypt. The rice is crushed into granules rather than ground to powder, which is what holds the meatballs together. Beef.
• Kolkas, sourced from Egypt. The taro is peeled under running water and never handled dry, because raw taro irritates the skin. Beef.
• Kolompeh, sourced from Iran. The date paste is enclosed completely, so it bakes like a small pie rather than a filled biscuit. vegetarian.
• Koloocheh, sourced from Iran. It is stamped with a pattern on top, and filled with dates and walnuts. Egg, vegetarian.
• Koshary, sourced from Egypt. Four starches cooked separately and layered, never cooked together, under three separate sauces. vegan.
• Kousa Mahshi, sourced from Lebanon. The rice goes in raw and half-fills the shell, because it doubles as it cooks in the tomato. Lamb.
• Kuku, sourced from Iran. There is less egg in it than a frittata and it sets slowly in a covered pan before being turned. Egg, vegetarian.
• Lavash, sourced from Iran. It is rolled paper-thin and slapped onto the inside wall of the oven, where it cooks in under a minute. vegan.
• Lavashak, sourced from Iran. The fruit puree is salted and spread exactly two millimetres thick. vegan.
• Layali Lubnan, sourced from Lebanon. Two distinct layers that must not merge — a set semolina pudding, chilled firm, and only then the cream. vegetarian.
• Lighvan Cheese, sourced from Iran. The curd is drained in triangular cloth bags and then ripened in brine for three or four months.
• Loobia Polo, sourced from Iran. The meat and beans are cooked to a finished stew before any rice touches them. Beef, Lamb.
• Ma'amoul, sourced from Lebanon. Each one is pressed into a carved wooden mould and knocked out, which is what prints the pattern and what sets the size. vegetarian.
• Macarona bil-Bechamel, sourced from Egypt. The béchamel is thinned so it sinks through the pasta instead of sitting on top as a lid. Beef, Egg.
• Mahyawa, sourced from Iran. Whole dried anchovies are ground to a powder and then fermented with the toasted spices. Fish.
• Makanek, sourced from Lebanon. Fried whole and then the pan deglazed with pomegranate molasses, so the glaze is made in their own fat. Beef, Lamb.
• Makdous, sourced from Lebanon. Boiled first, then salted and left upside down overnight to drain, because any water left in them will spoil the jar. vegan.
• Malfouf Salad, sourced from Lebanon. The cabbage is shredded hair-fine and salted so it softens without ever being cooked. vegan.
• Manakish, sourced from Lebanon. The za'atar is slaked with oil into a spreadable paste first, never scattered on dry. vegan.
• Maqluba, sourced from Lebanon. The whole pot is inverted onto a platter and lifted away, so what was the bottom arrives as the top. Lamb.
• Masghati, sourced from Iran. It is a starch jelly, cooked until it turns transparent, with no gelatine in it at all. vegetarian.
• Mesaqa'ah, sourced from Egypt. No béchamel and no meat, and it is as good cold as hot — which is the opposite of the dish it shares a name with. vegan.
• Mfarakeh, sourced from Lebanon. The egg is broken up through the crisp potatoes rather than set around them, which is what the name means. Egg, vegetarian.
• Mirza Ghassemi, sourced from Iran. The aubergines are grilled whole until the skins blacken, so the finished dish tastes smoked. Egg, vegetarian.
• Mish, sourced from Egypt. It ferments in its own salted whey for months, and the older the jar the better it is thought to be.
• Mombar, sourced from Egypt. Stuffed with rice rather than meat, boiled first and then deep-fried, so the casing blisters. Beef.
• Msabbaha, sourced from Lebanon. The chickpeas are left whole and warm, swimming in the tahini rather than mashed into it. vegetarian.
• Muhallebi, sourced from Lebanon. Set with starch alone and flavoured with nothing but blossom water, so any fault in it has nowhere to hide. vegetarian.
• Mujaddara, sourced from Lebanon. The onions are fried until they are almost burnt, and half of them go in while half stay on top. vegetarian.
• Mulukhiyah, sourced from Lebanon. It is never allowed to boil once the leaves are in, or it turns to slime. Chicken.
• Nan-e Berenji, sourced from Iran. It is rice flour, and the cookies are kept white rather than allowed to brown. Egg, vegetarian.
• Nan-e Nokhodchi, sourced from Iran. It is made entirely from chickpea flour, with no wheat in it at all. vegetarian.
• Nargesi, sourced from Iran. The only seasoning is salt, garlic and pepper, and the eggs go in last onto spinach already cooked down. Egg, vegetarian.
• Nettle Soup, sourced from Iran. Pomegranate paste is in every version, and the water the nettles boiled in is kept back as a tea. vegan.
• Noghl, sourced from Iran. Roasted almonds are turned in boiling rose syrup until a white shell builds up on them. vegan.
• Om Ali, sourced from Egypt. The pastry is baked dry and broken up before any milk touches it, so it swells rather than dissolving. vegetarian.
• Piti, sourced from Iran. It is baked in sealed individual crocks under a lump of tail fat. Lamb.
• Pomegranate Soup, sourced from Iran. Pomegranate juice is the liquid and the seeds go in whole at the very end. vegan.
• Poolaki, sourced from Iran. Vinegar goes into the syrup, which is what lets it set as a thin clear disc instead of going grainy. vegan.
• Qatayef, sourced from Lebanon. Cooked on one side only, so the uncooked upper face is tacky enough to seal itself without egg or water. vegetarian.
• Qishta, sourced from Egypt. The skin that forms on scalded milk is lifted off and layered, over and over, until there is a slab of it. vegetarian.
• Qottab, sourced from Iran. The almond turnover is deep-fried rather than baked, and dusted thickly afterwards. Egg, vegetarian.
• Raheb, sourced from Lebanon. No tahini goes in at all, and the aubergine is torn into pieces rather than mashed — it is a salad, not a dip. vegan.
• Reshteh Khoshkar, sourced from Iran. Rice batter is poured through a cup with holes in it onto a hot plate, making a lace sheet that is then filled and folded. vegan.
• Rozz Me'ammar, sourced from Egypt. The rice bakes in milk until a browned skin forms on top and the grains below set in cream.
• Sabanekh, sourced from Egypt. The spinach goes in raw and finely chopped and cooks down into the tomato until it is a sauce rather than a vegetable. Beef.
• Sabzi Khordan, sourced from Iran. Nothing is cooked or dressed: whole raw herbs on a platter, eaten by the handful.
• Sabzi Polo, sourced from Iran. Fenugreek is the herb that makes it, and it goes in at a fraction of the weight of the others. vegan.
• Salad Olivier, sourced from Iran. The Iranian version is built on chicken and Persian pickled cucumbers, and it is eaten in a sandwich. Chicken, Egg.
• Salata Baladi, sourced from Egypt. Everything is cut to the same small dice, and the dressing is lemon, oil and salt with nothing else in it. vegan.
• Samanu, sourced from Iran. There is no sugar in it at all: the sweetness comes entirely from sprouted wheat. vegan.
• Sangak, sourced from Iran. It is baked straight onto a bed of hot river pebbles and then thrown down hard to knock them off. vegan.
• Sayadieh, sourced from Lebanon. The rice is cooked in the fish's own stock, darkened almost to coffee-brown with deeply fried onions. Fish.
• Sfiha, sourced from Lebanon. The dough is pinched up at four corners into a small open square, so the meat sits in a boat rather than on a disc. Lamb.
• Sfouf, sourced from Lebanon. It is not soaked in syrup, which is what separates it from the semolina cakes that are. vegetarian.
• Shakshouka, sourced from Egypt. The sauce is cooked until the oil separates out of it before any egg goes near the pan. Egg, vegetarian.
• Shanklish, sourced from Lebanon. The curd balls are left to grow a mould, then washed, dried and rolled in za'atar — the mould is the method, not a mistake. vegetarian.
• Sharbat, sourced from Iran. It is made as a concentrate thick enough to eat with a spoon, and diluted at the glass. vegan.
• Shawarma, sourced from Lebanon. Pressed into a loaf tin and roasted as a block, then shaved — which is the honest way to do it without a vertical spit. Lamb.
• Sheermal, sourced from Iran. Warm sweetened milk replaces the water in the dough entirely, with saffron and cardamom in it. vegetarian.
• Sheikh al-Mahshi, sourced from Lebanon. The filling is meat and pine nuts with no rice in it at all, and it finishes in a yoghurt sauce. Lamb, Egg.
• Shirazi Salad, sourced from Iran. Everything is diced very fine and dressed with verjuice, then left to sit for an hour. vegan.
• Shirin Polo, sourced from Iran. The fruit and nuts go on after the steaming, never during it. vegetarian.
• Shish Taouk, sourced from Lebanon. Served with toum, a garlic sauce emulsified with oil like a mayonnaise but with no egg in it at all. Chicken.
• Sholezard, sourced from Iran. There is no milk or cream in it: the rice is cooked in water until it goes creamy by itself. vegetarian.
• Sirabij, sourced from Iran. It is made with garlic leaves rather than cloves, fried first, with the eggs scrambled into them. Egg, vegetarian.
• Sohan, sourced from Iran. It is thickened with wheat sprout and egg yolk, which is what makes it a brittle rather than a caramel. Egg, vegetarian.
• Sohan Asali, sourced from Iran. It is built on honey with no cereal in it at all, and sets hard enough to shatter into shards. vegetarian.
• Sosis Bandari, sourced from Iran. The sausage is already cooked, so what you are making is a thick chilli and onion stew around it.
• Stuffed Dates, sourced from Lebanon. Savoury, not sweet — the dates are filled with spiced lamb and herbs and served over rice. Lamb.
• Stuffed Mallow, sourced from Lebanon. The leaves go into boiling water for seconds only, because mallow is far more fragile than a vine leaf. Lamb.
• Ta'ameya, sourced from Egypt. Fava beans and not chickpeas, which is why the inside is bright green rather than pale. vegan.
• Tabbouleh, sourced from Lebanon. A parsley salad with bulgur in it, not a bulgur salad with parsley on top — the proportion is the dish. vegan.
• Tabriz Meatballs, sourced from Iran. One enormous meatball a person, built around a core of boiled egg, walnut, fried onion and dried apricot. Beef, Egg.
• Tabrizi Lovuez, sourced from Iran. There is no baking at all: the syrup is beaten until it loses its gloss and then almond is worked in. vegan.
• Taftan, sourced from Iran. The dough is enriched with milk, yoghurt and eggs, which is what sets it apart from the plain flatbreads. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tahchin, sourced from Iran. The rice is bound with yogurt and egg so the base sets into a slab you can cut. Chicken, Lamb, Egg.
• Tahdig, sourced from Iran. The fat goes into the empty pot first and a separate layer is laid on it, so that layer crisps instead of the rice. Lamb, Egg.
• Tahini, sourced from Lebanon. The seeds are ground while still warm from the pan, which is the only way they release their own oil. vegan.
• Tamriyeh, sourced from Egypt. The semolina filling is set firm and chilled before it is wrapped, or it bursts out in the oil. vegetarian.
• Torly, sourced from Egypt. The vegetables are layered in order of how long they take, rather than piled in together. Beef, Lamb.
• Yazdi Cake, sourced from Iran. It is raised with yogurt and three separate raising agents, which is what makes it so open. Egg, vegetarian.
• Yazdi Coffee, sourced from Iran. A hot coal is dropped into the pot, and the coffee is then strained through silk. vegan.
• Za'atar, sourced from Lebanon. The sumac is nearly a third of the blend, which is what makes the Lebanese version sour rather than merely herbal. vegan.
• Zalabiyeh, sourced from Egypt. A poured batter rather than a dough, which is what separates it from the squeezed fritters it resembles. vegan.
• Zereshk Polo, sourced from Iran. The barberries are warmed for under a minute with sugar and saffron water, because they scorch. Chicken.
• Zeytoon Parvardeh, sourced from Iran. The olives are dressed with pomegranate molasses and ground walnuts and served cold. vegan.

What counts as Middle Eastern

A country of south-west Asia, from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to Iran, together with the Arabian peninsula and Egypt.

This rule is ours. It is not borrowed from any standard, so it is a choice rather than an authority, and you may reasonably disagree with where it lands.

THE TERM HAS NO AGREED BOUNDARY, and the rule above is this site's rather than anybody's standard -- which is why it is written out rather than cited. A region hub here is a shelf for recipes, not a claim about where a border lies. THE RULE WAS WIDENED ON 16 OCT 2026 TO ADMIT EGYPT, and it is recorded rather than quietly done because the previous version of this caveat required that. It read: "EGYPT is the usual argument: it is mostly in Africa and is almost always included in the term, and the rule above excludes it on geography, so if Egypt is ever built here that exclusion will have to be revisited in the open rather than quietly widened." Egypt was then built. THE RULE BEFORE THE CHANGE READ, WORD FOR WORD: "A country of south-west Asia, from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to Iran, together with the Arabian peninsula." It admitted Egypt nowhere; it now names Egypt explicitly. Roy's decision, asked and answered directly: Egyptian food is routinely shelved as Middle Eastern, and this hub is where people looking for it will arrive. The widening is about where recipes are shelved and is not an assertion that Egypt is in Asia -- it plainly is not, bar Sinai. TURKEY is NOT in this region on this site: it sits in Europe and Mediterranean, which was Roy's call on 15 Oct 2026, even though plenty of cookbooks would shelve its food here. And CYPRUS is in Europe and Mediterranean for the same reason, although the rule above would admit it on geography. Those two remain outside and were not revisited when Egypt was let in. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE NEXT COUNTRY: the rule now has one member admitted against its own geography and two excluded despite satisfying it, so it should be read as a description of the shelf rather than a test that settles cases on its own. Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and the rest of North Africa are NOT admitted by it as written, and letting any of them in would be another decision to record here.

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