Fatteh is among the Arab world’s greatest culinary strokes of genius: It is not a single fixed recipe, but a versatile blueprint for how to build one. This layered dish begins with a base of crispy bread, followed by warm cooked ingredients, such as chickpeas, fried eggplant, braised meats, or stewed vegetables. A cooling sauce, often yogurt, is added before the dish is topped with a final layer of crunch, whether nuts, pomegranate seeds, or more toasted bread. It’s meant to be adaptable to what’s available, forgiving of shortcuts, and endlessly customizable. It’s as much a reflection of resourcefulness as it is of abundance.
The Origins of Fatteh
The origins of this practical dish are likely rooted in scarcity as much as in hospitality—using bread was a way to stretch more precious ingredients like meat to feed large families or unexpected guests, who are always welcome in Arab culture. But what was born of frugality is now just as likely to appear on lavish spreads at dinner parties and celebratory meals during Ramadan. Today, fatteh is a dish prized not only for its practicality but also for its layers of texture and flavor. Fatteh is creamy, crunchy, tangy, and savory: It’s where soft meets crisp, warm yields to cool, and tart yogurt offsets the depth of spiced proteins and fried nuts.
The name itself comes from the Arabic verb “fatta,” meaning to tear or break apart, which traditionally referred to tearing stale bread into pieces before soaking or topping it with a meal to give it new life. These meals could have been as simple as a lentil soup or vegetable stew bulked up with bread and revived with a cooling yogurt sauce and nuts.
The lineage of fatteh reportedly stretches back to tharid, a dish of bread soaked in broth that was supposedly the Prophet Muhammad’s favorite. This method of eating emerged naturally in a region where wheat is native, and bread has been a cornerstone of the cuisine for centuries.
Over time, this simple concept has evolved across the Arab world. Mansaf—a meal that’s considered a national dish in both Jordan and Palestine—is a variation of fatteh in which bread is topped with lamb cooked in a yogurt sauce. In the Arabian Gulf, fatteh is still called tharid, and the versions there typically feature tanur flatbread topped with a stew that’s typically made with lamb or goat. North Africa offers variations like Moroccan rfissa (trid or msemmen bread with chicken, lentils, and fenugreek) and Algerian chakhchoukha (semolina bread with tomato sauce topped with meat and eggs). In Egypt, fatteh commonly includes bread topped with rice, stewed meat, and garlicky tomato sauce.
Fatteh Today
Today, I like to think of fatteh also as a dish that tears down the idea that frugal meals can’t be festive. Some version of fatteh is on the menu of almost every dinner I host—but the dish is also my answer to busy weeknights. I can assemble dinner in minutes with a few prepared components, such as leftover roasted vegetables or braised meats. (I often find my daughters pulling out their favorite components of fatteh, with one scouring for fried eggplant, another chasing down pomegranate seeds, and the youngest just indulging in the creamy yogurt sauce and putting everything else aside). Whether it’s for my family on a random Tuesday or for a table of guests, fatteh always feels generous and festive.
The Anatomy of Fatteh
There are four essential layers in fatteh, no matter the variation:
- The Bread: The base of any good fatteh is crisp bread—usually pita—cut or torn into bite-size pieces and toasted or fried until golden. I cut mine into neat little squares (because why not let my inner perfectionist have a moment?) and deep-fry them. It’s faster than it sounds, and the results are reliably crunchy and rich, which I love. But baking works just as well: Toss torn pita (or even naan or a flour tortilla) with olive oil and a bit of salt, then bake at 350°F (175°C) until crisp. Once cooled, the bread keeps well in an airtight container for a week or two, which makes weeknight fatteh feel much more doable. In a pinch, store-bought pita chips will do.
- The Warm Layer: This is the heart of the dish. In the most common Levantine versions, it’s either warm chickpeas simmered in a slightly spiced broth or deep-fried eggplant. But it can just as easily be roasted butternut squash, shredded chicken or lamb, or a leftover green bean or okra stew. You want something hot and savory to soften the bread ever so slightly and give the dish depth. It’s worth mentioning that when the warm layer is meat, the dish almost always includes a layer of rice to add some pillowy softness.
- The Cool Sauce: This is usually a garlicky yogurt sauce with a hint of tahini that provides a pleasant contrast to the warm elements of the dish. I stir crushed garlic into full-fat plain or strained (Greek-style) yogurt, add a tablespoon or two of tahini, and loosen the mixture with a bit of water and lemon juice, then season with salt. In some versions, especially Egyptian fatteh, the sauce is tomato-based and cooked with vinegar and lots of garlic. In others, you’ll find a simple chile, garlic, and lemon sauce on its own or combined with a yogurt one.
- The Crunchy Garnish: This really brings the dish together. The most common toppings are fried pine nuts or slivered almonds, extra toasted bread, or pomegranate seeds.
Once you understand these components, fatteh becomes a canvas. It can be vegan or meat-heavy, simple or elaborate.
Make-Ahead and Assembly
The beauty of fatteh is that most of its components can be prepared ahead of time. The bread can be toasted or fried up to a week in advance and, once cooled, can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature. The warm topping—whether chickpeas, vegetables, or meat—can be made up to three days ahead and simply reheated when you’re ready to eat. The yogurt sauce takes just two minutes to stir together, but it also keeps well for two to three days in the fridge. As for garnishes, toasted nuts hold up well at room temperature, though you do miss out on the satisfying splatter of spooning freshly fried pine nuts and their hot butter over the finished dish. And pomegranate seeds, somewhat surprisingly, freeze beautifully and can be used straight from the freezer as a garnish.
At home, I may roast a tray of butternut squash with onions at the start of the week, or sauté a generous amount of seasonal mushrooms with garlic and a splash of pomegranate molasses. If we’ve had a Sunday roast—chicken, beef, or lamb—I’ll shred whatever’s left and store it in the fridge. Then on weeknights when I don’t want to cook, I reheat whatever I have, grab the toasted bread, and layer: bread first, then the warm topping, followed by yogurt or chile sauce, or a mix of both.
Certain combinations work especially well. Roasted butternut squash is lovely with za’atar stirred through and sprinkled again on top; crisp mushrooms are excellent tossed with some chopped fresh dill and topped with toasted walnuts. Fatteh with meat benefits from a layer of rice, which adds softness to the dish. (Bonus points if you can make that rice with broth or pan juices.)
Once you understand the parts, the rest becomes intuitive. Prep what you can when you can, and when dinnertime comes, all that’s left is heating and assembling.
Common (and Not-So-Common) Fatteh Variations
While fatteh is common across the Arab world, each region, even each household, has its own interpretation. Here are a few popular versions, plus several novel takes on this classic dish:
- Chickpea Fatteh: This is an iconic version of fatteh that consists of warm chickpeas poured over crispy pita, topped with a yogurt–tahini sauce, and optional fried bite-size cubes of meat.
Hummus
Chickpea Fatteh
Transform humble ingredients like chickpeas and pita into a satisfying meal by combining them with tahini, toasted pine nuts, and tender pieces of fried meat.
- Msakhan Fatteh: This dish is a riff on msakhan, the Palestinian dish of roasted chicken with sumac and onions. Here, crisp pita replaces the taboon bread. Onions are sautéed until sweet and tender, mixed with shredded chicken and a generous amount of sumac, then placed atop the pita and spread with a tahini-yogurt sauce and pine nuts. Other garnishes, such as parsley, pomegranate seeds, and even more sumac, are also common.
- Eggplant Fatteh: Roast or fry 2-inch cubes of eggplant until golden, place them on top of toasted or fried pita, then layer with yogurt sauce. One popular version of this includes a meaty tomato sauce that is seasoned with allspice and cinnamon, though different families have their own ways of making the sauce. Some cooks add garlic, Lebanese seven spice (typically a blend of black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cumin, and coriander), or dried herbs such as za’atar or oregano.
Eggplant
Eggplant Fatteh
Layer silky smooth fried eggplant with creamy, tangy yogurt, crunchy pita, and toasted pine nuts for a deliciously satisfying meal.
- Egyptian Fatta: In Egypt, where fatteh is often transliterated as fatta, the dish is an essential part of celebrations. Toasted bread is layered with rice spiced with cardamom and bay leaves, sautéed beef or lamb, and a vinegar-and-garlic tomato sauce.
Egyptian
Egyptian Fatta
Egyptian celebrations aren’t complete without this crowd-pleasing dish of toasted pita, fragrant rice, and slow-cooked beef drizzled in a garlic-vinegar sauce.
- Gazan Fatteh: Similar in concept to Egyptian fatteh, this version features either lamb or chicken and a green chile, garlic, and lemon sauce without tomato or vinegar.
- Green Beans: In this version, green beans are sautéed with plenty of minced garlic and/or finely diced onions, then layered with toasted pita and a yogurt–tahini sauce. (Some cooks simmer the sautéed green beans in a tomato sauce.)
- Artichoke Fatteh: This is a riff on mahshi ardishawki, the traditional meat- and pine nut–stuffed artichoke dish that’s often served with rice. Artichokes are seared until lightly browned, then simmered with garlic, water, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. The sauce is thickened with a cornstarch slurry so it clings to the artichokes, which are placed atop toasted bread, spread with yogurt sauce, and topped with a mixture of sautéed ground beef and pine nuts.
- Contemporary Takes on Fatteh: In recent years, people have taken fatteh in all kinds of directions, building on dishes such as shawarma, dawood basha (meatballs), stuffed grape leaves, various sautéed vegetables, different stews, and more. I won’t get into the specifics of each one, but they all follow the same general format: the base dish, layered over crisped bread, topped with a sauce and some kind of garnish. I haven’t tried them all (some feel a little over the top to me), but plenty of people enjoy them, and if you’re looking to stretch a meal or reinvent leftovers, it’s worth exploring some of these options.
Whatever you choose to make, just keep in mind that once assembled, fatteh waits for no one. The bread will start to soften, and you’ll lose that crunch that makes the dish so good in the first place. It’s best to build it right before serving—and then dig right in!
