The Lebanese sandwich is bread and fire and a pantry of strong flavors. At dawn it is the manoushe, a disc of dough spread with za'atar and olive oil and slid across a hot stone. At midday it is shawarma, marinated meat shaved off a vertical spit into thin khubz with toum and pickled turnip, or falafel fried to order and packed into a pocket with tahini. Off the grill it is arayes, pita stuffed with raw spiced kafta and pressed over coals until the bread crisps and the fat runs into it.
The catalog of 196 sorts along those forms. The two giants are the manoushe and its bakery siblings and the shawarma in all its breads and garnishes. Around them stand falafel and the bean and chickpea breakfasts of foul, hummus and fatteh; the cheeses of jibneh, halloumi and labneh; the grilled kafta and shish taouk; the sausage of sujuk and makanek; the liver of kibdeh and sawda; the pastries of sfiha, fatayer and sambousek; and the great Lebanese pantry of toum, tahini, za'atar and pickles that flavors all of it.
The categories below capture how the catalog actually sorts. The giants are the manoushe and the shawarma; the falafel, the bean breakfasts and the grilled meats carry the rest. Below the anchors, the full filterable catalog lets you browse every entry by name or category.
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Arayes
Pita stuffed with raw spiced kafta and pressed over coals until the bread crisps and the meat fat soaks into it. The defining Lebanese grilled sandwich. · 9 sandwiches
Manoushe
A disc of dough spread with za'atar, cheese, or spiced meat and baked on a hot stone. The Lebanese breakfast, folded and eaten on the move. · 19 sandwiches
Ka'ak
A purse-shaped sesame bread ring, sold by street vendors and slit open to be filled with za'atar, cheese, labneh, or chocolate spread. · 10 sandwiches
Falafel
Fried chickpea fritters packed into Arabic bread with tahini, tomato, pickles, and turnip. Fried to order or it isn't worth eating. · 11 sandwiches
Shish Taouk
Marinated chicken cubes grilled on a skewer and rolled in bread with toum, pickles, and fries. Lebanon's grilled-chicken sandwich. · 6 sandwiches
Fatteh
Toasted bread layered with chickpeas, garlicky yogurt, tahini, and pine nuts, scooped rather than handheld. A warm breakfast assembly. · 4 sandwiches
Foul Mdammas
Stewed fava beans mashed with lemon, garlic, and olive oil, scooped with bread. The bedrock Lebanese breakfast, often beside hummus. · 8 sandwiches
Hummus
Pureed chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and garlic, scooped with bread and topped with meat, awarma, or shawarma. Often eaten as a meal. · 7 sandwiches
Shawarma
Marinated chicken or beef shaved off a vertical spit into thin bread with toum or tahini, pickles, and turnip. Lebanon's gift to the world. · 16 sandwiches
Sujuk and Makanek
Spiced cured beef sujuk and small lamb makanek sausages, fried or grilled with pomegranate and packed into bread, often with egg. · 8 sandwiches
Kibdeh and Sawda
Lamb or beef liver, or sautéed chicken livers with garlic and pomegranate molasses, fried or grilled and packed into bread. · 5 sandwiches
Kibbeh
Bulgur and meat shaped and fried into torpedoes, or pounded raw as kibbeh nayyeh, eaten with bread, onion, and yogurt. · 6 sandwiches
Bayd and Ejjeh
Fried or scrambled eggs and the herb omelette ejjeh, packed into Arabic bread, sometimes with awarma, tomato, or potato. · 9 sandwiches
Sfiha, Fatayer and Sambousek
Baked or fried dough parcels: open meat sfiha, folded fatayer of spinach or cheese, half-moon sambousek, and meat-topped lahm b'ajeen. · 13 sandwiches
Jibneh and Halloumi
Akkawi, halloumi, braided, or aged shanklish cheese in bread, fresh or grilled, often with tomato, mint, or olives. · 12 sandwiches
Labneh
Strained yogurt spread thick on bread with olive oil and za'atar or mint, or rolled as preserved labneh balls in oil. · 5 sandwiches
Kafta and Mixed Grill
Spiced ground lamb or beef kafta, charcoal-grilled and rolled in bread, plus the mixed-grill mashawi sandwich of assorted grilled meats. · 5 sandwiches
Vegetable Mezze Sandwiches
Mezze in bread: smoky baba ghanouj and mutabal, spicy batata harra, hindbeh greens, makdous, muhammara, moujadara, tabbouleh, and fattoush. · 13 sandwiches
Samak
Fried or grilled fish in bread, the coastal sandwich of Saida and the Lebanese shore, with tahini, lemon, and herbs. · 3 sandwiches
Café and Western Sandwiches
The café register: club sandwich, Lebanese-topped burger, breaded chicken escalope, Philly-style cheese steak, avocado toast, pulled lamb. · 6 sandwiches
Lebanese Breads
The breads themselves: pocket khubz arabi, soft kmaj, thin mountain markouk, saj, samoon, and tannour, the carriers every sandwich depends on. · 9 sandwiches
The Lebanese Pantry
The flavor base of every Lebanese sandwich: toum, tahini, za'atar, sumac, shatta, pomegranate molasses, pickled turnip and cucumber, olives. · 12 sandwiches