Za'atar Lamb Salad With Hummus & Green Tahini Dressing

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We’re serving a creamy homemade hummus with a hearty roast lamb salad & a punchy green tahini dressing. This one’s best served with toasted pitta.

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If you’ve got leftover roast lamb, this salad & hummus bowl is a great way to use it up! It’s fresh, vibrant & absolutely jam packed full of flavour. I shredded up some leftover slow roasted leg of lamb for mine but it would work with smoked & pulled lamb shoulder, grilled lamb chops or a pan roasted lamb rump. It would even work with chicken, pork or beef!

In This Post

Components Of This Dish

This is one of those dishes that’s designed to use up leftovers. In this case, we’re using leftover roast lamb to make a simple salad, which we’re serving with a smooth chickpea hummus, a vibrant green tahini dressing & a toasted pitta.

The great thing about this dish is that most of the components can be made several days in advance. The actual plating up only takes a few minutes as well! Plus it’s seriously delicious…

Chickpea Hummus

We’re making a creamy, homemade hummus as the base of this dish. This is super easy to make, simply blend cooked chickpeas with tahini (sesame paste), olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, ground cumin & some of the water from the tin of chickpeas. The key to making the smoothest hummus is to blend it for ages (longer than you’d think!).

Za’atar Lamb Salad

This salad is a great way to use up leftover roast lamb! Here, we’re making a quick za’atar dressing with toasted sesame seeds, dried oregano, sumac, lemon juice & olive oil. Then we’re using this to dress our salad that’s made with roast lamb, shredded lettuce, sliced red onion, cucumber & cherry tomatoes.

Green Tahini Dressing

Green tahini dressing is fresh, vibrant & incredibly easy to make! Simply blend tahini with fresh green herbs (we’re using coriander, parsley & mint), garlic, lime juice, olive oil & cold water. Make sure to season it well with salt & pepper as well!

We’re going to be using this dressing to drizzle over the top of our salad but it can be used to dress salads as well. There’s a sprinkle of sumac on top of the dressing as well, for some extra colour & flavour.

Toasted Pitta

Hummus & toasted pitta is a classic combination & it really rounds this dish off nicely. If you fancy making your own, we’ve got a recipe for homemade pittas on the blog, however shop bought pittas will work as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is za’atar?

Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice mix that is made with dried herbs, sumac & sesame seeds. Za’atar tastes zingy & earthy and has strong hints of citrus.

How long does hummus keep for?

Hummus needs to be stored in the fridge & will keep for up to 3 days.

What herbs can be used to make green tahini dressing?

Green tahini dressing can be made with fresh, green herbs like mint, coriander, parsley, tarragon & chives.

How long will green tahini dressing keep for?

Green tahini dressing needs to be stored in the fridge & will keep for up to 3 days.

Equipment Used

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za'atar lamb salad with hummus and tahini dressing

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Za’atar Lamb Salad With Hummus & Green Tahini Dressing

We're serving a creamy homemade hummus with a hearty roast lamb salad & a punchy green tahini dressing. This one's best served with toasted pitta.

Prep Time30

Total Time30

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: British, English, Middle Eastern

Servings: 6 People

Author: Ben Racey

Equipment

Food Processor
Blender
Mixing Bowl
Juicer

Ingredients

Hummus

400 g Chickpeas (Drained Weight – See Notes)
100 g Tahini
75 g Olive Oil
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Honey
2 Garlic Cloves (Grated)
½ tsp Ground Cumin
Chickpea Water (Or Cold Water – See Notes)

Green Tahini Dressing

75 g Tahini
65 g Cold Water
15 g Olive Oil
15 g Coriander
15 g Flat Leaf Parsley
5 g Mint
2 tbsp Lime Juice
1 Garlic Clove

Za'atar Dressing

2 tsp Sesame Seeds
2 tsp Dried Oregano
2 tsp Sumac
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Lemon Juice

Lamb Salad

300 g Leftover Roast Lamb (Cut Into Small, Thin Pieces)
200 g Cherry Tomatoes (Cut Into Quarters)
2 Little Gem Lettuces (Washed & Shredded)
1 Red Onion (Thinly Sliced)
½ Cucumber (Halved Down The Length & Sliced)

To Serve

Pitta Breads (Toasted)
Sumac (For Sprinkling On Top)

Instructions

Hummus

Set a sieve over a jug/bowl then drain the chickpeas through the sieve. Place the drained chickpeas into a food processor & set the chickpea water (aquafaba) to one side.
To the food processor, add the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, grated garlic & cumin. Season well with salt & pepper then start blending.
Blend the chickpeas for a minute then gradually add in chickpea water (with the food processor still running), to adjust the hummus to your desired consistency. Keep blending the hummus, until it is smooth. This will take 3-4 minutes at least!
Regularly give the sides of the food processor a scrape down with a rubber spatula.
Next, give the hummus a taste, to check the seasoning then add in more salt & pepper as needed. Give the hummus another quick blend then transfer to a container. Store the hummus in the fridge until needed.

Green Tahini Dressing

Add the tahini into a blender with the water, olive oil, herbs, lime juice & garlic. Season with salt & pepper then blend until smooth.
Scrape the sides of the blender down with a spatula then give the dressing a taste to check the seasoning.
Add in more salt & pepper as needed then give the dressing another quick blend. Transfer to a bowl then store in the fridge until needed.

Za'atar Dressing

Add the sesame seeds into a small frying pan then toast over a medium heat, until golden.
Transfer the toasted seeds to a large mixing bowl then add in the dried oregano, sumac, olive oil & lemon juice. Season with salt & pepper then stir to combine.

Lamb Salad

Add the roast lamb, cherry tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sliced onion & cucumber into the bowl with the dressing.
Season the salad with salt & pepper then stir/toss to combine.

To Serve

Add a generous amount of hummus into bowls then spread out with the back of a spoon, to make a pocket in the centre for the salad to sit in.
Next, spoon a good amount of the lamb salad into the centre of each bowl of hummus then drizzle some of the green tahini dressing over the top.
Sprinkle each salad with a pinch of sumac then add a toasted pitta to the side of each bowl and serve.

Notes

1. Chickpeas – You’ll need 400 grams of cooked chickpeas for the hummus, which is the drained weight. You’ll also the water that the chickpeas are stored with in the tin. A good quality jar/tin of chickpeas works best, I used a jar from the Bold Bean Co. If you’re using tinned chickpeas, you’ll most likely need to use 2 tins but make sure to check the drained weight (it should say on the side of the tin!).

2. Water For Hummus – We’re using the water from the jar of chickpeas to thin out our hummus as it blends. Cold water will also work. Make sure to add this in gradually, to avoid making the hummus too thin.

3. Roast Lamb – The lamb salad uses cold, leftover roast lamb. I used leftovers from making my slow roasted leg of lamb but any sort of cooked lamb will work. Some smoked lamb shoulder will also work well.

4. Storage – Both the hummus & green tahini dressing can be made up to 3 days in advance & stored in the fridge. The lamb salad is best served the same days as it is made but will keep for up to a day in the fridge.

Za’atar Lamb Salad With Hummus & Green Tahini Dressing