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You are going to be holding the most absurdly good, completely vegan sabich sandwich in under 30 minutes from now, probably with just a little tahini running down your arm. This delicious sandwich slaps the flavor in hard with smoky, crisped eggplant, creamy hummus, and traditional sauce combos that hold up like street food should!
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Sabich pronounced sah-BEEKH, is an Iraqi-Israeli creation-an Arabic word for a sandwich traditionally packed with fried eggplant, hummus, tahini, pickles, and amba-a tangy, mango-based condiment. It began as a quick Shabbat morning breakfast but has evolved into an iconic popular street food in Tel Aviv. The name of the sandwich comes from the typical Iraqi Jewish breakfast item it was inspired by.
You might also see it called sabih or sabiq, depending on who you ask. Whatever you want to call it, it's the ultimate stack of hot, cold, creamy, and crunchy-your new favorite sandwich.
You're into sabich in the streets and a Middle Eastern eggplant freak in the sheets? This one is high up on the aubergine leader boards right alongside Turkish şakşuka and soslu patlıcan, Moroccan zaalouk, or olive oil cured makdous.
Prepare to bug out about this down-right glorious sammy, and how easy it is to tweak to your taste.
This will definitely go on repeat! The combination of flavors was amazing, and it was easy to put together.
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🥰Why you'll adore this vegan sabich sandwich recipe
✊ Vegan AF: Like all my vegan Middle Eastern recipes, this banger of a sandwich has no actual hard-boiled eggs and no yogurt.
🔬 Texture science in play: Salt-sweating the eggplant keeps it creamy inside and crisp outside, and much less bitter.
⏱️ One pan, 30 minutes: Roasting or frying, the process is fast, no extra dishes or complicated steps required.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of the vegan recipes I share, after tweaking and perfecting it, I shared it with a massive team of recipe testers who made it successfully.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
🥪 Sabich Ingredients
Eggplant
This bad boy is the backbone of the sandwich-cut 1 cm thick so you get max crisp without it falling apart. Traditional sabich uses pan-fried eggplant, and we're keeping that flavor, but I included instructions you can follow for roast eggplant instead, in case that's your vibe. You can use a large eggplant or Italian eggplant-both work well in this sando.
We are gonna salt the heck out of the eggplant before we fry it to draw out the gross bitter flavors, which is the same thing I do when making khoresh bademjan too.
The spices
Plain, boring ol' sabich? GTFO. I like a nice dusting of za'atar and smoked paprika on the eggplant to add later to the flavor. If you're missing either, try cooking some baharat + cumin and dried thyme with a pinch of sumac. A touch of black pepper can also enhance the flavors.
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Pita bread
Get the good kind. Fresh, fluffy, with a pita pocket. Warm it before using so it bends instead of breaks. Laffa bread, kuboos, or soft naan work too.
Pickle
Old-school sabich uses briny Israeli pickles, which are quite a bit more sour than regular American pickles. But any sharp, crunchy pickle will do. Sauerkraut, pickled burdock, or pickled turnips are cool if that's what you've got. You can find decent options at any grocery store.
Vegan hard boiled eggs (optional)
The OG uses real hard boiled eggs-we don't. Use a store-bought vegan egg like Wunder Eggs. Slices of marinated tofu or chickpea omelet strips bring a similar vibe. In Iran, folks use slices of boiled or baked potato in place of the egg slices, so do that if you want something simpler and less processed.
Shirazi salad
Shirazi salad is just a slightly more flavorful version of fresh Israeli salad with dried mint in it. Otherwise, just replace it with some lightly seasoned diced cucumber, tomato, and red onion-bright, crunchy, and acidic. Cherry tomatoes cut in half also work wonderfully in this cucumber salad.
Hummus
The anchor. Creamy, savory, smooth. Spread it first to glue everything in place. You can either use a classic Israeli hummus or harissa hummus on this sammy. Lebanese baba ghanoush, hyper-garlicky toum, vegan labneh, or mutabal are also great to use if hummus isn't your thingy for some insane reason.
Tahini sauce
Nutty tahini sauce ties the whole operation together. I am not talking about straight tahini paste, but a thinner sauce made with some garlic and lemon juice in it, like my tarator recipe.
Zhoug sauce (optional but recommended)
This is the herby green fire you want if you like a little chaos in your condiment game. Packed with jalapeño heat and fresh herbs, zhoug brings flavor fast. Harissa sauce or shatta are great swaps if you want more heat and less herbiness.
Amba (optional)
Funky, fermented mango sauce. Amba sauce is bright, sour, and intense, and I have a killer amba recipe you can follow to make it yourself.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Baghdad-style sabich
This is the real old-school setup: fried eggplant, slices of boiled or baked potatoes, and a fat splash of amba. No salad, no fuss-just a heavy-hitter carb stack.
Sabich platter
Skip the pita and lay it all out over rice. Persian rice, Moroccan rice, Egyptian rice, Lebanese rice, or Turkish rice will all be awesome in place of the pita. Perfect for mezze vibes, with some Moroccan carrot salad, muhammara, and a bowl of Lebanese lentil soup, or Turkish lentil soup.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
📖How to make sabich sandwich
Here's how to build the baddest sabich on the block. If you're lazy, hangry, or just want to skip the beauty shots, scroll straight to the recipe card below and get cooking already.
Step One
Saltered States:
Sprinkle the eggplant slices with salt on both sides and set them in a colander for 30 minutes.
Step Two
Pat the Bunny:
Rinse and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
Step Three
Bill and Ted's Eggsellent Adventure:
To fry: heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. After 90 seconds, add eggplant in a single layer. Cook 4-5 minutes per side until golden brown and tender. Transfer to a tray lined with a clean kitchen towel.
To roast: preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush with oil, and roast for 25 minutes, flipping halfway.
Step Four
Dust Married:
Sprinkle cooked eggplant with paprika and za'atar.
Step Five
Pita Dinklage:
Warm pita in a dry pan or oven until soft.
Step Six
Hummus-ter Roger's Neighborhood:
Spread a layer of hummus inside each pita.
💡Serving Ideas
Sabich's already flexing big flavor, but if you wanna roll deep, bring some backup.
Load in some extra accoutrements like Moroccan spiced lentils or Middle Eastern cucumber beet salad.
Some harissa roasted cauliflower, ful medames, or harissa chickpeas might be just the thingy to make your sandwich lifestyle a little more over-the-top.
Rock some vegan pistachio baklava or irmik helvası for dessert.
👉Top tips
- Salt Like You Mean It: Eggplant's a sponge with attitude. Salting pulls out bitterness and makes the texture actually worth biting into. Don't skip it unless you love bitter, oilier eggplant for some weird reason that I'll never understand.
- Respect the Build Order: If your pita's turning into a sad swamp, you're layering wrong. After the barrier of hummus to insulate the pita from juicy stuff, go dry stuff first-eggplant, salad-then drizzle the sauces like you know what you're doing.
- Keep It Tight: Warm, fresh pita is a must. Overstuff it and you're holding a Failure Burrito™. Warming it relaxes the gluten, so the pita doesn't crack on you.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Big globe eggplants work, but Italian eggplants give you a better meat-to-skin ratio. Skip the Japanese ones, their skin-to-flesh ratio is too high for sabich. They're better saved for dishes like Thai basil eggplant or curry laksa, where that texture really gets a chance to melt down.
Nope. This sandwich doesn't judge. Grab tahini sauce from a record shop, hummus from a gas station, and amba from a sporting-goods store if you're that kind of guy. No judgment.
Warm or room temp is the move. Never fridge-cold. The contrast of warm eggplant and cool salad is part of the magic. But it does work out ok room temp if you're thinking of assembling it for a cute picnic. So, there's that.
Totally. Air fry at 400°F (about 200°C) for 12-15 minutes until the slices are browned and soft. They won't be quite as rich as the fried ones, but still solid.
✌️You'll love these vegan Middle Eastern recipes too:
Learn the secrets to perfect falafel in this fun cooking class with Chef Adam Sobel!
Sabich Sandwich
Equipment
Ingredients
For the eggplant:
- 1 medium eggplant sliced 1 cm.
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ⅓ cup olive oil if frying or 3 tablespoons if roasting
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon za'atar
For the Sandwich:
- 4 pita breads
- 1 pickle sliced
- 4 vegan hard boiled eggs sliced (optional)
- 1 cup shirazi salad
- 1 cup hummus
- ½ cup tahini sauce
- ¼ cup zhoug sauce optional
- ¼ cup amba optional
Instructions
- Sprinkle the eggplant slices with salt on both sides and set them in a colander for 30 minutes to draw out moisture.
- Rinse the salt off of the eggplant slices and pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel before cooking.
- To fry the eggplant, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. After 90 seconds, when the oil is hot, add the eggplant slices in a single layer. Cook them for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown and tender. Transfer to a tray lined with a clean kitchen towel to drain the excess oil. Alternatively, to roast the eggplant, preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Arrange the slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush both sides with olive oil, and roast for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through, until browned and soft.
- Sprinkle the cooked eggplant with paprika and za'atar.
- Warm the pita breads just before assembling. I like to do this directly over an open flame for a few seconds on each side, but you can also do this in an oven or dry pan for a few minutes.
- Spread a layer of hummus inside each pita. Add eggplant slices, a few slices of pickle, shirazi salad, and vegan egg if using. Spoon in tahini sauce, and, if desired, add zhoug and amba.
Notes
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Kelly Stueve says
This is so tasty! The toasted eggplant is flavored with smoked paprika and avatar spice and every spice contributes to whole deliciousness. These will be our go to for when we just want a sandwich while camping or dinner night!
Karla Merrels Lewis says
This will definitely go on repeat! The combination of flavors was amazing, and it was easy to put together.
hg says
I knew I was going to like this sandwich as I was reading over the recipe. But I didn't realize how much I was going to love it. Perfect example of how a few simple, fresh ingredients, when combined, could make something so delicious. In addition, I made homemade Pita ( see the recipe for Kuboos, and dont be intimidated. Very easy bread to make, and Im usually a crappy baker). Don't hesitate to add falafel into the sandwich too. Although I didn't. If I had some laying around, I probably would have.