The hardest question in Ramadan is not «when do we break the fast?» but «what are we making today?». A week into the month the ideas run out and the table starts to repeat. So we have gathered 30 iftar and suhoor ideas from the Egyptian kitchen: 20 ideas for iftar and 10 for suhoor, to rotate through the days of the month.
Each idea here is a small table, not a single dish. Anything from Rokn Warda's menu carries a link, and anything that is Egyptian home cooking is clearly labelled as such.
How to use these Ramadan iftar and suhoor ideas
- Rotate the kinds: a casserole day, a grill day, a mahshi day, a light day.
- Keep one or two days a week light: soup, salad and one dish.
- Save the feasts for the end of the week.
- Write down the ideas you like on a sheet on the fridge and tick off what you have made.
20 ideas for Ramadan iftar
Casserole days
1. Lentil soup and okra casserole: start with lentil soup, then the okra and beef casserole with rice. A classic Egyptian iftar.
2. Orzo soup and molokhia casserole: orzo soup, then the molokhia casserole with white rice.
3. Potato and beef casserole: the potato and beef casserole with Egyptian rice with vermicelli and a green salad.
4. Macaroni béchamel day: the macaroni béchamel casserole, with a big salad beside it to balance the richness.
5. Moussaka and white rice: the minced meat moussaka casserole with white Egyptian rice.
6. Dawood Basha kofta: Dawood Basha kofta in tomato sauce with white rice. An easy iftar children love.
7. Beef with pearl onions: the beef and pearl onion casserole with rice, and a light soup before it.
8. Chicken and potatoes: the chicken and potato casserole for a day without red meat.
Grill days
9. Mixed grills: mixed grills with kebab, kofta and chicken shish, served with rice and salads.
10. Lamb chops: charcoal-grilled lamb chops with vermicelli rice and a salad.
11. Tarb and kofta: for lovers of rich flavour: tarb with kofta, plus rice and salad.
12. Light chicken shish: chicken shish with arugula and pomegranate salad for a light day.
Mahshi and feast days
13. Mahshi and chicken: mixed mahshi with fried chicken made at home.
14. Grape leaves with lamb chops: grape leaves with lamb chops: mahshi and grill in one dish.
15. Stuffed pigeon: pigeon stuffed with freekeh or pigeon stuffed with rice with soup, for a small feast.
16. Lamb shank fatteh: lamb shank fatteh for Friday, with a salad on the side.
17. Lamb shank with freekeh: lamb shank with freekeh, with orzo soup before it.
18. The feast platter: if the whole family is together, the Rokn Warda platter brings grills, stuffed pigeon, chicken shish, sausage, lamb chops, kebab, kofta and tarb with rice.
Light and quick days
19. A meat-free iftar from home: a day without meat: lentil soup, rice, salad and oven potatoes. For more ideas, read meat-free fasting food in Egypt.
20. A quick iftar: for a busy day: meat hawawshi or sausage hawawshi with lentil soup and salad.
10 ideas for Ramadan suhoor
All these suhoor ideas are Egyptian home food, because Rokn Warda does not serve meals at suhoor time; our normal hours are from 12 noon to 1 am. More about each dish in Egyptian suhoor ideas for Ramadan.
21. Ful with oil and lemon: with baladi bread, cucumber and tomato.
22. Ful with tahini: with boiled eggs beside it.
23. Alexandrian ful: with tomatoes, peppers and sautéed onion.
24. Eggs and white cheese: a tomato omelette, and white cheese with cucumber.
25. Yogurt and fruit: yogurt with honey and dates or a banana.
26. Qareesh cheese with tomato: with cucumber, olives and bread.
27. Taameya in a small amount: a couple of taameya with ful and a green salad. Since it is fried, keep it to once a week.
28. Soup from iftar: leftover lentil soup, reheated well, with toasted bread.
29. Boiled potatoes and eggs: a simple, filling suhoor.
30. Rice pudding: a small cold bowl at the end of suhoor, homemade or left over from the evening's dessert.
A sample week
| Day | Iftar | Suhoor |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday | Lentil soup and okra (1) | Ful with oil and lemon (21) |
| Sunday | Mixed grills (9) | Eggs and white cheese (24) |
| Monday | Mahshi and chicken (13) | Yogurt and fruit (25) |
| Tuesday | Dawood Basha kofta (6) | Ful with tahini (22) |
| Wednesday | Light chicken shish (12) | Soup from iftar (28) |
| Thursday | The feast platter (18) | Taameya in a small amount (27) |
| Friday | Lamb shank fatteh (16) | Alexandrian ful (23) |
General tips
These are widely shared general tips, not medical advice:
- Drink water in stages between iftar and suhoor.
- Break your fast with dates, water and soup, and wait a little before the main dish, as many homes do.
- Go easy on salt and fried food at suhoor.
Order the iftar ideas from Rokn Warda
The iftar ideas with links are on Rokn Warda's menu with delivery in Al Khobar and Dammam, or you can book your table and break your fast with us in Al Khobar. If you are hosting a big gathering, send the details through the events page. To go further: a complete Egyptian Ramadan iftar menu, Egyptian Ramadan feasts and Egyptian Ramadan desserts. Ramadan timings and news are announced on Ramadan with Rokn Warda.
