Middle East Recipes
Sumac, saffron, charred breads and mezze
Middle Eastern cooking is a cuisine of hospitality: generous mezze spreads, fragrant rice dishes, charred breads and grills shared around a common table. The Levant gives the world hummus, falafel, tabbouleh, kibbeh and manakish, all bright with lemon, herbs, sumac and olive oil.
The Arabian Peninsula is known for kabsa, mandi, machboos and harees, scented with cardamom, saffron and dried lime and finished with dates and strong coffee. Persian and Anatolian kitchens bring jewelled rice, tahdig, slow stews like ghormeh sabzi, kebabs and layered pastries.
Mesopotamia's masgouf and dolma and the Caucasus's khachapuri, khinkali and walnut sauces round out a region where ancient trade routes still shape every spice jar. Explore each sub-region below to find country pages organised by region, community and category.
Every Middle Eastern recipe in the atlas lists its ingredients, a clear step-by-step method, cooking time, servings and difficulty, so you can cook with confidence whether you are recreating a family favourite or tasting this cuisine for the very first time.
Featured Middle East recipes
Silky Hummus
Velvety chickpea purée with tahini, lemon and garlic — finished with olive oil and warm spices.
Chicken Kabsa
Fragrant Saudi rice cooked with whole chicken, tomato and warm baharat spices — a feast for sharing.
Mansaf
Jordan's national dish — lamb simmered in tangy fermented jameed yogurt sauce, served over saffron rice and shrak bread.
Musakhan
Palestine's beloved sumac chicken roasted with caramelized onions and pine nuts on olive-oil-soaked taboon bread.
Shakshuka
Eggs poached in a smoky tomato-pepper sauce with cumin and paprika — a North African–Levantine breakfast staple.
Machboos Laham
Emirati spiced lamb and rice perfumed with loomi (dried lime), saffron and the warm baharat blend.
Omani Shuwa (Oven Version)
Traditionally buried in an earth oven for a day — this oven take captures the same banana-leaf-wrapped, spice-rubbed lamb.
Machboos Diyay
Qatar's celebratory chicken and rice — fragrant with loomi, baharat and saffron, finished with crispy fried onions.
Kuwaiti Machboos with Daqoos
Kuwait's signature one-pot spiced rice with lamb, served with daqoos — a fresh tomato, garlic and chili sauce.
Machboos Samak
Bahrain's prized fish machboos — hammour or snapper layered with spiced rice, loomi and caramelized onions.
Masgouf
Iraq's national dish — butterflied river fish marinated in tamarind, turmeric and olive oil, grilled slowly upright by an open flame.
Khorovats
Armenia's celebrated barbecue — chunks of pork or lamb marinated simply with onion, herbs and pepper, then charred over vine wood.
Explore Middle East by sub-region
Levant
Mezze, tabbouleh, mana'eesh and charcoal-grilled meats.
Kibbeh, muhammara and slow-cooked Aleppine classics.
Mansaf with jameed yogurt, maqluba and Bedouin lamb feasts.
Musakhan, maqluba and za'atar-dusted olive-oil traditions.
Hummus, falafel, sabich and modern Tel Aviv mezze.
Arabian Peninsula
Kabsa, mandi and date-sweetened hospitality.
Saltah, fahsa and clay-oven flatbreads.
Machboos, harees and luqaimat dumplings drizzled with date syrup.
Shuwa slow-roasted lamb, majboos and frankincense-scented sweets.
Machboos diyay, harees and saffron-laced Khaleeji classics.
Machboos, gers ogaily cardamom cake and Gulf seafood traditions.
Machboos samak, muhammar sweet rice and pearl-coast seafood.