23 Best Saudi Arabian Dishes and Foods

Kabsa is a national dish of Saudi Arabia and other Arabian Peninsula countries that consists of basmati rice, meat, and vegetables. The meat is usually beef, camel, chicken, fish, goat, lamb, or shrimp.

When served, kabsa often goes with daqqūs (Arabic tomato sauce). The ancient way from the Ottoman period involves barbecuing the meat in an earth oven on the ground.

Meanwhile, modern techniques include cooking meat in a pressure cooker or grilling it on flat stones over burning embers.

Shawarma is a dish widely eaten in Saudi Arabia, and other countries in the greater Middle East, including Egypt, Israel, Iraq, and Syria. The dish includes thinly sliced meat layering on each other in an inverted cone and slowly roasted over a rotisserie or spit.

Shawarma originally used only lamb or mutton, but street vendors utilize beef, chicken, turkey, or veal today. The seller will shave off the meat from the cooked surface when served.

Saleeg is a national white rice dish originating in the Hejaz region, Western Saudi Arabia. The popularity of Saleeg has spread to Taif city and throughout the Arab world, often accompanied by daggus salad and salata hara.

Saleeg traditionally consists of long-grain rice cooked in meat broth and milk. The rice dish has broth from beef, chicken, or lamb, resulting in a flavor similar to Italian risotto.

When served, the rice is placed on a tabasi (a traditional large plate) and topped with roasted meat and ghee. You often find saleeg during traditional festivals like Shabana.

Mandi is a common Saudi Arabian dish of meat and rice in many Arabian Peninsula regions. The meat and rice are mixed with hawaij (Yemeni spice blend) and cooked in a tannour (primitive clay oven).

Regular meat choices are camel, chicken, goat, or lamb. The meat is first boiled with spices to get a meat broth before being used to cook the rice later, which can last up to 8 hours.

Harees is a favorite food in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf during the Ramadan month. The specialty primarily consists of boiled and crushed wheat mixed with meat.

However, the preparation varies depending on the country. For example, Saudi Arabia adds cardamom pods for more aroma and flavor.

Traditionally, harees were only homemade by the wealthy during Eid, Ramadan, and weddings to share with their neighbors.

Tharid, also known by Taghrib, tashreeb, thareed, and trid, is a bread soup in Saudi Arabia. Consisting of bread and broth, tharid is a must-have during Ramadan.

The basic way to eat tharid is to dip the bread into the stock and eat it with meat. Today, this bread soup even has a dry version that involves stacking bread and meat in layers.

Ruz al bukhari is a popular dish in the Hejaz district, Saudi Arabia, consisting of chicken flavored with black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, fennel seeds, nutmeg, and star anise.

Some versions replace chicken with lamb or mutton. The chicken is then served with long-grain rice cooked in the meat broth.

Ful medames, or ful, is a famous stew made with cooked fava beans in Saudi Arabia, with roots in Egypt. Arabian-Christian communities often cook this fava bean stew during the Lent diet.

Ful is traditionally cooked and served in a large metal jug with cumin and olive oil. Other optional companions are chili pepper, garlic, lemon juice, onion, and parsley.

Ful medames even has a hearty salad form consisting of fava beans, diced tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, onion, parsley, pepper, and salt. This ful medames salad is a favorite local mezze (small appetizer) for breakfast.

Mutabbaq samak, or mutabbak, is a rice-based dish well-loved in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

Mutabbak consists of rice cooked in flavored fish stock and topped with spiced fried fish and caramelized onions.

Some places garnish mutabbak with chopped parsley and nuts and serve it with an Arab salad. Today, local residents even make mutabbak with chicken and other types of meat.

Asida is one of the most famous desserts in Saudi Arabia, made by stirring wheat flour into boiling water to form a lump of dough. It is sometimes enhanced with added butter or honey.

The rich dish is often eaten on its own without the need for side dishes. Asida often appears in religious holidays or traditional ceremonies, like Eid, Mawlid, and aqiqah (the first haircutting).

Asida is also a breakfast item or a nutritious dish for women in labor.

Ma’amoul, or maamoul, is a butter cookie filled with dried fruits or nuts famous in Saudi Arabia. With semolina flour as the main ingredient, ma’amoul is highly versatile.

These filled butter cookies either use dried fruits like dates, figs, or nuts like almonds, pistachios, or walnuts. Maamoul’s shape also varies, from balls to domed or flattened shapes.

Maamoul is associated with various holidays: Eid Al-Fitr, Easter, Purim, etc. These days, this filled butter cookie is served with chocolate and Arabic coffee for any visitor.

Murtabak, or motabbaq, is a pan-fried bread or stuffed pancake notably famous in Saudi Arabia. This stuffed pancake consists of pan-fried crepes stuffed with minced meat, beaten eggs, leeks, chives, or scallions.

When cooked, motabbaq is folded and cut into square pieces. Arab streets feature many vegetarian, chicken, and other murtabak versions.

Ka’ak refers to biscuits and other baked goods produced throughout Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. Usually, ka’ak is a semolina-based biscuit or cookie with different fillings, like ground dates, pistachios, or walnuts.

Arab Christians often make ka’ak in a wreath shape during Easter to symbolize the thorn crown.

Knafeh is a traditional dessert popular in Saudi Arabia, containing kataifi (spun pastry) soaked in attar (sweet syrup) and stacked with cheese, clotted cream, nuts, or pistachios.

Still, modern knafeh has evolved into many variations, such as khishnah with a crust made of noodle threads, nāʿimah using semolina dough, and mabruma with noodles.

When cooked, knafeh is poured with a thick syrup of sugar, water, and orange blossom or rose water.

Baklava is a common layered pastry sweet in modern Saudi Arabian and other Arab cuisines. This layered pastry consists of filo pastry filled with chopped nut filling and flavored with honey or syrup.

This layered pastry has become a trendy dessert in Iran, Turkey, Greece, and other countries. In Saudi Arabia, the sweet treat is a favorite street food item.

Shakshuka is a famous food in Saudi Arabia, comprising poached eggs in tomato sauce flavored with cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic, olive oil, onion, paprika, and peppers.

Shakshuka is a popular main dish for the evening besides hummus and falafel. These poached eggs in tomato sauce often accompany pickled vegetables, merguez (red, spicy sausage), bread, or mint tea.

Kleicha, or kolucheh, is a cookie that Saudi Arabian people often make for Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and other special celebrations like weddings.

Kleicha has many fillings and shapes, like disc or crescent. As for the filling, the usual option is cardamom, sometimes flavored with rose water or saffron.

Other choices include coconuts, dates, dried figs, pistachios, sesame seeds, Turkish delight, and walnuts.

Markook is a common unleavened flatbread in Saudi Arabia. This unleavened flatbread is made with flour, salt, and water before letting the dough rest and baking it over on a saj (metal cooking utensil) or in a tannour.

The result is a thin, unleavened flatbread similar to pita bread, only thinner and larger. Markook has different names in other Arab countries, like khamir, maluj, and saluf.

Masoob is a banana-based pudding popular in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with roots in Yemen. This banana pudding mainly includes overripe banana, cheese, cream, dates, honey, and ground flatbread.

Muhallebi is a milk pudding that appeared in Saudi Arabia in the late 8th century through a Persian cook. Originally, muhallebi had 3 versions: one thickens milk with ground rice, one uses chicken, milk, and rice grains, and the last is egg custard.

Today, the muhallebi with chicken is less common, and this milk pudding often contains milk, rice, sugar, and a type of starch, like rice flour or semolina.

Local residents cook these ingredients until thickened and flavor this milk pudding with jasmine or rose extract.

Khabees is a regular sweet of flour and oil in Saudi Arabia and other countries, like Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE.

The dish is also flavored with cardamom and saffron for more flavor. Natives often make khabees for breakfast during Eid days.

Mansaf is a traditional lamb dish in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Kuwait. Besides lamb, mansaf requires jameed, a hard dry yogurt made of goat or sheep’s milk, to make the broth.

Then, the lamb is cooked in this jameed broth until done. Local residents use a large platter lined with a layer of markook to serve mansaf.

The lamb meat is placed on a bed of bulgur or rice and garnished with almond and pine nuts. The last step is pouring the jameed sauce over.

Quzi is a rice dish called “madfoon” in Saudi Arabia. The dish traditionally begins by stuffing a whole lamb with rice, nuts, spices, and vegetables.

Then, the locals wrap the lamb in aluminum foil and cook it over an open heat source. When finished, the stuffed rice is taken out and served with the lamb, roast nuts, and raisins.