What's The Best Dressing To Use For A Traditional Fattoush Salad?

Fattoush salad, which hails from Lebanon and is a popular component of mezze platters throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East, is a delicious combination of lettuce, like romaine or little gem, tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, and crispy pita chips. Some recipes call for red onions, green onions, red bell peppers, or radishes. Others opt for fresh herbs like parsley and mint. But no matter which vegetables and greens you choose to include, tradition tells you to bring them all together with a zesty vinaigrette with notes of sumac, pomegranate, and lemon.

To learn which components are truly essential when making dressing for a fattoush salad, we went straight to a pro. Chowhound spoke exclusively with Jilbert El-Zmetr, the chef and founder of Brooklyn's Laziza, a cocktail and mezze bar inspired by all the bountiful flavors of Lebanon, Turkiye, and the Middle East. According to El-Zmetr, some recipes are not to be messed with, and traditional fattoush salad dressing is one. As he explains, the mixture needs olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pomegranate molasses, and sumac. "Not only because it's the original, but because it's what fattoush is supposed to be," he stresses.

Making this dressing is a great opportunity to bust out your preferred extra virgin olive oil. Pomegranate molasses, though unique, can be purchased in many grocery stores or made at home. You can also purchase versions like Just Date's Organic Pomegranate Syrup online. Plus, once you have it, it's great in other dressings and as a glaze for roasted vegetables. Sumac, a spice that belongs on your next fruit salad and in your pantry, might also be somewhat unfamiliar, but El-Zmetr says not to leave it out. "That sweet, tangy, pepper-like berry makes all the difference," he says.

While the bright and tangy salad dressing is essential and the fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers are foundational, a fattoush salad isn't a fattoush salad without the crispy, crunchy pita chips. Unfortunately, if you mix in your pita chips too soon or leave your fattoush sitting for too long, you'll have less textural contrast and more of a soggy mess. "Toasted pita should be added right before serving to ensure you capture that crunch," chef Jilbert El-Zmetr says.

The perfect pita chip is actually a breeze to make at home. All you need to do is toss ripped-up pieces of pita bread with a little olive oil, then toast them in the oven until perfectly crisp (which should take under eight minutes in a 400-degree-Fahrenheit oven). For added flavor, sprinkle your homemade chips with flaky sea salt, more sumac, or the incredibly useful, oregano-forward spice blend called za'atar as soon as they're out of the oven. Another essential tip? Make sure your pita pieces, chopped lettuce, and diced tomatoes and cucumbers are all a similar size for easy eating.