Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper Dip)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
A smoky-sweet red pepper and walnut dip from Syrian cooking, punched up with toasted walnuts and pomegranate molasses. Scoop it up with warm flatbread, or set it out as part of a mezze spread.
Muhammara is a brick-red pepper dip from Syria, and different versions are found throughout the Mediterranean. It’s thick and deeply flavored — smoky from the roasted peppers, and ever-so-sweet and spicy at the same time.
The ingredients that make it, and ones you can swap
- Pomegranate molasses: The “secret” ingredient in this dip is pomegranate molasses, a Middle Eastern condiment that’s made by boiling down pomegranate juice until it becomes thick and syrupy. It has an intriguing, sweet-sour taste and a deep, dark treacly consistency. I’ve tried balsamic vinegar and it’s a great substitute – go for one with a thick consistency or a glaze.
- Walnuts: Walnuts are essential to Syrian and Levantine cooking — locally grown in the region, and they give sauces, fillings, and sweets real richness that contrast with sweet-sour flavors like pomegranate molasses. Raw walnuts taste bitter straight from the bag, but toasting wakes up their oils to make them deeper, sweeter, and crisper.
- Crusty bread: I pull the crust off a slice of sourdough or other country-style bread and tear it into pieces. I’ve noticed that using panko or fine bread crumbs risks ending up with a dry, gummy texture I don’t find appealing. I want the sensual experience of scooping up muhammara without it sliding off, but not feeling like tpp much like paste.
- Spices: My everyday version uses what’s already in most spice drawers — paprika (sweet or smoked, your choice), ground cumin, and a pinch of cayenne. If you have Aleppo pepper on hand, swap it in for the cayenne it brings a fruitier, gentler heat.
How to make muhammara in a food processor
1. Roast the peppers until the skin is blackened on all sides and the pepper has softened and collapsed. Transfer to a bowl and cover — trapping the steam is what loosens the skin. 
2. Once cool, peel the roasted peppers and add them to the processor — don’t worry about chasing down every last seed, a few left behind isn’t a big deal. Pour in any juices that collected in the bowl as the peppers cooled, too — that liquid carries a lot of the roasted flavor.
3. Add the walnuts, torn bread, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, spices, garlic, and lemon juice to the processor along with the peppers. Everything goes in together — there’s no need to process the nuts or bread separately first. 4. Pulse until the mixture comes together into a thick, mostly smooth dip — a little texture from the walnuts is good, you don’t want it perfectly smooth. Taste and adjust the salt or lemon before serving.
Set a mezze table
Muhammara is right at home on the mezze table — nubby with walnuts, so put it right next to smooth herb hummus and baba ganoush and enjoy the textural contrast. Toss in a spiced chickpea salad for crunch and color, warm pita for scooping (and don’t skip the olives). If you’re already smitten with the walnut-and-red-pepper combination, romesco is muhammara’s Spanish cousin — spoon it over grilled chicken or fish for a more substantial feast.
Muhammara Recipe
Ingredients
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
- 3 medium red bell peppers (about 1 pound), roasted and peeled *see how-to instructions below
- ¼ cup torn sourdough bread, about 1/2 slice
- ½ cup toasted walnuts, toasted
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 smashed and peeled garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon paprika, sweet or smoked
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼-½ teaspoon cayenne or Aleppo pepper, to taste
Garnish
- Chopped walnuts or pistachios
- Paprika or za'atar
- Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place the roasted and peeled red peppers and their collected juices from the bowl into a food processor bowl. Add ¼ cup torn sourdough bread, ½ cup toasted walnuts, 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 smashed and peeled garlic cloves, ½ cup toasted walnuts, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt and ¼-½ teaspoon cayenne or Aleppo pepper
- Process for about 1 minute, scraping down the sides once halfway. You're going for a thick texture that doesn't need to be completely smooth.Taste and season with additional salt, pomegranate molasses or lemon juice if needed.
- Scrape the muhammara into a bowl and swirl the back of a spoon over the top to create a groove. Drizzle olive oil into it, and sprinkle with paprika, (and or za'atar) and chopped or crushed walnuts.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- To roast a red bell pepper, place under a broiler, on a hot preheated grill or directly on a gas flame on the stovetop. Roast the pepper, rotating it as it turns black on all sides. Place the pepper in a bowl and lightly cover to steam as it cools. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and seeds and discard.
- Toast walnuts for about 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven, until they smell nutty.
- Substitute 1 1/2 cups jarred, fire-roasted red peppers (drained) in place of the freshly roasted pepper.
- The dip will keep in the fridge for up to a week (if you don’t devour it all at once).
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
Professionally trained cook, cookbook author, and the person behind every recipe here. I cook the way I was trained: Start with good ingredients, understand why they work, and don’t apologize for the salt. These are the recipes I actually make, for the people I love. Read more about me here.
Leave a comment and star rating
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Can I use black strapp molassess as a substitute for the pomegranate molasses?
Hi Chami – No, I wouldn’t recommend substituting blackstrap molasses. Pomegranate molasses is actually more of a sweet-tart taste, probably more akin to balsamic vinegar than a sweet syrup. If you have some balsamic, or better yet, some balsamic syrup or reduction I’d substitute that in proportion by half the amount pomegranate molasses in the recipe
Vermont cider jelly (it tastes like gasoline) works beautifully as a substitute for the pomegranate molasses.
I just made it and it is a bit watery-I am serving it Thursday-any suggestions? It is so pretty. What can I do?
Tracy, try adding a little bit more nuts and or bread crumbs to your mixture and running through the food processor again – it should thicken up.
I live in the middle east and have Muhammara often. And I thought it is divine dip.But then I went on vacation to Turkey recently and had this alternate version with same ingredients but a completely different tasting heaven. It had roasted red and green bell pepper chopped finely, with the pom molasses, lemon, salt and pepper and walnuts (chopped as well) with lots of good olive oil. I betrayed Muhammara ever since.
But here I’m still looking at Muhammara and may be a bit guilty of how I left my beloved behind ;).
Thanks for confusing me again !! :D:D
My family LOVED this dip.
This looks so rich and delicious!
Love this dip! will def. be making it soon 🙂
So glad this will be what you make! Hope it makes your meeting spectacular. Cheers, Lil.
So simple and yet so rich in flavor. I will definitely be making this for my family.
I can’t wait to make this. I love this dip!
The color is stunning!
Karen- do you roast the peppers yourself or do you think jarred roasted peppers would be fine in this recipe? Thanks.
Nupur – I usually roast them myself, but you could easily sub the jarred for convenience. You lose a little of the smoky flavor, but still good!
Wow, that looks delicious! I’m always on the lookout for new, healthy dips to try with my daily snack of veggies (plain hummus just gets old sometimes!) and this one is definitely going in my to-try pile. Beautiful photo, too!