Emirati cuisine is the traditional Arabic cuisine of the United Arab Emirates and shares remarkable similarities with cuisines from neighboring countries, such as Omani cuisine, Saudi Arabian cuisine, Indian Cuisine, as well as many Middle Eastern and Asian cuisines.
Here are 26 Traditional Foods you should try in the UAE. Enjoy Reading!
Appetizer
Khobz Khamer
It is one of the traditional Emirati breads. It is usually served in breakfast meals. The bread is a mixture of yeast, flour, and milk powder, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and cooked to a toasty brown color. Khameer bread can be stuffed with cream, date paste, and nuts for a sweet filling, or with falafel, cheese, labneh, basil, or black olives for a savory filling.
Rigag
One of the most well-known breads in the UAE and the Gulf region. Cooked in a special pan over high heat. Usually, toppings such as cheese, eggs, and honey are added while the bread is cooking. It looks like a crepe. The dough is made using three ingredients: whole wheat flour, water, and salt. Sometimes, Rigag bread is dipped in milk or yogurt to form an entire meal. In Ramadan, iftar or suhoor meals, the bread is sometimes broken up and sprinkled into chicken or lamb stews.
Sambosa
An Emirati-style Samosa (Sambusa) recipe involves a flavorful filling (often spiced ground meat or potatoes/veg) encased in thin pastry, sealed, and fried or baked until golden, using spices like cardamom, cumin, and coriander, with a flour-water paste for sealing, popular across the UAE for Ramadan or as a snack.
Main Courses
Harees
Harees is one of the most popular Emirati dishes. It is made of meat and wheat. Wheat and meat with a pinch of salt are cooked together in boiling water for hours until both components of this mixture make a smooth paste that will be further cooked in a covered clay pot with coal almost overnight. Harees are served after topping local ghee on it in flat plates. It looks like porridge. It is seasoned with pepper, cinnamon, and salt. This dish is commonly served during Ramadan, weddings, and Eid festivals.
Tharid
Tharid is basically a stew layered with or served on flatbread (Roti or Rokak bread). The stew combines juicy meat with a selection of slow-roasted vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, marrow, and pumpkin. The bread is generally placed at the bottom of the dish, with the stew layered on top of it. Tharid is a popular meal, especially during Ramadan, to break the fast.
Magbos
It is another very famous traditional dish of the UAE. This dish is usually made with rice, meat (or chicken or shrimp), vegetables, and a mixture of spices, onion, dried lemon (Loomy), raisins, nuts, and other seasonings include salt, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, and saffron. All the ingredients are cooked well in boiling water till they become tender. When the meat is tender, the pieces are removed from the pot, and rice is added and cooked in the same stock. Once the rice is cooked, the meat is added together with some fried chopped onions, potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers, and other vegetables. The dish is then cooked over low heat for at least two more hours to give it more flavor.
Ouzi
Ouzi, or guzi, is the United Arab Emirates’ national dish. Ouzi is prepared with mutton and served with rice, nuts, onions, vegetable oil, and vegetables with a generous amount of spices, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, white pepper, salt, and black pepper. The sauce is prepared from flour, butter, meat broth, cinnamon, black pepper, and salt. This dish is decorated with fried nuts such as pine, almonds, and cashew nuts. It is served on special occasions.
Stuffed Camel
This dish has gained a special like and has also been mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records due to its big size. It is a broiled camel, stuffed with lamb, which is stuffed with one or more than one chicken. rice and sometimes even with fish. Served in Weddings festivals.
Biryani
While biryani is not an Arabic dish, you will find it on the menus of most of the restaurants in the UAE. The main ingredients of this dish are basmati rice as well as meat or fish, or Chicken. The meat is first marinated with a variety of spices, including the famous Emirati spice mix, and then fried, while the rice is not fully cooked. A layered combination of rice and meat is then put in one big pot and left to steam for a long time. Served with a garnish of nuts and fried onions.
Markouka
This dish consists of chicken, cooked with zucchini, carrots, wheat, and potatoes with black pepper.
Madrooba
This dish is for those who love seafood. Madrooba is an Emirati dish made of Hammour fish with Egyptian rice, tomato, garlic, onion, cloves, and cinnamon. It is also made of meat or chicken.
Salona
Salona (or Saloona) in the UAE refers to a traditional, flavourful Emirati tomato-based stew with meat (chicken, lamb, beef) or fish, packed with vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and zucchini, and seasoned with spices like turmeric and dried lemon, typically served with rice or flatbread as a comforting, ordinary meal. It’s a staple in local cuisine, known for its rich aroma and hearty, home-cooked feel, often enjoyed for lunch.
Jasheed
Jasheed is a popular, traditional Emirati dish featuring shredded shark or different fish cooked with spices like Bezaar*, onions, ginger, garlic, and herbs (parsley/dill), often served with rice or bread, symbolizing the UAE’s rich connection to the sea and capable fishing heritage. It involves boiling and shredding the fish, then sautéing it with spices and aromatics for a flavorful, warm meal.
*Emirati spice blend similar to garam masala.
Dessert
Luqaimat
This is the most popular traditional Emirati dessert. It consists of small deep-fried dumplings that are then soaked in sweet syrup, honey, sticky date syrup known as dibs.
Balaleet
Balaleet is a traditional Emirati sweet and salty breakfast dish. This dish is made from vermicelli, cardamom, saffron, and sugar. Usually served with fried eggs. It is sometimes served with sautéed onions or potatoes. This dish is well known in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE. It may be different from one country to another. It is usually served for breakfast, and also as a dessert in Ramadan.
Khanfaroosh
Khanfaroosh is a famous dessert in the UAE. It is made of flour, eggs, sugar, yeast, cardamom, saffron, and rose water syrup. It is usually served with tea and coffee.
Batheeth
A sweet made with chopped fresh dates mixed with flour and butter, or clarified butter.
Al-Jabab bread
It is one of the delicious Emirati desserts. This is similar to pancakes, yet it has the flavor of the Emirati syrup that contains rosewater, cardamom, and honey.
Khabeesa
It is a traditional, sweet, porridge-like dessert or breakfast dish popular in the Arabian Gulf, particularly the UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain, often made from toasted flour or semolina cooked with ghee, sugar, cardamom, saffron, and rose water, served warm with nuts and coconut for particular occasions like Eid. Its base involves roasting flour until golden, then mixing it with a sweetened liquid infused with spices, creating a rich, crumbly, or pudding-like texture.
Asida
Asida, a common dish in the Arab world, is a lump of dough made by stirring wheat flour into boiling water, sometimes with added butter or honey. Similar in texture to fufu, it is eaten mainly in the Middle East and African countries.
Sago Pudding
It is a traditional and beloved sweet dessert in Emirati cuisine, featuring tapioca pearls flavored with saffron, rose water, cardamom, and caramelized sugar, served warm or cold, sometimes with nuts. It’s a popular staple, especially during Ramadan, showcasing the region’s love for aromatic, comforting sweets that highlight local flavors like dates.
Drinks
Arabic Coffee
A symbol of Arabian hospitality. “Gahwa” coffee in Emirati slang is typically spiced with cardamom, cumin, cloves, and saffron. Poured from a classic Arabian coffee pot called “Dallah” -an elegant and decorated silver or gold container-and served in small cups without handles, called “Finjan”. Usually served alongside a platter of fresh dates.
Karak Tea
Karak tea is made with black loose tea leaves, crushed cardamom, saffron, and sugar. The main ingredient for the color and taste of Karak Tea is actually made wıth evaporated milk. Karak is derived from the word ‘kadak’, which means strong in Hindi.
Jallab
A classic Arabic drink is the Jallab. It is made from carob, dates, grape molasses, and rose water, with optional toppings of pine nuts and raisins. It’s a popular drink on a hot summer night, especially during Ramadan. Jallab is also very popular in Jordan, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon.
Laban
Laban is a traditional, fermented, and slightly salty liquid yogurt drink that is highly popular in Emirati culture, particularly during hot summer months and Ramadan to aid with hydration and digestion. It is often considered a staple, everyday beverage in the UAE.
