Vegan Musakhan Rolls Recipe

This Musakhan recipe honors Palestinian cuisine’s rich heritage and flavors with a plant-based twist!

What are Musakhan rolls?

To truly appreciate the vegan twist on Musakhan, it’s important to understand what Musakhan is first.

Musakhan, in Arabic, means “heated.” It is the national dish of Palestine, deeply rooted in its rich history and culture. It is made with roasted chicken, caramelized onions, sumac, and freshly baked bread.

It originated during the harvest season in Palestine. Palestinian farmers enjoyed this simple and quick-to-prepare meal during their break from harvesting their olive trees to make their remarkable olive oil.

Musakhan rolls are a modern twist on the traditional Musakhan. Instead of serving it in layers of bread, chicken, and caramelized onion, it is rolled using thin bread, such as wraps, making it a great appetizer or finger food option.

With the vegan twist on Musakhan, we recreate all these traditional elements in a delicious plant-based version. By replacing the chicken with king oyster mushrooms and cooking it properly, you will NOT know it’s even Vegan!

Ingredients:

Musakhan is based on 3 main ingredients. You cannot make musakhan without it, and those cannot be replaced/ substituted with other ingredients; these are:

• Olive oil: use premium extra virgin olive oil to make this recipe.
• Onion: red or white onion can be used.
• Sumac: You will need plenty of sumac to make any musakhan recipe; it makes this recipe unique! If possible, try to source high-quality whole sumac seeds, then grind them yourself. Check this post if you want to know more about Sumac!

Other ingredients you will need:

• King oyster mushrooms have the perfect texture and, when shredded, resemble shredded chicken, which is used in making traditional musakhan. Other alternatives will be oyster mushrooms.
• Bread: For this recipe, I have used rice wraps, which are thin wraps that resemble saj bread. Alternatively, you can use tortilla bread, saj, or Markouk bread.
• Spices: cumin, coriander, and chili powder
• Salt & pepper.
• Toasted pine nuts are optional but highly recommended.

How to make Vegan Musakhan rolls:

Prepping & cooking the mushrooms:

• Preheat the oven to 190℃, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
• Using a fork, shred the mushrooms and separate any large pieces.
• Add olive oil, salt, pepper, sumac, cumin, coriander, and chili powder.
• Massage the oil and spice blend into the mushrooms well and transfer to the baking sheet.
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Cooking the onions:

• Heat olive oil in a pan, then add the sliced onions.
• Add salt, pepper, and sumac, and cook for 10 minutes on medium-high heat until the onions are caramelized and soft.

Making musakhan rolls:

• Once the mushrooms and onions are cooked, it is time to prepare the rolls.
• Preheat the oven to 200℃, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
• Open the wraps, add the mushrooms and onions in the middle, and roll it.
• Transfer the rolls to the baking sheet and put the rolls face down.
• Brush the rolls with olive oil, sprinkle sumac powder, and bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes.
• Flip the rolls, brush the other side with olive oil, sprinkle more sumac powder, and bake for 7-10 more minutes till crispy.
• Remove from oven and serve.

How to serve Musakhan rolls?

Serve the Musakhan rolls straight away from the oven. You can serve them as an appetizer to your main dish or with a soup, like tomato or lentil soup.

It can be served as a main dish with a dip like this vegan mutabal.

How do you store leftovers?

If you have any leftover rolls, transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Then, reheat them in the oven before serving them.

Recommended recipes:

For more Middle Eastern-inspired appetizers, try this vegan arayes recipe or this baba ganoush easy-to-make recipe!

If you make this recipe, I’d love a comment and a rating. Please make sure to tag me in re-creation on Instagram @veganbilaraby. I love to see your take on my vegan recipes 💚