Enjoy the taste of Lebanon with this paleo Lebanese Flatbread or ‘Manakish’ which only requires four ingredients to whip up! No oven is needed, the flatbread base is made stovetop and topped with a delicious za’atar spread! Paleo, gluten free, whole 30 friendly, grain free and a low carb bread alternative!
Pssssst. Guess whose got an epic recipe planned using one of these utentils…Yep, get excited.
Growing up, pizza on Friday nights was a common theme amongst my friendship circle.
I’m not sure if it was just a trend in Australia (or Western countries) but Fast Food and Friday nights went together like chocolate and peanut butter or butter on butter bread.
Obviously, my sister and I were exempt to this rule. While we did partake in the weekly pizza shenanigans, it was NOT on a Friday night or was it what you’d consider pizza to be in the eyes of a child. What did Niki and I experience? We experienced something more epic than all our peers.
We experienced “Pizza on Sunday afternoons after four hours of Persian school and the pizza had no cheese.”
How is that for a title?
Persian school was something Niki and I both endured relished in for around six years of our lives. Unlike traditional school, we were both in the same class. Other things we both shared (besides DNA) was the classroom of 6 other pupils, the distain for reading out loud and both getting the stink eye for not looking completely Persian.
After our four joyous hours of trying to stay awake, we would then be ‘treated’ to pizza at one of the casual restaurants in one of the more multicultural suburbs of Melbourne, heavily populated with families of Lebanese, Turkish and Greek heritage.
Obviously, Niki and I would make a fuss about how these pizzas were not ‘real’ pizzas and that how our Sundays were turning out to be like the 6th day of the school week- Painful, forced and exhausting. While I totally enhanced this facade in the hopes of guilting my parents (it didn’t work), I secretly loved these cheeseless pizza meals.
We’d each get a personal ‘pizza’ which was more like a flatbread. The restaurants offered two types, one which had za’atar on it (a mix of herbs, sumac, sesame seeds and a dash of olive oil) and the other one had ground beef, tomato paste and spices.
I wouldn’t be fussed with which particular one I’d order because I knew Niki would never finish hers and I’d end up polishing it off for her, still with the scowl on my face but an internal smile.
While our ‘pizza’ traditions may have been a little different in terms of style and DAY, it was the inspiration for today’s recipe and it brought back good memories….of eating two pizzas and pretending I didn’t like it.
These Paleo Lebanese Flatbread are fancy looking, fancy sounding yet simple to make. After making my three ingredient paleo pizza bases, I wanted to put a spin on it to show that pizzas without cheese can be delicious when done right and totally picked a winner here. All you need to do is whip up a pizza base (or two or even bulk cook them!) and while that is cooking, get your easy homemade zataar ready. Once it’s done, you simply turn on your oven, coat the pizza base with the za’atar mixture and allow it to crisp for 5 minutes or so and voila- A Paleo Lebanese Flatbread is born!
A key ingredient in za’atar is sumac, but I often found this to be slightly overpowering, so would sub it for lemon rind and pepper- Not the best substitute but gives it a delicious citrus tang often found on these Lebanese flatbreads. Also, for those wanting a super thin crust, you can try it on my 3 ingredient paleo flatbread– I prefer the pizza base as it’s more sturdier but thanks to the light ingredients on top, these fit the bill too!
Make this delicious Paleo Lebanese Flatbread but do NOT wear a scowl on your face. Only when it’s finished.
#Pizza on Sunday afternoons after four hours of Persian school and the pizza had no cheese
Paleo Lebanese Flatbread
Ingredients
- 1 Paleo Pizza Base or Paleo Flatbread see above, pre cooked
- 1 tablespoon store bought or homemade za'aatar spice blend*
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Lemon juice to drizzle (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat an oven or toaster oven or grill.
- Line a large baking tray with baking paper or aluminium foil and place your pre-made pizza base on top.
- In a small bowl, combine your za'atar mix with your olive oil and mix very well. Spread the mixture over the top of the pizza base.
- Crisp in the oven/grill etc until desired crispness level and remove. Drizzle with lemon juice and enjoy.
Notes
Paleo Cinnamon Raisin Flatbread
Did you ever have a ‘non traditional’ food tradition growing up?
Have you ever had a cheeseless pizza before?
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za’atar is my favorite! i have a friend (who has a friend who had an aunt), who would cook these bread type things (similar to yours), and spread za’atar all over it. I would steal some everytime i went to her house. I need to find some here so i can make this immediately
Please do- This is really delicious!
Wow! This looks amazing and super easy! I will have to add this to my pizza rotation.
Please do, Jessica!
One of my favorite things to eat! The BF took me to a place in Calgary called Little Lebanon for these a while ago. Oh, and we also had them made fresh at an Arabic christian church (don’t ask) – I need one of those spinny flatbread mking devices to go with our future tandoori oven.
Little Lebanon? What a racist named restaurant.
Oh man, our dream house is amazing. Tandoori oven, spinny flatbread making devices…and. A human sized mortar and pestle to make za’aatar!
I still remember my first experience with za’aatar… knocked me on my ass with how good it was. And I feel like my entire life has been one weird food tradition after another. Did I ever tell you about the year or two that I drank a frappuccino basically every.single.day? Or the late night McDonald’s runs where I’d be sitting in a drive through lineup for like 30 minutes at 1 AM? Good times.
Now I really want a frappuccino, even though I know it makes me feel sickly sweet!
“Make this delicious Paleo Lebanese Flatbread but do NOT wear a scowl on your face. Only when it’s finished.” ➔ don’t tell me what to do!!
Jk I would absolutely make these. I feel for ya with the Sunday school misery. Chinese school or church Sunday school were never where I wanted to be on a weekend.
One time I ordered a roasted vegetable pizza, which had crust, sauce, and five strips of vegetables on the whole pizza pie. WTF.
I will tell you what to do and you’ll do it with a smile on your face.
My family is polish so we had things like perogies, challah and “lazy perogie” (basically deconstructed perogies..,because we aren’t cheap enough…) Our family tradition however was ice cream sundaes on Sunday night while watching the Disney Channel movie. My dad was a master at making us believe strawberry jam was an ice cream topping.
I LOVE perogies!
Oh my goodness! So simple but so good! I’ve always been told that there’s nothing better than simple food. I didn’t believe:) Today I’m totally agree!
Thanks heaps, Ben 🙂
Congratulations, you are now the reason I have to track down za’aatar and purchase it. It is a new spice to me and once I come across a few recipes with that ingredient, I feel compelled to purchase it.
YESSS. Off topic, but since I pinned your carne asada, I can’t stop thinking about it!
Then make it already! And put it on your flatbread.
So I had a friend in college who was allergic to cheese, and his pizzas were always cheeseless. I remember thinking…well that is the strangest thing ever. But apparently it isn’t that strange since they had cheeseless pizzas in Australia, too! So did the Persians invent this cheeseless pizza? Because that would be kinda epic. These look incredibly awesome, by the way…three thumbs up! Uh, I mean two thumbs and a finger up…or something like that. Haha!
Mate, the Persians invented everything. They even invented gelato.
Actually, they invented everything except KK.
Wait, say what?? You went to Persian school? Weekend language schools are the worst. I would definitely relish in some good pizza after hours of it!
Not only did I go to Persian school, I went to CHINESE school too.
Oh yes!! I nearly forgot you went to Chinese school, too! Many, your parents were tough!
The spices on that flatbread look amazing! My sister and I are opposites when it comes to food, but it works: she tends to like crunchy things while I like softer textures. E.g. french fries. Give me all the soggy ones! TMI?
I LOVE SOGGY FRENCH FRIES. More oil. I swear…
Middle Eastern food is just so amazingly tasty! Love the flatbread with za’atar.. Just to mention that many of the commercial za’atar blends have toasted wheat in them and are not Gluten free- I found it out the hard way!