Gluten-Free Fattoush (Lebanese Salad with Crispy GF Pita)

Fattoush is the salad every coeliac has been quietly served — and quietly poisoned by. In every other way it is a dream: crunchy cucumber, tomato, radish, romaine and herbs under a lemon-and-sumac dressing. But the word fattoush comes from fatteh — “crumbs” — and those crumbs are toasted pita bread. Traditional pita is wheat. Swap in gluten-free pita and the whole dish comes back to you untouched.

Gluten-Free Fattoush (Lebanese Salad with Crispy GF Pita)

The bright Lebanese chopped salad with lemon-sumac dressing and crispy pita. Everything in it was always gluten-free except the toasted pita — swap in GF pita and it is a coeliac-safe classic. A small masterclass in the one-ingredient swap.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Salad, Side Dish, Starter

Cuisine: Lebanese, Middle Eastern

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

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The salad

• 2 gluten-free pita breads toasted and broken into pieces — see notes
• 1 large cucumber diced
• 3 tomatoes diced
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 4 radishes sliced
• 3 spring onions sliced
• 1 small romaine lettuce chopped
• 10 fresh mint leaves 10–12
• Flat-leaf parsley small bunch, chopped

The dressing

• 60 ml olive oil
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 tsp sumac see notes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

 

1. Toast the pita: Toast the GF pita in the oven or a skillet until golden and crisp; set aside.
2. Prep the vegetables: Prepare all the vegetables and herbs and combine in a large salad bowl.
3. Make the dressing: Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, sumac, salt and pepper; taste and adjust.
4. Toss & serve: Toss the salad with the dressing. Just before serving, mix in the GF pita chips so they stay crisp.

Notes

Coeliac notes
• The pita is the entire risk. Classic fattoush is built on toasted wheat pita — never assume a restaurant version is safe. At home use a gluten-free pita (or GF flatbread/crackers/corn tortilla chips) toasted crisp.
• Sumac is a naturally GF ground berry — buy it pure, not a za'atar blend (some contain toasted wheat).
• Eating out: fattoush and fatteh dishes are a classic Levantine coeliac trap; ask for it without pita and use your Arabic coeliac card.
• When a label is unclear, treat it as "not for me".

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