22 Top Popular Syrian Food Dishes

Kibbeh is a Syrian croquette-like dish made with spiced ground meat, grain, and onions. The most common kibbeh form consists of bulgur wheat pounded with meat and formed into balls with pine nuts and spices.

There are various cooking methods for kibbeh, such as deep-frying, grilling, making soups, and serving raw. Kibbeh nayyeh is a prominent example of raw kibbeh, using finely minced beef or lamb. This version is a regular meze item in Syria to honor guests.

A popular Syrian dish made with kibbeh is kubbi kishk, which includes kibbeh, stewed cabbage, and a yogurt-butter sauce.

Shawarma is widely served in Syria as a street food. It is also popular in other Middle Eastern countries. Though lamb or mutton is the traditional choice, shawarma also uses other types of meat, such as beef, chicken, turkey, and veal.

The preparation of shawarma involves thinly cutting and marinating the meat with baharat (Middle Eastern spice blend), cardamon, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, and turmeric. These meat cuts are then stacked and slowly roasted on a turning vertical spit or rotisserie.

The chef shaves off the cooked meat with a long, flat knife to serve shawarma. Stuffing it inside a sandwich or wrap is a popular way of serving the grilled meat dish.

Tabbouleh is a Syrian salad consisting of chopped parsley, uncooked bulgur, lemon juice, mint, olive oil, onion, salt, sweet pepper, and tomatoes. It originated in the mountainous areas and is also popular in Lebanon.

While tabbouleh is a regular meze in the Arab world, each country has its own variation. For example, Syrians use more parsley than bulgur in their version.

Fattoush is a popular salad in Syria with fried or toasted khubz (Arabic flatbread) as the base. Its other ingredients are seasonal vegetables like radishes and tomatoes.

Besides khubz and vegetables, sumac and pomegranate molasses are regular seasonings for fattoush. A notable difference between fattoush and tabbouleh is that fattoush’s vegetables are cut into larger pieces.

Falafel is a famous deep-fried fritter made with both chickpeas and fava beans in Syria and the wider Middle East. These ingredients make falafel a favorite local vegetarian and vegan choice.

Falafel is shaped into balls or patties by hand or using a falafel mold. These fritters are then deep-fried or baked in an oven before being served with tahini (ground sesame paste) sauce.

Many street vendors also sell falafel stuffed in or wrapped with flatbread as a sandwich. Other flat or unleavened bread is also a suitable choice. Adopted during the Ottoman Empire period, falafel is beloved by people from all religious backgrounds.

Ful medames, or ful, is a fava bean stew often served as a Syrian breakfast dish, especially in Aleppo.

Locals often make ful on the previous evening by leaving fava beans to simmer in large copper jars overnight. The next morning, they serve ful medames in the same jar with tahini, olive oil, and Aleppo pepper paste.

In terms of optional ingredients, this fava bean stew may incorporate chili pepper, garlic, lemon juice, onion, or parsley.

Hummus is a hugely popular Syrian chickpea dip or spread. Besides chickpeas, hummus also requires garlic, lemon juice, and tahini. Whole chickpeas, olive oil, paprika, and parsley are standard garnishes.

Syrians often use hummus as a dip for pita bread, a side dish for falafel, kibbeh, and tabbouleh salad, or a must-have part of the meze platter.

Muhammara is a famous Syrian spicy dip using fresh or dried Aleppo pepper, breadcrumbs, olive oil, and walnuts. Hailing from Aleppo, it has become famous throughout Southeastern Turkey and Western Armenia.

Muhammara’s ingredients vary depending on the region, with additional components ranging from cumin and garlic to lemon juice and pomegranate molasses. Many people enjoy muhammara as a dip or spread for bread or a sauce for grilled dishes.

Barazek, or barazeq, is a well-known Syrian cookie with sesame seeds as its star ingredient. These sesame cookies also contain several pistachio pieces inside.

Born in the Damascus capital during the Ottoman Empire period, barazek is now available in almost all pastry shops across the Levantine area. In Syria, bazareq has countless variants with different ingredients.

While the main barazek ingredients include butter, flour, sesame, and sugar, some replace butter with smen (salted, fermented butter) or add egg, honey, mahleb spice, milk, vanilla, or yeast. All versions of barazek offer a buttery, nutty, and sweet taste.

Mahshi is a Syrian stuffed dish made with vegetables (usually eggplant, squash, or zucchini), ground meat, nuts, and rice. People stuff the vegetables with seasoned beef, lamb, or mutton, then add them to a broth and cook them in the oven or on the stovetop.

Mahshi is usually served hot as a regular main course. There is a meatless mahshi version that is cooked in olive oil and enjoyed warm or at room temperature.

Makdous is an oil-cured aubergine dish widely eaten in Syria during fall and winter. It requires small, tangy eggplants alongside walnuts, red pepper, salt, olive oil, and garlic as stuffings.

Locals usually start making makdous at the beginning of autumn so that this cured aubergine is ready to eat in winter. Makdous is a suitable dish for breakfast, snack, or supper.

Fatteh is a typical Syrian bread dish with either fresh or stale khubz bread as the main ingredient. The bread is grilled or toasted before being covered with cumin, steamed chickpeas, oil, and strained yogurt.

Additional toppings for fatteh include eggplants, pine nuts, carrots, grilled chicken, or lamb shanks. Such versatility makes fatteh a wonderful choice for breakfast or dinner.

Mansaf is a common Syrian dish consisting of lamb cooked in a jameed broth. Jameed is hard, dry yogurt made with goat or sheep’s milk.

Like other inhabitants throughout the Levant, Syrians serve mansaf on a large plate, hence its name; Mansaf means “large dish” or “large tray.”

A typical mansaf plate is covered with layers of markook (Middle Eastern unleavened flatbread), rice, cooked lamb, and jameed sauce. Mansaf is then garnished with almonds and pine nuts.

Shishbarak is a dumpling dish widely prepared in Syria and other Levantine countries like Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. A variety of joshpara dumpling, it consists of thin dough dumplings stuffed with ground beef and slowly cooked in yogurt sauce.

Apart from beef, the meat stuffings for shishbarak also include chopped onions, fresh herbs, and spices. Shishbarak is best served hot in yogurt sauce with bread.

Harak osbao, or horaa osbao, is a thick Syrian stew of lentils and pasta. Its other ingredients are cilantro, garlic, olive oil, onions, fried pita bread, and pomegranate molasses.

Preparing Harak osbao is all about cooking these ingredients together until the mixture thickens. Then, horaa osbao is often poured into a large, deep bowl for serving. Some people even top it with fried bread, fried onions, and pomegranate seeds.

Maqluba, or maqlooba, is a traditional Syrian dish served throughout the Levant. Maqlooba includes layers of rice, meat, and vegetables in a pot. When served, the pot is flipped upside down, hence the name (maqluba means “upside down”).

Maqluba often features cauliflower or eggplant for the vegetables and chicken or lamb for the meat. This upside-down rice dish often appears in feasts and large gatherings with parsley and pine nuts as garnishes. Fresh yogurt and salad are sometimes served with maqlooba.

Ma’amoul, or maamoul, is a filled butter cookie often eaten in Syria during Easter, Eid al-Fitr, and Purim. During these holidays, locals serve visitors these butter cookies with chocolate and Arabic coffee.

The core ingredients of ma’amoul are semolina flour, butter, dates, and pistachios or walnuts. Ma’amoul gets its shape and decoration thanks to a special wooden mold called tabi or tabe.

Halawet el-jibn is a Syrian dessert whose name translates to “cheese sweet.” It consists of a semolina and cheese dough using different types of cheese, like mozzarella and Akkawi cheese.

Halawet el-jibn is filled with cream, sugar syrup, and orange blossom or rose water and adorned with a sprinkle of pistachios. Originating in Homs City, this cheese sweet is now available in other Middle Eastern regions, thanks to Syrian immigrants.

Mahalayeh, or muhallebi, is a popular milk pudding dessert in Syria. Its main ingredients are milk, rice, sugar, and starch, like rice flour or semolina. Balouza is a special Syrian variation with an additional orange- or rose-flavored jelly layer on top.

Local restaurants serve balouza with three stripes of toppings, including almonds, cream, and pistachios, with a maraschino cherry as a garnish.

You can find balouza in restaurants and booza (Eastern Levant frozen dairy dessert) shops.

Qamar al-din is a fruit leather made of apricots with roots in Syria. This West Asian nation has the highest-quality qamar al-din, especially in Ghouta, where the best apricot variety grows.

To make qamar al-din, Syrians boil apricots with sugar. The apricots are dried under direct sunlight after straining and soaking in olive oil.

While qamar al-din can be enjoyed as a snack, it’s also dissolved in water to create a refreshing drink during Ramadan. Some even wrap this fruit leather around a walnut piece.

Qamar al-din is available outside Syria in many Middle Eastern and North African countries.

Raha refers to various confections in Syria. Also known as Turkish delight or lokum, these confections are mainly made with a gel of starch and sugar. Several high-class versions come with chopped dates, hazelnuts, pistachios, or walnuts.

Traditionally, raha is flavored with bergamot orange, lemon, mastic gum, or rosewater. Then, these confections are cut into small cubes and dusted with copra (dried coconut flesh), icing sugar, or powdered cream of tartar.

Zalabiyeh, or pitulici, is fried spongy dough resembling a doughnut or a fritter in Syria. It is based on a batter of eggs, milk, and yeasted flour. Several places also add cinnamon, black cumin, lemon, or sugar.

Next, this spongy dough is shaped into a ball or free-form doughnut and fried in oil. Zalabiyeh tastes the best when served hot with honey or sugar, which is a popular way of serving many Syrian dishes