25 Recipes to Celebrate Eid al-Fitr
Mark the end of a month of fasting from dawn to sundown with these recipes for a feast.
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Eid al-Fitr is observed by Muslims around the world to mark the end of daily fasting during the month of Ramadan. Mark the occasion with starters like Lebanese Muhammara and Turkish Sigara Borek; vegetable dishes like Beet and Blood Orange Salad with Mint featuring Palestinian flavor or Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses from Turkey; and main dishes like a Lamb and Butternut Squash Tagine with Apricots inspired by North African traditions and Mahi Zafaroni (Pan-Seared Fish with Saffron and Dried Lime) with Persian ingredients. Bring the feast to a sweet finish with desserts like Tunisian Kaak Warqa (rosewater-scented almond flour cookies) and a Turkish Saffron, Pistachio, and Rose Petal Helva (semolina pudding). Here's Eid food inspiration for your celebration.
Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip)
Smooth, thick, and layered with flavor, this mildly spicy dip of roasted red bell peppers and toasted walnuts is thickened with finely ground crispy breadsticks. Pomegranate molasses adds a piquancy that plays off the sweetness of the juicy roasted bell peppers, and spicy pepper paste brings just a touch of heat.
Nasi Goreng Jawa (Javanese Fried Rice)
Nasi goreng is a classic Indonesian fried rice. Whether you make it at home or you pick it up from a street cart, it makes for a fantastic breakfast (or late-night snack) that uses up leftovers. Bumbu, the spice paste that flavors this rice, is richly savory, aromatic, and only mildly spicy.
Tandoori Chicken
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
This Indian specialty is popular worldwide for the deep flavor that comes from cooking chicken in a tandoor, the deep, urn-shaped clay oven. Legendary cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey adapted the recipe for a charcoal grill to make it accessible to home cooks, dressing the chicken with lemon juice and salt before it marinates in a mixture of onion, ginger, garlic, chiles, and the North Indian spice blend garam masala.
Lamb and Butternut Squash Tagine with Apricots
Savory lamb, salty olives, and the warm spices in ras el hanout are balanced by sweet butternut squash, apricots, and a touch of honey for this tagine. Ras el hanout, a North African spice blend, includes coriander, cumin, and warming spices such as cardamom, cumin, coriander, turmeric, clove, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and paprika.
Chicken Yassa with Fonio
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Jennifer Wendorf / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
Chicken yassa is a braised chicken dish from West Africa, in particular Senegal and the Ivory Coast. It’s known for the chiles and citrus used to season the chicken as it cooks with the base of caramelized onions and is typically served over fonio.
Lamb Biryani
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Nidia Cueva
This layered biryani is topped with a pastry lid that bakes to golden brown as it helps steam the rice and lamb inside the pot. After the biryani is baked, give it pride of place on the table before you break through the flaky browned crust to reveal the rice and lamb inside. The rising steam carries with it the aromas of toasted cardamom, cumin, saffron, and Kashmiri chile powder.
Tunisian Brik Breakfast Pastry
Brik is a very thin, brittle pastry that shatters with each bite. It's used in Tunisian cooking, and here, is the base for a breakfast pastry stuffed with egg, potato, roasted fennel, and creamy, salty feta.
Kibbeh Bil Sanieh
Kibbeh Bil Sanieh is a spiced, bulgur-based vegetarian main course in Lebanon that's also called Pizza Kibbeh for its appearance. Chef Ana Sortun advises on how to knead the bulgur with her recipe.
Knafeh (Shredded Phyllo-and-Cheese Pie)
Michael Solomonov, chef at Zahav in Philadelphia, and Reem Kassis, author of The Palestinian Table, formed an unlikely friendship around their shared, though much disputed, food heritage. They both love this knafeh, a sweet, cheese-filled dessert, encased in shredded phyllo pastry (kataifi) and soaked in a fragrant syrup laced with rose and orange blossom.
Khaliat Al Nahl (Honeycomb Buns)
A traditional Yemeni pastry, khaliat al nahl are sweet, cloudlike balls of dough that are filled with cream cheese and drenched in cardamom-infused honey before they are topped with crunchy white sesame seeds and black nigella seeds.
Grilled Chicken with Banana Pepper Dip and Fattoush
“The banana pepper dip in this recipe is perhaps my favorite recipe that my partner’s mother Bonnie Attea makes,” says Anita Lo about her recipe. “It’s a three-ingredient wonder that makes a weeknight chicken breast exciting.”
Saffron, Pistachio, and Rose Petal Helva
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
This Turkish semolina pudding is scented with saffron and cardamom and dotted with pistachios. It’s often enjoyed on holidays and other special occasions. Butter-toasted pistachios give it a bit of crunch, while a scattering of edible dried rose petals make it stand out.
Kaak Warqa
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
These delicate, doughnut-shaped, rosewater-scented almond flour cookies hold a special place in Tunisians’ hearts. When special guests come over, kaak warqa are accompanied by pine nuts and served with tea boiled with mint.
Mahi Zafaroni (Pan-Seared Fish with Saffron and Dried Lime)
Ellen Silverman
Saffron gives the fish a golden color and sweet floral flavor in this recipe from Nasim Alikhani, the chef and owner of Sofreh in New York City. Dried limes, a popular Persian souring ingredient, add a slight kick of citrus along with earthy, fermented flavor. Alikhani prefers a lean but moist fish like red snapper or a white, meaty fish like striped bass.
Ka'ak Bi Tamer (Cinnamon-Date Paste–Filled Cookies)
Jeanette Chawki, a Lebanese cooking instructor with the League of Kitchens, developed these flaky sweets filled with rich, nutmeg- and cinnamon-spiced date paste and topped with nigella seeds. They were inspired by a trip to her local Middle Eastern market.
Beet and Blood Orange Salad with Mint
To give this refreshing salad Palestinian flavor, Sam Mogannam seasons the dressing with ground sumac, a tangy Middle Eastern spice. While the color of golden beets contrasts nicely with dark red blood orange sections, any beet variety — from standard red ones to the white-and-pink striped chioggia — will be delicious.
Ground Lamb and Shallot Kofta Kebabs with Pomegranate Molasses
Burhan Cagdas makes ground meat kofta kebabs from hand-chopped lamb mixed with diced lamb fat. In place of the fat, Paula Wolfert uses crème fraîche, which keeps the meat rich-tasting and meltingly tender.
Penang Beef Curry
Penang curry is commonly prepared with chicken or beef and accompanied by a bowl of sticky rice, with chopped lime leaves, Thai basil, and cilantro often used as garnish. This Thai-inspired version from Bank Atcharawan uses hanger steak that is braised in an aromatic chicken broth until it is melt-in-your-mouth tender before simmering in a well-spiced coconut curry sauce and serving with rice.
Lahmacun (Turkish Ground Lamb Pizza)
At her takeout shop in Istanbul, Kantin Dükkan, Semsa Denizsel tops her lahmacun with ground lamb that is flavored with sweet sun-dried tomatoes and a little spicy red pepper. To make the lahmacun even more substantial, bake it with an egg on top; the runny yolk is terrific with the whole-wheat crust.
Sholeh Zard (Saffron Rice Pudding)
This sweet Persian rice pudding called sholeh zard is made with three distinct ingredients: saffron, cardamom, and rosewater. It's delicate in flavor but so deeply aromatic that it's hard to stop eating it.
Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses
A summer staple from the coastal town of Antakya, this light stew is a favorite of Musa Dagdeviren's wife, Zeynep, who was born there. To keep the textures and flavors of the vegetables distinct, Dagdeviren layers the eggplant in a pot with tomatoes, lentils, chopped onions and garlic, then slowly cooks it, covered, without stirring. The stew is best when made ahead and allowed to mellow for at least a few hours.
Turkish Chopped Salad
This is chef Musa Dagdeviren's variation on a bright, tangy salad from Gaziantep featuring tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, herbs, and pomegranate molasses.
Red Lentil Köfte with Tomato-Cucumber Salad
This recipe was inspired by the incredibly moist lentil patties called küfte that Ana Sortun first tried in Istanbul at Ferda Erdinc's vegetarian restaurant, Zencefil. The küfte here are fried, but they can also be served grilled, baked, or "raw."
Sigara Borek (Turkish Cheese Cigars)
Borek are one of the most popular dishes in Turkey, eaten from breakfast through dinner, including as a snack along with cocktails or afternoon tea. They can be made with different fillings: spiced lamb, spinach, potato, or cheese. Making these Turkish cheese cigars is easy with an assembly line.
Pan-Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts and Raisins
The late Armenian cookbook author Arto der Haroutunian, who taught Paula Wolfert this dish, caramelized cauliflower on the stove before baking it with Eastern Mediterranean flavorings: chopped tomatoes, plumped raisins, and Marash red pepper flakes.
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