Lebanese Eggplant Fatteh is a quick and easy Middle Eastern recipe to prepare for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
In the Middle East fatteh is known as a healthy comfort food, featuring layers of toasted pita, chickpeas, tahini, yogurt, spices and herbs.
Our Eggplant Fatteh recipe features flavourful ingredients like olive oil, garlic, cumin, parsley, lemon, tahini and paprika.
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What is Fatteh?
Fatteh roughly translates in Arabic to “crushed” or “crumbled.” Also known as fette, fetté, fatta or fattah, the names refer to a group of dishes where chunks of flatbread are layered in a dish with various toppings.
Fatteh is known to be a very unique and ancient dish of the Egyptian and Southern Levant area, comprising Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. In Egypt it is prepared on special occasions, such as celebrating a woman’s first pregnancy or for an Iftar during Ramadan.
Fatteh Hummus is the most famous, featuring crispy toasted pita and layers of chickpeas, tahini and yogurt. It almost tastes like you’re eating a savoury chickpea bread pudding.
The easy to prepare Middle Eastern dish is known for being warm, comforting, hearty and rich. It’s eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Travel to Lebanon by Cooking Eggplant Fatteh at Home
I love traveling to the Middle East and North Africa.
As a professional food and travel journalist, I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy amazing meals in the Middle East, from authentic markets to award winning restaurants.
For over ten years, I’ve been on the hunt for the best Eggplant Fatteh via adventures that had me zig-zagging through Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Dubai. You guessed it! Some of my fondest food memories while traveling in the Middle East include fragrant feasts featuring creamy and crunchy fatteh.
I ate authentic Fatteh at a traditional Moroccan riad, on food tours of Istanbul and Bodrum, accompanied by Egyptian tea on a Nile Cruise and in bustling market in Cairo, late night snack in Amman, al fresco market lunch in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and accompanied by steamiing bowls of soup at a massive Middle Eastern barbecue in the middle of the Dubai desert while belly dancers twirled under the night sky.
Where To Eat Authentic Eggplant Fatteh
If you live in a large city in Canada or America you’ll likely have access to a local Middle Eastern restaurant that serves a traditional fatteh recipe.
Haven’t traveled to the Middle East before? It may be helpful to first sample Eggplant Fatteh at a local restaurant to better understand how the dish is served. You’ll get an idea for the desired spice level, perfect pita to chickpea ratio and ideal garnishes. You’ll also find inspiration on what to pair with the famous Lebanese dish, such as falafel, kibbeh, shawarma and kebab.
In Toronto, popular Middle Eastern restaurants that may serve a traditional vegetarian Fatteh include Parallel, Byblos, Tabule, Fat Pasha, Maha’s, Masrawy Kitchen, Masrawy Kitchen and Paramount Fine Foods.
My Family Loves Traditional Lebanese Fatteh
When my family moved to Oakville the first restaurant we visited was a local Egyptian and Lebanese restaurant called Agabi. Ranked as one of the best restaurants in Oakville, Agabi, became our family’s go-to Middle Eastern take out joint.
After falling in love with Middle Eastern food at home, we enjoyed vacations to the region, feasting on endless bowls of hummus, falafel and crunchy platters of vegetarian Fatteh.
My family enjoys preparing this easy Eggplant Fatteh recipe at the cottage in Muskoka during the summer or in the fall and winter in Toronto.
The great thing about our eggplant fatteh recipe is that you can get away with baking everything (no need to fry) and you can make most of the components ahead of time and assemble them all just before serving.
Eggplant Fatteh Health Benefits
Our homemade Eggplant Fatteh recipe is packed full of healthy ingredients!
It is only recently that scientists have begun to identify the components responsible for garlic’s myriad health benefits. Rich in phytochemicals and potassium, garlic helps boost your immune system, fight cancer and protect your heart.
Olive Oil is ranked as one of the healthiest fats and is a staple in the Mediterranean diet. It contains vitamins E and K and plenty of beneficial fatty acids and antioxidants.
Beans are rich in cancer-fighting vitamin C, energy-boosting B vitamins, and gut-healthy fibre.
Eggplants are a nutrient dense food that contain a good amount of vitamins, minerals and fibre in few calories. It’s a good source of manganese, folate, potassium, vitamin K and C.
Packed with calcium and friendly probiotic bacteria, sour cream and yogurt help keep your bones strong and your gut healthy. Yogurt may also help reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and some types of cancer.
A useful source of copper, calcium, manganese, and phosphorus, sesame seeds help support circulatory, digestive and skeletal health.
A rich source of phytochemicals and vitamin C, lemons help boost your immune system and neutralize free radicals that cause disease and skin aging. Lemons also protect against heart disease and help improve blood flow to the brain.
A rich source of blood-building iron, cumin may also help balance your blood sugar levels and reduce bad cholesterol. It is also traditionally used as a digestive aid.
Paprika is rich in vitamin A, capsaicin, and carotenoid antioxidants. These substances may help prevent inflammation and improve your cholesterol, eye health and blood sugar levels.
An excellent source of vitamin K, as well as vitamin C, folate, and iron, parsley helps keep your bones and blood healthy, and protects your skin from damage by free radicals.
Whole wheat flour is rich in vitamins B-1, B-3, and B-5, along with riboflavin and folate. It also has more iron, calcium, protein, and other nutrients than white flour.
Lebanese Fatteh Cooking Tips
If it’s your first time cooking homemade Fatteh be sure to review our detailed step-by-step recipe below. Here are some helpful tips and tricks to get you started:
- Use a large cast iron dutch oven with a high rim to reduce splatter when cooking the vegetables.
- In our recipe we suggest using an immersion blender to puree the cooked vegetables but you could also use a heavy duty Vitamix.
- We suggest using a high quality rubber spatula spoon when stirring the contents of your pot.
- If you love baking why not make your own sourdough pita. We suggest using day-old flatbread when making this fatteh recipe.
- If you don’t like eggplants, substituting for roasted squash makes for a hearty sweet version.
- Feel free to liven up your dish by adding saffron to the chickpea broth and garnish with pomegranate seeds and/or roasted pine nuts.
- If you’re a meat eater looking to add more protein to your diet feel free to add minced beef, chicken or lamb as you layer the fatteh.
What To Serve with Eggplant Fatteh
We love serving roasted eggplant fatteh on warm days in the spring, summer and fall. It’s nice to use fresh herbs from the garden and the creaminess of the yogurt and tahini pair nicely with the acidity of the lemon.
If you’re hosting a large dinner party you might want to serve our healthy fatteh as an appetizer before serving heartier mains
If you’re hosting a Middle Eastern-themed dinner party buffet you may want to add fresh mezze and regional specialities like shawarma, kebab, toum and kibbeh.
We do not suggest saving leftovers for more than a day as the pita quickly gets soggy when layered with the wet yogurt and tahini sauce. This is one those dishes people gobble up in no time!
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How To Make The Best Lebanese Fatteh Recipe
Lebanese Eggplant Fatteh
Equipment
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- mixing bowl
- blender
- oven
- baking sheet
Ingredients
Roasted Eggplant
- 1 Large eggplant
- 1/2 cup Olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Sumac
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
Lebanese Fatteh
- 3 Pita torn into pieces
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp Cumin
- Salt
- 1/2 cup Parsley
- 2 Lemons juiced and zested
- 3 1/2 cups Cooked canned chickpeas
- 5 Garlic cloves
- 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup Tahini
- 1/2 tsp Sumac
- 1/4 tsp Paprika
- 1/4 cup Pine Nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Chop the eggplant into 1 inch cubes and toss in the olive oil, salt, sumac, and paprika.
- Lay eggplant chunks in one layer on a lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool.
- Tear pita and coat with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon cumin and salt. Mix well until coated then spread out across a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 F, until pita is golden brown and crispy.
- Transfer two thirds of the crunchy pita pieces to a casserole dish and set remaining third aside to use later.
- Combine the parsley, lemon zest, remaining 4 tbsp of olive oil and 1/8 tsp of salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- Drain chickpeas and put into a large saucepan with whole garlic cloves and remaining 1 tsp cumin. Simmer over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Once chickpeas are fully cooked through, stir in 1/2 tsp salt, the transfer 1 1/4 cups cooked chickpeas to a blender or food processor. Add yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, 3/4 tsp salt and 7 tbsp of the hot cooking liquid. Blend until smooth and set aside.
- Top the pita in the baking dish with half the pine nuts, half of the roasted eggplant chunks, two-thirds of the whole chickpeas and 7 tbsp of their cooking liquid. Cover in the chickpea-tahini sauce and stir together. Top with remaining pita, chickpeas, eggplant and pine nuts.
- Garnish with parsley, sumac, paprika and lemon.
Nutrition
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