It is the first week of Ramadan, wishing you a blessed and happy Ramadan. Do not forget me and my family in your duaa.
Ramadan meals in the Middle East are different from everyday dinners, it is like having a feast everyday at least for the first half of the month.
Starting this week and for the upcoming 4 weeks of this holy month I will share with you a full course menu so you have more varieties to choose from.
Also I have a lot of Suhoor ideas, the traditional suhoor in Egypt is Ful medammes (Fava beans) but there are many ideas there be sure to check them out.
Although Ramadan should not be a chance to stuff ourselves with food, have festive iconic food items helps bring joy to our hearts and relate our kids more to the traditions away from Muslim countries. Plus we need to eat anyways right?
Iftar usually starts with some dates and water, you can serve dates differently by making chocolate covered dates.
Tip of the week: Make soups enough to last for a couple of days so you do not have to cook soup every day. What is important in the first week is the meat dishes.
Day 1
Sambusa
Sambosa is an iconic appetizer this time of the year. Similar to samosa but made easier and usually stuffed with flavorful ground beef mixture.
Tomato basil soup
A delicious, easy and full of flavor tomato basil soup. One of my favorite easy soups.
Qamaredeen
This is a Ramadan classic drink, qamaredeen or apricot juice. Made from Apricot paste and sweetened to your liking.
Duck roast
Duck roast are among the classics that shows up on the first days of Ramadan. It is festive, delicious and you basically season it and leave the rest of the work to your oven.
Mahshi
One of the popular Ramadan first week recipes this rice stuffed veggies AKA mahshi.
Day 2
Cheese fatayer
Easy with a pillowy dough, these cheese fatayer are the best.
Tamarind Juice
A perfect, tangy and sweet tamarind drink to start your meal right.
Macarona bechamel
The Egyptian baked pasta version is very satisfying. Layers of pasta, ground beef mixture and bechamel so good.
Turkey breast
Tender air fryer turkey breast if you do not have an air fryer pop it in an oven bag the bake until done then brown the skin under the broiler.
Day 3
Ayran
Is the Turkish yogurt drink perfect when paired with a hot heavy meal.
Bamya
Bamya is the traditional okra stew made with lamb cubes. Feel free to skip the hot pepper to avoid heartburn during Ramadan.
Lebanese rice
Also known as vermicelli rice is a wonderful rice recipe made super easy too.
Day 4
Barley soup
Instant pot Beef and barley soup is rich and flavorful and is full of the earthy flavors that I love. Make it meatless by leaving off the beef.
Garlic bread
Last Ramadan I made these almost daily! when I did not have sambosa to go with our soup, I made these homemade air fryer garlic bread in literally minutes. A win-win indeed.
Crockpot cornish hens
Tender, flavorful cornish hens recipe made easy in your slow cooker.
Molokhia
The Egyptian Mulukhia soup, one of the most kid friendly green vegetable that most of the kids like.
Basmati rice
This recipe is a life saver, instant pot basmati rice done in less than 10 minutes, cool right?
Day 5
Dried fruit compote
Known as Khoshaf in the Middle East. This dried fruit compote is a sweet mix of dried fruits with varying colors in sweet liquid paired with nut mixture for a crunch.
Lentil soup
This Egyptian red lentil soup is full of veggies and so easy to make.
Stuffed artichokes
One of my, and my husband's favorite artichoke recipes. I add zucchini and sometimes potatoes to the casserole for the kids too so everyone will find something to enjoy. Serve with Lebanses rice.
Desserts
Everyone here expects qatayef on the first few days at least. Qatayef is stuffed pancakes, fried then dunked into syrup.
🖨️ Printable Shopping List
Here is a free printable shopping list to use while shopping this week.
Related posts
Here is full collection of popular Ramadan food for you to check.
