Overview
Ejjeh bil Baqdounes is the breakfast every Lebanese village kitchen makes the same way: eggs whisked with so much fresh parsley that the mixture turns deep green before it hits the pan, finely chopped onion for sweetness, fresh mint for lift, and the whole thing fried in olive oil into small golden discs that taste of herb gardens and Sunday morning. The dish is the Lebanese answer to the Spanish tortilla and the Italian frittata, but lighter, fresher, and built around herbs rather than potatoes or cheese. Eaten warm or cold, with bread torn into wedges, fresh tomatoes on the side, a squeeze of lemon, and labneh for dipping. The most loved village breakfast in Lebanon, served at every guesthouse from Bcharreh to Bhamdoun, and the meal that grandmothers across the diaspora make to remind themselves of home.
The Ingredients
- • 6 eggs
- • 60g Crysp Parsley, finely chopped (3 large handfuls)
- • 15g Crysp Mint, finely chopped (1 small handful)
- • 1 small Crysp Brown Onion, very finely diced
- • 1 tbsp Crysp Peashoots, to garnish
- • 1 Crysp Lime, wedged, to serve
- • 2 tbsp plain flour (or 1 tbsp cornflour for gluten-free)
- • 1/2 tsp Lebanese seven-spice
- • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- • Pinch of ground white pepper
- • 4 tbsp olive oil, for frying
- • Salt & black pepper
- • Labneh, to serve
- • Warm pita or markouk bread, to serve
Instructions
Wash and Dry the Parsley Properly
Wash the Crysp Parsley under cold water, then dry it thoroughly between paper towels or in a salad spinner. This is the most important prep step. Wet parsley releases water into the eggs and the ejjeh ends up watery and pale instead of bright green and crisp at the edges. The parsley needs to be properly dry before chopping.
Chop the Herbs the Lebanese Way
Remove the toughest parsley stems, keep the tender ones. Bunch the leaves tightly on a cutting board and chop with a very sharp knife as finely as possible. The parsley should look almost like a powder, fluffy and dry, not bruised or wet. Chop the mint the same way. Tip both into a large mixing bowl. The volume should be substantial, ejjeh is more herbs than eggs, this is what defines the dish.
Add the Onion
Dice the Crysp Brown Onion as finely as you can manage, almost into a paste. Add to the bowl with the herbs. Some Lebanese cooks salt the onion separately for 5 minutes first to draw out water and soften the bite, especially if the onion is sharp. Optional but worth it.
Whisk the Egg Base
In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk thoroughly until the whites and yolks are fully combined. Add the flour, seven-spice, cinnamon, white pepper, salt and black pepper. Whisk until smooth, no lumps of flour. The flour is the village trick that gives ejjeh its slightly thicker, fritter-like texture, distinguishing it from a French omelette or Italian frittata.
Combine, Don't Overmix
Pour the egg mixture over the herbs and onion. Stir gently with a fork to combine, just until the herbs are evenly distributed through the eggs. Do not overmix, you want the herbs to stay separate green flecks, not break down into a paste. The mixture should look deep green with eggy yellow streaks, the visual signature of a properly made ejjeh.
Fry in Small Discs
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a wide non-stick pan over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Drop heaped tablespoons of the herb-egg mixture into the pan, leaving space between each, you should fit 4 to 5 small discs at a time. Press each one gently flat with the back of the spoon to about 1cm thick. Cook 2 minutes per side until deep golden brown, with crisp edges and bright green herbs visible through the egg. Lift onto a plate, repeat with the remaining mixture, adding the rest of the olive oil as needed.
Serve Lebanese-Style
Pile the ejjeh on a wide plate, slightly overlapping. Pile a small mound of Crysp Peashoots in the centre. Place lime wedges on the side, a generous bowl of cold labneh nearby, and warm pita or markouk bread torn into pieces. The diner takes a piece of bread, scoops up labneh, places an ejjeh disc on top, adds a squeeze of lime, eats with the hands. Or rolls everything inside the bread like a small sandwich. Either way is correct.
The Tradition
Ejjeh is the village breakfast that defined rural Lebanese cooking long before the country had restaurants. The word "ejjeh" itself is a generic Arabic term for "fritter" or "thick omelette", and you find variations across the Levant: ejjeh bil baqdounes (with parsley), ejjeh bil kousa (with grated zucchini), ejjeh bil batata (with potato), ejjeh bil basal (with onions). The parsley version is the classic, eaten across Lebanon, Syria, and Palestinian villages, and it's the version that travelled to Lebanese restaurants in Beirut, Paris, Detroit, and Dubai. The dish is also the foundation of Lebanese baby food, the first solid meal many Lebanese mothers feed their toddlers, gentle, high in folate from the parsley, easy to digest. Modern Beirut cafes serve fancier versions with goat cheese or sumac, but the village original is what every Lebanese grandmother makes: eggs, parsley, mint, onion, olive oil, lemon, bread.
💡 Pro Tip: The ratio of parsley to eggs is what separates a real Lebanese ejjeh from a Western herb omelette. A proper ejjeh uses 60g of parsley for 6 eggs, that's roughly equal volume of chopped herbs to liquid eggs. Most Western recipes use a fraction of this. The result of using less parsley is a yellow omelette with green flecks. The result of using the right amount is a green fritter with golden edges. Don't reduce the parsley, this is the entire identity of the dish.
