Roasted Vegetable Fattoush
This roasted vegetable fattoush is a hearty, filling salad that’s absolutely packed with tasty bits. Definitely not the type of salad you only eat out of obligation!
I always say I’m not a salad person… but the truth is, I’m just not a boring salad person. And this roasted vegetable fattoush is far from boring. It’s absolutely packed with tasty bits – roasted vegetables, black olives, crumbled feta cheese, and of course, the star of any fattoush salad: crispy pieces of flatbread.
If all salads were like this roasted vegetable fattoush… I’d definitely be a salad person.
What is fattoush?
Fattoush is a Levantine salad that’s made with a variety of vegetables and bread. One of the key ingredients is stale flatbread, which is cooked until crispy, then mixed right through the salad. It brings such a lovely texture to the fattoush, and heaps of flavour.
As with lots of traditional recipes, the other ingredients aren’t set in stone – they vary by location, season, and even just the person who’s making the salad. So this is my own version!
Most of the time, I eat salad out of obligation – somebody’s gone to the effort of making it, so I should at least have a bit. Or, I should really have some green on my plate, so I’ll take a handful of lettuce.
But fattoush isn’t an obligation salad. It’s a salad you eat because it’s flipping delicious.
Roasted vegetable fattoush
I’m obsessed with roasted vegetables – as I always say, roasting is by far the best way to cook pretty much any vegetable. So obviously, I wanted to base my fattoush around roasted vegetables.
If there’s anything that can lift a salad from bland rabbit food to something completely irresistible, it’s roasted veggies.
I used roasted aubergine (eggplant) and roasted courgette (zucchini), along with roasted cherry tomatoes, which end up making little pockets of sweetness throughout the salad. The flavour is just ridiculous.
Crispy pitta chips
Fattoush is a great way of using up any stale flatbread you have laying around the kitchen. By the time it’s crisped up, you’ll never know if it was a day past its prime. Fresh will work fine too, if you’re more organised than I am! Any sort of flatbread works well – I used pitta bread.
The flatbread in a fattoush is sometimes grilled to make it nice and crispy, but since I was already using my oven to roast the veg, I threw the bread in at the same time. I’m all for making things as easy as I can.
Just cut it into pieces, toss it in olive oil, and bake. I also added plenty of salt and pepper, and some dried herbs too. It takes on such a beautiful flavour.
What other ingredients are in fattoush?
While the vegetables and pitta bread are getting all roasty in the oven, you can prepare the cold parts of the salad. You can pretty much add whatever you like at this point. Just start with a nice big bowlful of your favourite lettuce mix, and add some tasty extras.
I added:
- crumbled feta cheese
- sun-dried tomatoes
- black olives
- fresh mint and parsley
You could also use:
- chickpeas (which would be even better if you roast them with the other veg!)
- diced cucumber
- thinly sliced red onion
- sliced radishes
- pomegranate seeds
- sliced spring onions
…or whatever else you love in a salad!
When the roasted vegetables and crispy pitta bread have cooled, add them to the bowl.
Next, it’s time to make the dressing! Of course, that’s super simple too.
How to make a lemon vinaigrette
The dressing for this fattoush is a simple lemon vinaigrette, made with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. I also added a pinch of salt and pepper, and some dried parsley.
The dressing makes the salad really fresh and zingy, and super peppery.
I use an old jam jar for making salad dressings, as you can just put the lid on, and give it a really good shake. The lemon juice and oil emulsify to give a beautiful, creamy dressing.
Mix the whole salad together thoroughly, and it’s ready to serve.
How to serve fattoush
We had our fattoush for lunch. It’s a pretty substantial salad, with all those roasted vegetables and the crispy flatbread, so you don’t really need to serve anything alongside it if you don’t want to. You could always add some chickpeas to make it more filling and protein-rich, if you want to.
Alternatively, use your fattoush as a side dish – it would be amazing alongside some tofu escalopes, or a similar protein-heavy dish.
Fattoush is just the sort of salad that’s perfect for a dinner party. It’s easy to make, but still feels pretty special.
Can you make a vegan fattoush?
Fattoush can definitely be made vegan! Just skip the feta cheese that I chose to add to mine, and the rest of the salad is vegan. It will still be seriously tasty without the feta, as there are so many other tasty bits.
Can you prepare fattoush in advance?
Yes! Fattoush can definitely be prepared in advance. However, it’s best eaten straight after it’s all mixed together, otherwise the lettuce will go limp, and the pitta chips will lose their crispiness.
So if you’d like to prepare your fattoush in advance, I’d make each part separately, and then just mix it all together when you’re ready to serve:
- Roasted veggies and pitta chips
- Cold ingredients (lettuce + cold mix-ins)
- Dressing
Then toss it all together when you’re ready to go. Perfect!
Roasted Vegetable Fattoush
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
For roasting
- 1 medium aubergine (eggplant)
- 1 medium courgette (zucchini)
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 160 g (~ 1 cup) cherry tomatoes
- 2 medium pitta breads (120g / ~ 4 oz)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley (or other dried herb)
To assemble
- 100 g (~ 3 1/2 oz) your favourite salad leaves
- 100 g (~ 3 1/2 oz) feta cheese, roughly chopped or crumbled
- 50 g (~ 1/2 cup) black olives, roughly chopped
- Few sprigs fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- Few sprigs fresh mint, leaves only, roughly chopped
- 5 large pieces sun-dried tomato, roughly chopped
For the dressing
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
Instructions
- Quarter the aubergine (eggplant) lengthwise, and halve the courgette (zucchini) lengthwise, then slice both into 1cm slices. Toss in 1 tbsp olive oil, and spread out on a baking tray.
- Cut each cherry tomato in half, and place on one side of a second baking tray. Cut the pitta breads into chunky pieces, and spread the pieces out next to the tomatoes. Sprinkle the pitta bread with salt, pepper and dried parsley, and then drizzle everything with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Place the tray with the aubergine and courgette in the oven to roast at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around 30-35 minutes, until soft, and just beginning to crisp up. Cook the second tray, with the pitta bread and tomatoes, for around 15 minutes, until the pitta is golden brown and crispy. Set both trays aside to cool once properly cooked.
- To assemble the salad, put the salad leaves in a large mixing bowl, and add the cold ingredients (feta, olives, parsley, mint, sun-dried tomatoes). When the roasted ingredients have cooled, add those too.
- To make the dressing, add all of the dressing ingredients to a small jar, replace the lid, and shake thoroughly to combine. If you don’t have a small jar, you can just mix thoroughly with a fork. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and toss everything together. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Here’s another fresh yet hearty salad – two bean and potato salad with creamy pesto:
With any salad, it’s important to keep what my mother calls the “nice bits” separate from the lettuce until the last minute – or even serve them separately. That means those of us who eat lettuce out of obligation rather than taste can take just a little. Frankly, I’m not sure I’d bother adding lettuce to this salad! I never do when I make Greek salad! Lots of tomato, cucumber, avocado, sweet pepper, sunflower seeds and basil or mint makes for a fabulous salad in its own right, with or without any other additions!
Hehe yes I am definitely always thinking about the ratio of lettuce:tasty bits ;)
Really good 👍 will be making this one again for sure.
Thanks Phil!
I know what you mean! I like to say I like salad but lets be honest most of the salad I eat is filled with cheese, croutons, raisins, and lots of dressing. Not exactly what anyone would call healthy :P
Sandy
Hello! Just stopping by to let you know that I will be featuring your recipe on my blog today. Thanks so much for sharing on Marvelous Mondays! :)
Julie
Oooooh! Thank you so much Julie! I’m excited to take a look :)
I feel ya on getting bored with the same old salads. I need variety as well. Your salad looks amazing and has all of the ingredients that I love to eat in various other recipes. I am pinning this! Thanks so much for sharing on Marvelous Mondays! :)
Julie
Looks great :)
Looks delicious! :)
Who doesn’t love fattoush? In grad school I used to go to a hole in the wall sandwich stand and order the “cheese delight”: a flatbread roll stuffed with fattoush and chunks of melty, salty cheese. It was truly the greatest (and messiest) sandwich ever–great enough to eat outside in Michigan in February.
That sounds amazing! Messy food is sometimes the best :)
Yum! This is also typically eaten by Greeks too.