Middle Eastern

This quick salad is a mainstay of the Arab table and is equally at home alongside cheese and eggs for breakfast, or a meat main for lunch or dinner.

It's the perfect dish to ring in spring.

No cream necessary.

It's unlike anything you've had before.

Did we mention that it's soaked with a sweet rose syrup and topped with buttery green pistachios?

They punch up the flavor of everything they touch, from salads to pasta to sandwiches.

This savory take on the classic Middle Eastern dessert is like nothing we've ever had — in a good way!

Hot, crispy, golden-brown falafel without a huge pot of oil.

They're just as easy and tasty.

Use it to season meats, liven up salads, or sprinkle on hummus.

Slather it onto skewers, spread it onto toast, or toss it into salads.

It's packed with SO many good things.

Shirpera is a nut-filled sweet with a texture that sits somewhere between a crumbly nougat and fudge.

Gosheh fil is a crumbly pastry dessert, dusted with cardamom and ground pistachios.

When my parents were living in Afghanistan these cream-filled pastry horns were bought from special patisseries known as kulchah feroshees.

Serve it over greens, stuff into a pita, or enjoy straight from the pan.

Here are 10 recipes that can also be made ahead, so they are ready for you before the sun rises.

It's easy and impressive!

It's the ultimate expression of pure garlic flavor in a light, fluffy spread.

This is the most delicious way to turn eggs into dinner.

I knew I loved this humble bowl of soup before I ever took my first bite.

Best eaten warm with a spoon of crème fraîche, yogurt, or sour cream alongside.

It’s a complete winner every time.

Serve with some warm bread or pita to mop up the oil.

The technique shocked me, too.

You'll turn to this technique all winter long.

Chocolate cardamom cookies are the perfect base for earthy, slightly savory sesame halawa.

To say I'm obsessed is an understatement.

The cookbook recipe we can't get enough of.

Plus three other ways to use it to amp up your drinks.

It's lunch, dinner, and even side dish material.

Use them as the base for a Mediterranean-inspired spread.

One surprise ingredient is what makes it worthy of cult status — and a permanent spot in your spice cabinet.

Kate was an avid cook, who loved good food, her family, and bringing them together around a table.

Here's your excuse to eat dip for dinner.

I can't believe I've lived this long without it.

Don't skimp on the creamy lemon tahini dressing.

If you've never had a cucumber with a deeply savory, crisp crust, you're missing out.

It's what's for dinner tonight.

This foolproof version is one to know.

It's loaded with lots of greens and herbs, pita chips, and a lemony tahini dressing.

Mussakhan is a classic Palestinian dish that's great for sharing with friends.

A warm mix of spices coat this easy chicken sheet pan dinner.

We've teamed up with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globe-trotting adventure highlighting soups from across the globe.

Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Palestine. Yasmin Khan’s deep research and cookbooks on the Middle East have become new favorites for many of us here, so we turned to her work on Palestine cooking and were really struck by the flavors and spice of this za’atar-flavored soup.

Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Iran. When it comes to the cooking of Iran and the Middle East, Yasmin Khan’s book on the Persian kitchen is a wonderland of history, flavor, and story.

Come wintertime, there’s just something so comforting about eating dinner from a bowl. Maybe it’s how cozy the ingredients are, all nestled together in a small space, or perhaps it’s the fact that bowl food is the type of food that’s perfectly suited to eating on the couch. (I think it’s mostly the latter, to be honest.) So yes, it’s totally acceptable to eat these hummus bowls from the comfort of your own couch this evening.

Because you can go from dried beans to the smoothest hummus in under an hour!

Swap out the bulgur and this classic Middle Eastern salad is even easier to love.

Honey and harissa flavor this one-dish meal of saucy chickpeas and golden-brown chicken.

Fattoush is the panzanella you need to know by heart.

It was love at first bite.

This side dish is so smoky and fragrant, you may find yourself pushing aside the main course so that you can focus your attention on it. Smoked paprika not only lends its intense flavor to the couscous, but it also adds color, creating the most beautiful golden hue. Toasted sliced almonds add textural crunch to the dish (something that is all too often missing in plain ol’ couscous), and a slew of chopped fresh parsley brings its pop of green freshness to the equation.

For years, all I knew of tahini was the single brand available to me at my local grocery store — the contents were as dusty as the tin itself. The paste, made from sesame seeds and oil, was chalky and so cement-like that I could never get the separated oil to blend back in. I was close to giving up on tahini altogether. Then one evening, while living abroad, an Israeli friend had me over for dinner.

There are times when I have a recipe idea that I’m so excited about, I obsess over it until it becomes reality. Friends, let me tell you that this is one of them. I’ve loved the concept of Scotch eggs for a long time — I mean, who doesn’t like deep-fried eggs covered in sausage and breadcrumbs? But to up the ante, I decided to pull in my vegetarian friend: the falafel. The (gluten-free and vegetarian!

Who doesn’t love dinner in just one bowl? We have a vegetarian spectacular for you today, one that looks fancy as all get-out, but hello! It only takes 30 minutes to make, and it’s gilded with a sauce of tahini and golden turmeric that’s as easy as open sesame! This bowl is perfect as a weeknight meal because it is endlessly adaptable.

If you love breakfast for dinner, particularly when it involves eggs, this miracle meal needs to be in your rotation. This riff on shakshuka, the dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce, adds tender chickpeas to the mix for extra heartiness and comes together beautifully in the microwave. Allow yourself just five minutes — yes, really just five minutes! — and it can be yours when you need dinner for one, fast.

This is the light, fragrant stew created with spring celebrations in mind. Unlike the rich beef stews you cozied up with in winter, this one opts for a subtly spiced, brothy base studded with ultra-tender chunks of lamb and vegetables. It’s casual enough for a simple Sunday supper, although if you spoon it over a bowl of buttery couscous and top with a splash of fresh herbs, it becomes the centerpiece of a dinner party.

Even more than the turkey, certain sides take center stage at the Thanksgiving table: sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and most of all, stuffing. Whether it comes out of a box, or from lovingly saved scraps of homemade bread, it’s the stuffing that feels most quintessentially American. It’s the perfect accompaniment for our most beloved national holiday. Unless, of course, you don’t like stuffing.

The addition of bharat makes this a deliciously smoky-yet-sweet stuffing any turkey would love to be next to.