5 Delicious Lebanese Recipes You Should Try Today

To us, Lebanon is home–and when we think of home, one of the first things we think of is the delicious food. Lebanon is known worldwide for its delicious, fresh, and exciting Mediterranean dishes–full of fresh, flavorful ingredients and strong, herbaceous flavours. The Lebanese have a rich and proud culinary culture–and we are keen to show off. Today, we are providing you with 5 fantastic Lebanese recipes so that you can try and make them at home for yourself!

~Lebanese Meza ~

1. Hummus:

We might as well start with a classic. Hummus is an iconic daily staple in Lebanon. Good tasting, and good for you.
You’ll need:

15 oz Chickpeas, canned
2 Garlic cloves
1 Parsley, Fresh
3 tbsp Lemon juice
2 tbsp Tahini
1 Paprika
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Olive oil, Extra virgin

This is super easy, especially if you’re using a blender. If you’re using uncooked chickpeas, soak them overnight. Then, let them boil with a few dashes of baking soda until their skins come off. The skins will float to the top. Skim them off, and discard. Once your chickpeas are done, toss them in a blender with your other ingredients. Your garlic and parsley should be diced small. Blend until you get a smooth, creamy consistency. Hummus is great to serve with fresh bread, chips, and vegetables.

2. Tabbouleh:

Tabbouleh is a finely diced parsley Salad. It’s delicious, fresh, and easy to make, if you don’t mind lots of chopping.

The ingredients for this salad are simple. You’ll need:

Fresh parsley
Mint
Green Onion
Cucumber
Tomato
Garlic
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil
(some recipes add bulgar, but it isn’t a requirement)

So, the key here is to dice everything extremely fine, especially the parsley. Chop your veggies up nice and small. Mix up your garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil into a nice dressing, drizzle, and mix.

3. Baba Ghanoush

This is a delicious eggplant dip with tahini, and a delicious roasted, smokey flavour. The key with this dish is to roast or grill your eggplant until it is nice and soft, with some smokey, charred, caramelised notes.
You’ll need:
A couple of nice, big eggplants.
A few cloves of garlic
¼ cup tahini
Lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil
A few tablespoons of paprika
A few tablespoons of cumin

So for this, you’ll want to cut your eggplants in half, and thoroughly coat them in olive oil. Then, roast them up nicely. You want charring, caramelization, and smokiness for this. Roast them until you can easily scoop out the eggplant flesh.
Then, add your mixture of diced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings. Mix it up, and serve with fresh bread, chips and vegetables.

4. Batata Harra

Once you’ve had Batata Harra, you won’t want to eat potatoes any other way. These are rich, lemony, spicy, and herbaceous to the max. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and truly delicious.
You’ll need:
"Potatoes" (duh

Per 2lbs of potatoes, use:
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper

For the hot sauce, use:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
½ teaspoon red chilli flakes
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves
½ lemon juiced

So, for really great potatoes that are crispy outside and fluffy inside, you’ll need to boil them first. Chop your potatoes up into bite size pieces and boil them until they are slightly tender. Then, drain them, let them dry, and fry them in oil that is at least 350 degrees fahrenheit. In a separate pan, start to fry up your sauce ingredients. Once they start to meld, add in your potatoes and mix. When everything is nicely coated, you’re all finished!

5. Toum

Toum is a mayonnaise-like emulsified garlic sauce that is the mother of all garlic sauces. It is a world-renowned Lebanese classic that is a true delight. It’s simple to make, and goes well with pretty much whatever you put it on.
You’ll need:
1 cup of garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups canola oil
The juice of 1 lemon
Put your garlic in a food processor with the salt, and let it go until you have a finely blended, smooth mixture. Then, on the lowest setting, start to drizzle in your oil about a ½ cup at a time. Then, drizzle a little lemon juice in. Repeat until you’ve added all of your ingredients. In 10-15 minutes, you should have a fluffy, smooth sauce that resembles mayonnaise.

Eat this on literally anything–you won’t regret it.

These are 5 easy and delicious Lebanese recipes. Which one sounds tastiest to you? Which one are you going to try first?