What to Eat in the Middle East

From the Levant’s olive groves to the Arabian deserts and the Iranian plateau, the Middle East cooks with what its climates allow: grains, legumes, olives, dates, and resilient herbs. Trade routes layered spices like cardamom and cumin onto ancient techniques of stewing, grilling, and bread-baking.

Meals favor shared platters and flatbreads that double as utensils, with meze in temperate zones and rice-with-meat feasts in the Gulf. Tea and coffee anchor hospitality, while in hotter regions the main meal often lands at midday, and Ramadan shifts dining to night and dawn.

Mansaf, widely regarded as Jordan’s national dish, layers tender lamb with a sauce made from jameed, a sun-dried fermented yogurt reconstituted into a tangy broth. The meat simmers with bay leaves and cardamom until yielding, then is poured over rice and thin shrak (markook) bread, and finished with samneh (clarified butter) and toasted almonds or pine nuts. Its sour richness, perfumed rice, and soft bread create a contrast prized in Bedouin hospitality, where eating from a central tray with the right hand signals respect and unity. Mansaf anchors weddings, major holidays, and tribal gatherings, and remains especially linked to spring when fresh lamb and dairy are abundant across Jordan’s steppe.

Kabsa in Saudi Arabia is a spiced rice-and-meat dish built in one pot, where long-grain rice absorbs a stock tinted by tomatoes and a kabsa baharat of cardamom, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon, and dried black lime (loomi). Chicken or lamb is browned, then simmered with onions, garlic, and the spices before rice is added so every grain stays separate yet saturated with aroma. The flavor is gently smoky, citrusy from loomi, and warming rather than hot, with optional additions like carrots, fried onions, or raisins used in different regions from Najd to the Gulf coast. Served family-style on a large platter, kabsa commonly anchors midday lunches and Friday gatherings, aligning with the Kingdom’s climate and rhythm where the heaviest meal often falls before evening.

Hummus bi tahina is a Levantine staple that blends cooked chickpeas with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and cumin into a smooth, aerated purée finished with olive oil. Cooks often peel the chickpeas, blend them while warm with ice water for lift, and garnish with parsley, paprika or sumac, and a few whole chickpeas; some fold in pine nuts or sautéed mushrooms. Its nutty, citrus-bright taste and creamy texture balance richer foods in the meze tradition across Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, and Jordan, where it is eaten with khubz or pita from breakfast to late evening. While chickpeas and sesame have ancient roots in the region, today’s hummus is a practical, protein-dense dish suited to the Mediterranean climate and olive oil culture of the Levant.

Chelo kabab pairs saffron-steamed rice (chelow) with skewered meats from Iran’s long grilling tradition, most famously kabab koobideh made from minced lamb or beef kneaded with grated onion and salt. The rice is rinsed and parboiled, then steamed with saffron and sometimes a butter crust, while kebabs are shaped on wide skewers and grilled over charcoal until smoky and juicy. Plates are finished with grilled tomatoes, sumac for acidity, sometimes a pat of butter, and fresh herbs; the result balances fragrant rice, char, and gentle fat. A fixture of weekend meals and Nowruz gatherings, chelo kabab is eaten at home and in mangal-style cookouts across the country, often with doogh, the salted yogurt drink, and flatbread for wrapping leftovers.

Mandi from Yemen’s Hadhramaut relies on slow cooking in a sealed earth oven (tannūr), where seasoned meat is suspended above a pot of spiced rice so drippings baste every grain. The meat—often lamb or chicken—is rubbed with a blend that may include cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and black lime, then cooked over smoldering wood; saffron or fried onions can perfume the rice. The result is tender meat with a hint of smoke and rice that tastes of broth and spice rather than chili heat, reflecting Yemen’s trade-era pantry. Mandi is central to celebratory meals and everyday lunches alike, especially in the south and east, where the midday feast suits the warm climate and communal dining around a single platter remains customary.

Spanning dry deserts, temperate coasts, and high plateaus, Middle Eastern cooking adapts to climate—fermenting dairy, steaming rice, grilling over charcoal, and baking flatbreads. Meals value balance and sharing over chilli heat. For more staples, seasonal street foods, and practical insights tied to local weather and travel timing from the Levant to the Gulf, explore additional Middle East food guides on Sunheron.com. Use our resources to plan what to eat alongside when to go.