A delicious, nutritious iftar is an essential part of observing the holy month of Ramadan. After a long day of fasting from all food and drink, the post-sunset meal is an opportunity to indulge, replenish, and share quality time with friends and family. Because Ramadan is celebrated in nearly every country on the planet, iftar meals vary based on local traditions and culture. This means that there is no shortage of possibilities for a perfect meal that will be well-balanced, tasty, and nourishing.
If you’re looking for some inspiration for this Ramadan season, read on for mouthwatering, easy-to-make recipes that will have your entire house anxiously awaiting the sunset!
But before we share these recipes with you, we at Embrace Relief would like to ask for your help. So many people around the world struggle with hunger every single day. The planet produces more than enough food to feed all of us – but we need to work together to ensure that the people most in need can access the food that allows them to thrive.
That’s why Embrace Relief has launched our International Hunger Relief: Ramadan 2025 campaign. All funds raised during this campaign will go toward providing food packages to thousands of families in more than a dozen countries, from earthquake-stricken Turkey to impoverished areas of Africa, from war-torn Yemen to refugee neighborhoods in Greece.
If you’re able, please help Embrace Relief make a powerful impact on the lives of the people who need it the most. Even a small contribution will allow families to go to bed with full stomachs and make their lives easier. Thank you! And now, let’s show you some delicious Ramadan recipes!
The Starter
We’ll start with a Turkish tarhana soup, a hearty and nutritious dish that will be the perfect way to begin your iftar:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup tarhana powder (available on Amazon or any Turkish supermarket)
- 7.5 cups hot broth or water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon mint
- 2 cloves garlic
Step-by-step:
- Mix tarhana powder with 1.5 cups of broth or water and let the mixture soften
- Heat butter in a deep saucepan. Crush garlic cloves and add to pan with tomato paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper, paprika and mint into the saucepan and mix.
- Add the tarhana powder mix into the saucepan.
- Add the remaining 6 cups of hot broth or water and mix constantly with a whisk, so that the soup thickens and the tarhana powder dissolves.
- Once soup is boiling, serve immediately.
Main Course
Next up is our main course: Hunkar Begendi, a traditional Turkish dish of meat stew over eggplant sauce. This recipe will provide four servings:
Eggplant sauce ingredients:
- 2 eggplants
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 handful grated cheddar cheese
Meat stew ingredients:
- 400 grams of beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 pinch cumin
- Salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 4 cups hot water
Step-by-step:
- Heat vegetable oil in a pressure cooker.
- Add meat and cook until it turns a light brown.
- Add chopped onion and cook until translucent.
- Add tomato paste and paprika. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes.
- Add chopped tomato and cook until softened.
- Add black pepper, cumin and 4 cups water. Stir.
- With lid on, cook according to pressure cooker’s instructions.
- Add salt and continue to boil in order to reduce the sauce to your desired consistency.
- Roast eggplants in the oven or over the stove.
- Peel eggplant skin and finely chop.
- Melt butter in a saucepan.
- Add flour to saucepan and stir for 3 minutes.
- Add chopped eggplants to saucepan and stir for 1-2 minutes.
- Add milk, water and salt and cook, constantly stirring until thickened.
- Remove from heat, add cheddar and stir.
- Pour the eggplant sauce on a serving platter.
- Pour the meat sauce on top.
Dessert
By now, you’ll likely be almost full. So top off your meal with a delicious güllaç, a classic Ramadan sherbet-based dessert that will cap the night perfectly.
Ingredients:
- 200 grams güllaç leaves
- 1 liter milk
- 1 glass sugar
- ½ cup ground hazelnuts
- ½ cup grounded shelled almonds
- 1 tablespoon rose water
- Vanilla ground with the tip of a knife
- 2 small pieces of mastic gum, crushed and powdered
Step-by-step:
- Pour milk into a saucepan
- Add sugar, rose water, vanilla and mastic gum, and mix
- Heat pan on stove on medium heat, without letting it boil
- Break the güllaç leaves and spread them them in an oven dish, then pour the milk mix over them with a ladle
- After arranging and soaking half the leaves, sprinkle hazelnuts and almonds on top
- Place and soak the remaining leaves in the same way on top
- Drizzle the remaining milk mixture over top of the leaves
- Cover and let stand for 30-60 minutes
- Decorate with pistachios, cherry sugar, pomegranate seeds, or whatever you wish, then serve
With these recipes, you are sure to have a delicious iftar for you and your family. Ramadan Mubarak!
