Vegan Middle Eastern Food

Vegan Middle Eastern food is one of the easiest foods to find at restaurants, and also happens to be pretty easy to make at home too.

Middle Eastern cuisine includes foods from Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt. While cuisine from these regions all varies slightly, there are some consistencies between them that make dining at these types of restaurants pretty easy as a vegan.

Meat is definitely a huge part of most Middle Eastern dishes, but it’s surprisingly easy to avoid. This is because many Middle Eastern dishes are already traditionally prepared vegan without needing any modification.

Staple Middle Eastern Foods & Dishes

Staple vegan Middle Eastern foods include chickpeas, olives, sesame seeds, tahini, lavash, pita, cucumber, tomatoes, pickled vegetables, lemon, olive oil, and kalamata olives.

Staple vegan Middle Eastern dishes include hummus, falafel, baba ghanouj, dolmas, tabbouleh, and kushari.

Dining Out at a Middle Eastern Restaurant

Dining out at a Middle Eastern restaurant is actually extremely easy as a vegan. It’s one of the most reliably vegan cuisines available, provided you know what to ask and order.

What to Ask

Do any of your dishes contain milk or dairy?
Are your bean dishes made with lard?
Is your rice boiled in chicken stock?
Are your potatoes cooked with butter?
Is your tahini made with yogurt?

What to Order & How to Order It

Falafel
Hummus
Baba Ghanouj
Tabbouleh
Dolmas
Kushari
Pita
Lavash

Many Middle Eastern restaurants will offer what’s called a Falafel Sandwich or Falafel Wrap, which is just a bunch of falafels, Israeli Salad (chopped cucumber, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers), purple cabbage, hummus, tahini, pickles, and hot sauce stuffed inside of a grilled pita (sandwich) or lavash (wrap).

Ask your server to leave out anything made with dairy, such as tzatziki which is a yogurt-based sauce (not to be confused with tahini, which is vegan and made from sesame seeds, although some Greek restaurants add yogurt to their tahini).