Orez shu'it is a traditional side dish originating from Israel. It was invented by the Sephardic Jews of Jerusalem. The dish is made with white beans that have been cooked in tomato paste, and once done, the combination is served over white rice while still hot.
Nowadays, it's served as a side dish in most restaurants. Sometimes, it will be enriched with the addition of fried onions or pieces of meat such as lamb, chicken, or beef.
Probably the best-known national dish of Israel, Israeli salad is actually a descendant of Arab and Palestinian salads. Finely diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, (optional) parsley, and either bell peppers or chili peppers are typically dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.
This refreshing salad is served as a main dish or a side, and it is even sold as a street food item, wrapped in pita bread with falafel or shawarma. This healthy salad is also an important part of the traditional Israeli breakfast.
MOST ICONIC Israeli Salad
Salatim is a traditional term that denotes a huge variety of salads, dips, spreads, and slaws that are served at home before a big meal, or in restaurants that specialize in grilled meat dishes. The assorted bowls might contain matbucha (roasted peppers and tomatoes), chopped liver, carrots, Israeli salad (tomatoes and cucumbers), hummus, baba ghanoush, beets, cabbage, tahini, skhug, or cauliflower salad, among others.
Salatim is a Hebrew word, meaning salads. It's often served with pita bread on the side, and once the salads have been eaten, they're followed by various grilled meat dishes in most Israeli barbecue restaurants.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “3 Worst Rated Israeli Side Dishes” list until April 19, 2025, 1,747 ratings were recorded, of which 995 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.