Asia • Featured Cuisine
Explore Lebanese Cuisine
Lebanon’s cuisine is fresh, generous and deeply social, with bright salads, creamy dips, grilled meats, warm breads and mezze that invite lingering.
Welcome to Lebanon
Parsley-bright tabbouleh, warm pita and mezze made for sharing
Lebanese cooking has a gift for making simple ingredients feel abundant. Parsley, mint, lemon, olive oil, tomatoes, bulgur, chickpeas, eggplant, yogurt, lamb, garlic, pine nuts and warm spices appear in bright, generous combinations. Freshness is not decoration here; it is the point, and the table often proves it quickly.
Meals often begin with mezze, where small plates build a table full of color and choice. Tabbouleh, hummus, falafel, grilled meats and flatbreads show the cuisine’s easy balance of freshness and comfort. Lebanese food feels social, sunny and made for lingering.
Cooking Style
Grilling, baking, stuffing, blending dips, fresh chopping and mezze-style serving
Signature Flavors
Parsley, mint, lemon, olive oil, sumac, garlic, tahini, za’atar
Food Culture
Lebanese food culture values hospitality, shared plates, fresh herbs, bread, seasonal produce, family meals and long tables filled with mezze.
Featured Dish
Try Tabbouleh Salad
Tabbouleh salad is one of Lebanon’s best-recognized national dishes, made with finely chopped parsley, mint, tomatoes, bulgur, lemon juice and olive oil. It tastes bright, fresh and herb-forward, with the greens leading and the bulgur playing a quiet supporting role.
View RecipeLebanese Recipes
Explore Lebanese recipes
Fresh herbs, mezze, warm pita, grilled meats and lemony Lebanese flavor
Baked Kibbeh (Beef Casserole)
This Lebanese baked kibbeh layers fine bulgur and spiced meat around a warm, oniony filling and bakes into one of the Levant’s great comfort dishes.
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Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad
Lebanese tabouli is a bright, parsley salad with mint, tomato, lemon, olive oil, and just enough bulgur to give it a gentle bite.
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Lebanese Chicken Shawarma
Lebanese chicken shawarma pairs juicy spiced chicken with toum, pickles, and soft flatbread for one of the region’s great street-food sandwiches.
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Manakish (Lebanese Flatbread “Pizza”)
Manakish is Lebanon’s beloved bakery flatbread, baked hot and fast with a fragrant za’atar topping and best eaten warm, preferably before anyone else gets ideas.
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Lebanese Fattoush Salad
Lebanese fattoush is a crisp, punchy bread salad with fresh vegetables, herbs, toasted pita, and a bright sumac dressing that wakes everything up.
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Lebanese Baklava
Lebanese baklava layers buttery phyllo and walnuts under a fragrant orange blossom syrup for a crisp, sweet dessert that rewards patience.
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Lebanon’s food shifts from city mezze tables to mountain herbs, coastal fish, village breads and fertile valley produce, all with bright seasoning and generous serving.
Lebanese Falafel
Lebanese falafel combines soaked chickpeas, fava beans, herbs, and warm spices into crisp fritters that belong in pita, as mezze, or in your snack rotation.
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Lebanese Hummus
Lebanese hummus turns chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and garlic into a smooth mezze classic that is simple, rich, and hard to stop eating.
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Lebanese Arayes (Meat Stuffed Pitas)
Lebanese arayes stuffs pita with seasoned meat, then grills or pan-crisps it until the bread shatters lightly and the filling stays juicy.
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Lebanese Jallab Beverage
Lebanese jallab is a chilled Levantine drink made with dark syrup, floral notes, ice, and the very sensible addition of pine nuts on top.
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Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)
Toum is Lebanon’s famous garlic sauce, whipped into a thick, punchy emulsion that makes shawarma, chicken, and fries instantly more interesting.
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Lebanese Garlic Lemon Chicken
Lebanese lemon garlic chicken pairs juicy marinated chicken with a bright garlicky sauce for a rich, tangy dish built for pita or rice.
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Regional Flavors
Every region brings something different to the table
Lebanon’s food shifts from city mezze tables to mountain herbs, coastal fish, village breads and fertile valley produce, all with bright seasoning and generous serving.
Best Known Dishes
- Tabbouleh
- Hummus
- Kibbeh
- Fattoush
- Manakish
- Baba Ghanoush
- Kafta
- Baklava
Food Traditions
Meals are casual, generous and proudly regional
Mezze, warm bread, salads, dips and grilled foods often shape shared meals. Hospitality matters, and the table usually grows before anyone admits it.
Travel & Dining
Taste your way across Lebanon
Visitors can taste Lebanon through mezze restaurants, bakeries, street grills, seaside cafés, markets, home kitchens and tables fragrant with herbs, lemon and warm bread.