Fatteh is a Levantine specialty made by combining pieces of fresh, toasted, or stale flatbread with numerous other ingredients. The name of the dish means to tear into small pieces, referring to the process of tearing the flatbread. Fatteh is usually consumed for breakfast or in the evening as the main dish.
There are two main varieties of fatteh - Levantine and Egyptian. The Levantine version is traditionally topped with yogurt, chickpeas, olive oil, and cumin. After the main toppings, Levantine fatteh can additionally be topped with chicken, lamb, or pine nuts.
VARIATIONS OF Fatteh
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Sfiha, or lahm bil ajĩn (lit. meat on dough) is an Arabic specialty that dates back to the 15th century, when it first appeared in today's Eastern Lebanon. The traditional open-faced meat pie is popular throughout the Arab region, its main ingredients usually including minced lamb (or lamb), chopped onions and tomatoes, spices, olive oil, and yogurt.
Originally, the dish was prepared by stuffing ground lamb and spices in brined grape leaves, but it evolved over time. Sfiha is also popular in Brazil and Argentina, where it was brought over by Levantine immigrants. It is usually consumed hot as a snack, accompanied by tahini sauce or a bowl of yogurt, while pomegranate seeds, coriander, or chopped cucumbers are often used as garnishes.
VARIATIONS OF Sfiha
Mamounia is a traditional semolina dessert that resembles a thick porridge. It is made with semolina, butter, and sugar and is typically served warm for breakfast or dessert. The texture is creamy, and it can be flavored with rose water and orange blossom water and garnished with toppings like cinnamon, toasted pine nuts, pistachios, almonds, and rose petals.
Mamounia is especially popular in Aleppo and is cherished for its comforting and rich taste. It is typically served with string cheese, cream, and pita bread.
Fattah bi-as-samna is a Syrian dish consisting of flatbread pieces, fat, honey, and dates. It is usually made with freshly baked pita bread, which is torn into small pieces, covered with hot, melted fat, typically ghee, drizzled with honey, and then kneaded by hand.
This simple dish is usually topped with dates and eaten for breakfast or as a light meal in the evening. Fattah bi-as-simna is a version of fatteh, a dish that is based on fresh, toasted, or stale pieces of flatbread combined with a variety of additions.
Zlebiye is a Syrian dessert that is usually enjoyed for breakfast. This traditional dish consists of thinly rolled dough that is shortly deep-fried before it is filled with ashta—Levantine version of clotted cream—and the combination is then generously dusted with powdered sugar and ground cinnamon.
When rolled, the pancake is additionally sprinkled with ground pistachios, and before it is served, it is usually sliced into smaller pieces.
Oil-cured eggplants are a staple throughout Levantine and Middle Eastern cuisine. The dish is traditionally prepared with small-sized baby eggplants that are shortly boiled and stuffed with a flavorful mixture of roasted red peppers, walnuts, garlic, and salt.
The eggplants are then cured in olive oil and are traditionally enjoyed for breakfast, usually accompanied by labneh, vegetables, and flatbread, but they also work as a standard meze dish or a snack. Though their origin is vague, preserved eggplants are strongly associated with Syria.
Fattah bi-az-zayt is a Syrian dish typically made with flatbread and chickpeas, topped with an oil-based mixture. It is a version of fattah or fatteh, a dish which combines fresh, toasted, or stale flatbread with a variety of other ingredients and is typically topped with a yogurt-based sauce.
This fattah version uses a type of oil mixture instead of the usual yogurt-based sauce. In a dish or a casserole, salted and crunchy roasted pieces of pita bread are layered evenly, topped with cooked chickpeas, and then covered with a liquid composed of oil, chickpea stock, garlic, and baking powder.
A variation on Levantine fatteh, fattet hummus typically consists of toasted or fried pieces of pita bread and chickpeas that have been layered in a serving dish before being drenched in a garlicky tahini-yogurt sauce.
This specialty is usually garnished with toasted pine nuts or almonds, fresh parsley or mint leaves, a drizzle of olive oil, and a touch of paprika or cayenne pepper on top. Some versions call for soaking the bread in broth or adding chickpea broth to the combination, while others call for using hummus paste instead of whole chickpeas.
This dish is commonly prepared across the Levant, and it may sometimes be served with chunks of sautéed lamb or beef on top.
Fattah bi-al-lahm is a Syrian dish that consists of fried ground meat and nuts on a bed of crispy pieces of pita bread, boiled chickpeas, and garlicky yogurt sauce. The dish is typically assembled in layers in a deep serving dish or a casserole.
Fried or toasted bits of pita bread are topped with boiled chickpeas and some chickpea stock, drizzled with tahini-yogurt sauce flavored with garlic, covered with a mixture of fried ground beef or lamb and pine nuts, and then finished off with another drizzling of yogurt sauce, some chopped parsley, and a sprinkling of fried nuts.
This Syrian specialty is usually consumed for breakfast or served as a side dish.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Maghtoota is a traditional sweet dish from Homs, Syria, made by soaking tandoor or saj bread in a thick layer of ayma (a creamy layer formed from unboiled milk left at room temperature). The soaked bread is then topped with honey and nigella seeds before being cut and served.
This rich, energy-giving dish was once a staple breakfast, especially in winter, but rising milk costs have made it a luxury for many. The dish has migrated to northern Syria with displaced Homs residents.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 10 Syrian Breakfasts” list until March 20, 2025, 6,123 ratings were recorded, of which 259 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.