List of Palestinian dishes

A typical Palestinian breakfast with pita, olives, tomatoes, fried egg, and labaneh

The following is a list of Palestinian dishes and drinks. For the cuisine, see Palestinian cuisine (Arabic: الطعام الفلسطيني).

Main dishes by region

Galilee

Maqluba

• Kebab halabi—kebab served with a spicy tomato sauce and Aleppo pepper
• Kibbeh
• Kibbee bi-siniyyeh—
• Kibbeh nayyeh—
• Mansaf
• Maqluba—an "upside-down" dish, made with fried vegetables, meat (lamb), rice and eggplant
• Musakhan—large taboon bread topped with sumac, and onions
• Ruz wa Lahme ma' Laban—mix of rice and lamb topped with a mildly spicy yogurt
• Shish taouk—chicken pieces on skewers

West Bank

Musakhan

• Fasoulya beyda—white beans cooked in tomato sauce and served with rice
• Fasoulya khadra—green beans cooked in tomato sauce and served with rice
• Kafta b'thine—kafta balls cooked with tahini sauce and served with rice
• Kafta harra—kafta cooked in tomato sauce with potatoes, eaten alone or in pita bread
• Qidreh or Fukharat Qidreh is rice cooked with lamb meat or chicken with chickpeas, kurkuma, saffron, garlic and cardamom. Especially famous in Hebron. Served also on feasts, weddings and funerals. Traditionally made in clay pots in traditional old style stone ovens.
• Mahshi lift—a specialty of Hebron, turnips stuffed with rice, minced lamb meat and spices, cooked in tamarind sauce
• Mandi or Ruz ma lahma—in the West Bank, made by cooking meat, rice and vegetables in a taboon, as in other Arab States
• Mansaf—lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgur
• Maqluba—an "upside-down" dish, made with fried vegetables, meat (chicken/lamb) and rice
• Musakhan—large taboon bread topped with poached chicken and sumac, red onions and toasted pine nuts along with various spices including nutmeg, cardamon and cinnamon
• Zarb—same as mandi, but cooked under high pressure in an airtight oven, and usually rice is substituted by bread (influenced by Jordanians)

Gaza

Sumaghiyyeh

• Fukharit 'adas—lentil flavored with red peppers, dill, garlic and cumin
• Maqluba—upside-down eggplant, rice, meat and cauliflower casserole
• Qidra—rice and meat pieces cooked with cloves, garlic and cardamom
• Rummaniyya—a mix of eggplant, pomegranate seeds, tahina, red peppers and garlic
• Sumaghiyyeh—beef and chickpea stew flavored with sumac, tahina and red peppers
• Zibdieh—a clay-pot dish of shrimp baked in a stew of olive oil, garlic, hot peppers, and peeled tomatoes

National

Mujaddara

• Ari'ih—rice and minced meat stuffed in pumpkins
• Falafel—fried hummus, spice and parsley ball or patty
• Fatta—dishes that include bread crumbs
• Hummus—a dip, spread, or savory dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic
• Kousa mahshi—rice and minced meat stuffed in zucchini cooked in a garlicky tomato broth
• Maftul — pasta-like tiny balls, garbanzo beans and chicken pieces cooked in chicken broth
• Malfuf—rice and minced meat rolled in cabbage leaves
• Maqluba—upside-down eggplant, rice, meat and cauliflower casserole
• Mloukiyyeh—Corchorus stew
• Mujaddara—lentil and bulgur dish
• Musakhan—large taboon breads with chicken, red onions, pine nuts, sumac, and spices; there is a popular modern version of musakhan rolls, where the spices, chicken, sumac, toasted pine nuts, and red onion are rolled in saj or tortilla bread
• Shawarma—a dish consisting of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit; with a spread of toum (garlic paste) wrapped in saj bread
• Shurbat freekeh—green wheat soup, usually with chicken
• Waraq al-'anib—rice and minced meats rolled in grape leaves

Side dishes

Salads and dips

Baba ghanoush

Tahini with lemon and garlic

Galayet bandora

• Arabic salad—made of tomato, cucumber, onion, olive oil and lemon juice, Palestinian variant called Salatat al-bundura ("tomato salad")
• Baba ghanoush—aubergine (eggplant) salad
• Hummus—ground chickpeas with tahina and olive oil
• Fattoush—mixed leaf-vegetable salad with deep-fried pita bread pieces and sumac
• Ful medames—ground fava beans and olive oil
• Galayet bandora—a simple dish of tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, olive oil, and salt served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner
• Malfouf salad—typically consists of shredded cabbage, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and dried mint
• Mfarakeh—a dish made of potato, egg, ghee, cumin powder, salt and pepper, in addition chopped coriander leaf for garnish
• Mutabbel—spicier version of baba ghanoush
• Tabbouleh—parsley and bulgur salad with diced tomatoes, onions and lemon juice
• Tahini—condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame seeds

Cheeses and yogurts

Nabulsi cheese

• Akkawi—a white brine cheese originating from the city of Akka/Acre
• Halloumi—cheese with a high melting point which can easily be fried or grilled, making it a popular meat substitute
• Jibneh Arabieh—has a mild taste similar to feta but less salty
• Jameed—a hard dry laban made from ewe or goat's milk, kept in a fine woven cheesecloth to make a thick yogurt; typically served with Mansaf
• Kashk—made from drained yogurt or drained sour milk by shaping it and letting it dry
• Labeneh—tangy, smooth, creamy yogurt cheese; served with a drizzle of olive oil and sometimes zaatar
• Labneh Jarashieh:-

Round balls of labneh that are tangier and less creamy than regular labneh

• Nabulsi—Used in nabulsi cheese fatayirs, and can be eaten fresh as salty table cheese or fried in oil

Breads

Markook

Pita in Nablus

• Ka'ak—may refer to a bread commonly consumed throughout the Near East that is made in a large ring-shape and is covered with sesame seeds
• Khubz—may refer to any type of bread. Breads popular in Arab countries include "pocket" pita bread and tandoor bread. The oldest known find of bread, by archaeologists in Northern Jordan, dates back 14,000 years
• Pita—a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas
• Markook—unleavened and usually made with only flour, water, and salt, and after being rested and divided into round portions, flattened and spread across a round cushion until it is thin then flipped onto the saj
• Taboon—an important part of Palestinian cuisine, traditionally baked on a bed of small hot stones in the taboon oven

Bread dishes

A Palestinian man from Ramallah using an aleb falafel while frying falafel

Sfiha.

• Fatayer—a meat pie that can be stuffed with spinach, or cheese such as feta or Akkawi, and za'atar
• Manakish—taboon bread topped with za'atar and olive oil
• Sambusak—fried dough balls stuffed with meat, pine nuts and onions
• Sfiha—flatbread topped with beef and red peppers
• Shawarma—pita bread roll of meat, tahini and various vegetables

Condiments

• Bahārāt (بَهَارَات)—Arabic word for "spices" (plural of bahār "spice")
• Duqqa (دُقَّة)—a condiment consisting of a mixture of herbs, nuts (usually hazelnut), and spices
• Qizḥa (قزحة)—made from crushed nigella seeds, the paste has a sharp, bitter taste with slight tones of sweetness
• Sumac (السماق)—ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a spice in Middle-Eastern cuisine to add a tart, lemony taste to salads or meat
• Za'atar (زَعْتَر)—a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt and other spices

Beverages

Palestinian arak

• Arabic coffee—a version of the brewed coffee of Coffea arabica (بُنّ) beans
• Arak (ﻋﺮﻕ)—Anise-flavored alcoholic beverage
• Ḥelba (حلبه)—Fenugreek beverage
• Kharroub (خَرُّوبٌ)—carob juice
• Lemonade (عصير الليمون)—a sweetened lemon-flavoured beverage
• Qamar Eddine (قمر الدين)—an apricot juice or nectar beverage that is typically consumed during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
• Saḥlab (سَحْلَب)—boiled milk with starch made from nearly-extinct orchids, covered with smashed coconut and cinnamon
• Tamar Al-Hindi (تمر هندي)—a refreshing cold sweet-and-sour Ramadan drink prepared with tamarind, sugar and water
• Turkish coffee (قهوة تركية)—a style of coffee prepared using very finely ground coffee beans without filtering
• Zanjabeel (زنجبيل)—a simple ginger tea

Sweets

Kanafeh

Baklawa from Nablus

Awameh

• Awameh (عوامة)—Arabic for "swimmer", a Levantine pastry similar to doughnut holes, made of deep-fried dough, soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon, sometimes sprinkled with sesame
• Baklava (البقلاوة)—sweet pastry made of layers of filo
• Batata b'kaak (فطيرة البطاطس)—potato pancake
• Ghoriba (غريبة)—a shortbread biscuit, usually made with ground almonds
• Ḥalawa (حلوى‎)—primary ingredients are tahini and sugar, glucose or honey
• Harīsa (هريسة)—a traditional semolina sweet cake drenched in rose water
• Kanafeh (كُنافة)—cheese pastry soaked in sweet sugar-based syrup
• Ma'amoul (معمول)—shortbread pastries filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts
• Maftoul (مفتول)—small steamed balls of crushed durum wheat semolina usually served with a stew spooned on top
• Meshabek (مشبك مصري)—Egyptian funnel cake
• Muhallebi (مهلبية)—a milk pudding, basic ingredients are rice, sugar, rice flour and milk
• Qaṭayef (قطايف)—sweet dumpling filled with cream or nuts
• Saḥlab (سَحْلَب)—a flour made from the tubers of some near-extinct species of the orchid genus Orchis, used to make mucilaginous hot drinks and desserts; now many instant sahlab mixes are made with artificial flavoring since the true form is illegal
• She'reyabil haleeb (شعريه)—rice vermicelli in milk, very similar to rice pudding, but with less milk
• Warbat (وربات)—a sweet pastry similar to baklava, with layers of thin phyllo dough filled with custard