Looking for a new exotic breakfast idea? This delicious Arabic breakfast called Masoub is an easy Saudi Arabian banana bread pudding. Finish it off with almonds, raisins, whip cream, honey, and cheddar.
So when was the last time you made a Saudi Arabia dish? I am going to take a chance and guess never. Many recipes are similar to popular Arabic dishes. But Saudi Arabian recipes have their own twist. One unexpected find was this popular Masoub Saudi breakfast recipe, a Saudi Arabia banana breakfast dish. It’s one of the favorite Arabic breakfast recipes out there.
About Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is a Middle Eastern country that occupies most of the Arabian peninsula and has coastlines on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia contains the holy Muslim city of Mecca. All physically and financially able Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage at least once if possible in a lifetime.
The country has an oil-based economy and it has some of the most restrictive travel policies in the world. But if you get in your list should include the capital of Riyadh, the cities of Jeddah and Medina. Desert excursions, scuba diving in the Red Sea, and camel riding are fun outings. Most activities must be done with a family, and not alone.
Saudi Food Recipes
Saudi Arabian cuisine recipes mostly have remained unchanged for thousands of years. Some of the common foods in Saudi Arabian cooking include wheat, rice, lamb, chicken, yogurt, potatoes, and dates. Saudi recipes and meal include Mandi, Roz Buraki, and Mutabbak. Levantine and Egyptian dishes are common too, like shawarma and falafel.
The Saudi Arabia national food dish is the Kabsa. Lamb or chicken is served with perfumed rice made with strong essence and spices. Most main Saudi dishes are served with a mountain of rice.
Saudi Arabian desserts and Arabian sweet dishes abound. And they are normally served with coffee and tea as a snack. Saudi Arabia dessert recipes often contain nuts. There is Arabian baklava, sesame candies, tapioca pudding, and muhallebi. Arabian dessert cookies know as Ma’amoul are popular. Fried dough balls served in honey is a favorite Saudi sweet dish too.
For an after-meal treat, the most common dessert in Saudi Arabia is simply fruit.
What do Saudi Arabians eat for breakfast?
Saudi Arabia breakfast food is varied too with dishes like Areka, and Shakshouka. You may also find a selection of Arabian cheese. Saudi bread which is usually an Arabian flatbread is served with labneh and date jam.
And a very typical breakfast in Saudi Arabia might include the Masoob recipe. By the way, there are several spellings out there for this Saudi Arabia breakfast dish. I have seen ma’soob, ma’soub, maasob, and maasoub.
Arabic coffee beans are roasted with a few cardamom pods, then cooled, and ground. Hosts will brew and serve this coffee in front of the guests. One can find Arabic style tea too.
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Masoub, an Arabic breakfast banana bread pudding
Masoub is one of the easy Saudi Arabian food recipes out there. It is like a banana bread pudding in its simplest form . Mashed over-ripe bananas and some ground-up flatbread are the bases of how to make masoob.
Then add toppings like sliced almonds, raisins, whip cream, honey, and mild cheddar cheese. It sounds weird but the cheese is good!
The masoob Arabic dish is very easy and quick to make. One can make it with a variety of bread too. Try pita or whole wheat slices of bread. Funny enough I made my own flatbread with raspberries, so I used it as part of my masoub ingredients.
I must admit that when I first saw this Masoub Arabian recipe I thought it looked boring but I only read raving reviews online. Well, I am converted, I really love this stuff.
Masoub, Saudi Arabian Banana Breakfast Dish
Ingredients
- 3-4 very ripe bananas
- 2-3 flatbreads
- Sliced almonds
- Golden raisins
- Whipped cream
- Honey
- Shredded mild cheddar optional
Instructions
- Peel and mash the bananas with a fork in a bowl. Set aside.
- Coarsely grind flatbread in a food processor. Mix with the mashed bananas until combined. You want to have about the same volume of banana to bread.
- Put the mixture into a serving dish and smooth over the top. Top with raisins, almonds, whip cream, honey and grated cheddar. You can heat the masoub in the microwave for 30 seconds if you like.
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Saudi Arabia is nowhere near as restrictive as it used to be, even 5 years ago. This is especially the case in the big cities. We enjoyed Masoub in a breakfast cafe in Tanomah every morning as a kind of desert after the various egg dishes. Delicious!
Hi Steve, that is great that tourism is opening up more. So glad you have tried this dish.
I’d forgotten about this recipe! It intrigued me when I first read about it, and I’d still love to try it!
Thanks, Liz, I hope you do. Only need a few ripe bananas and bread 🙂
This is such an interesting recipe Evelyne, and totally new to me…it sure sounds very nutritious and a great way to start the day. Thanks for the recipe…have a wonderful weekend!
I hope you try it Juliana, it is really good and so easy to make…have a wonderful weekend too!
You say the cuisine has been “unchanged for thousands of years. Some of the common foods in Saudi Arabian cooking include wheat, rice, lamb, chicken, yogurt, potatoes, and dates”… problem: potatoes are New World cultivars and couldn’t have reached Saudi Arabia until the 15th century, most likely later. Usually when a cuisine claims to have this type of permanence, there are political reasons for the claim. I wonder what they are!
Hi Mae, thank you for your great comment. I did not say absolutely nothing has changed at all, like your great example of the potatoes. But it has mostly not changed much and I think in this case politics, religion, and little exchange with some countries in the world has definitely influenced the food people eat.
Glad to see this one reappear! Neat recipe. No plans to visit Saudi Arabia, but I’ll actually be sailing past it on a cruise this year, and should be able to see its coast!
yeah, it was worth updating, this is so good. Oh nice! what stops are on this cruise?
I was introduced to this dish while working near Jeddah in Saudi Arabia last year.
A friendly Saudi student got talking to me on the street and brought me to his favourite place to eat, and bought me Masoub as a welcome gift to his town. The laws there oblige the restaurants to have kitchens that can be seen by the customers, which made it interesting!
The place was Yemeni and the bread they used was made fresh for each dish that was ordered- a kind of fried flatbread- so super crispy on the outside and soft and creamy in the middle- they rolled the hot fresh bread up, put it through a coarse grinder, and then 2 large yellow bananas went through. They took half the mixture of banana and bread, and put it through again, giving it a finer texture. This all went back into the bowl with the coarse, grind- followed by a tin of cream, a tin of condensed milk, mixed up together and the honey mixed through it.
Phenomenally good and much more than the sun of it’s parts.
Thank you so much Daragh for sharing your first-hand experience on location with this dish. Very cool each new dish gets fresh bread. You are right it is way better than one would think. I need to make this again soon, now craving it 🙂
Yum! This is something new! I think I need to learn more about Middle Eastern cuisines!
I’m always looking for another breakfast idea and an exotic breakfast like this is awesome! How unusual and delicious. Thanks for sharing this!
Wow, it looks great! Thanks for taking part and I’m sorry I was lacking the last few months, personal drama. This is such an old traditional recipes and it makes me happy to see it all over the net. I had this the other day with qashta and figs at a Yemeni place here, yum. Yours looks great.
Thank noor and no need to make excuses, we all get taken in by real life sometimes. That Yeme place sounds amazing.
Love the topping of the nuts, it is so inviting and tempting.
The toppings only up the amazing baban mixture too, a real winner 🙂
Love that overload of nuts and cream on the top! This was totally delicious, isn’t it? 🙂
Yes the topping really take this to another level!
Well, if this tastes like banana bread pudding, I’d be on board, too! Hope you have a lovely weekend, too!!!
It totally does Liz, really good stuff 🙂
This is so new to me, but I love the combinations. Got to try
Thank you and hope you do try it, worth it ans little effort for the foodie reward 🙂
This is so nice, I’ve heard of this before but I’ve never tried it.. looks so filling and a healthy start to your day.
Thanks Amira, I hope you try it, a truly excellent dish
Wow, I wish I had tried making this for the challenge, love the sound of banana bread pudding. Looks delicious and I think mild cheddar would work great!
Loved your recipe Abida, we’ll just make snack with your and dessert with mine 🙂
Totally new dish to me — have never heard of this, much less eaten it. Looks so interesting, though! Add a bit more cream (probably quite a bit more!) and you could make a smoothie out of this! 🙂 Anyway, fun stuff. And I’d microwave mine.
Glad you get to discover a new one! For guilty pleasure, ok more cream 😉
I am intrigued by the cheese on this dish! Must add an interestingly salty taste 🙂 PS your captcha is not working properly
Got to do the cheese, but a mild cheddar 🙂 Oh thanks Tandy will look into that!
This is such an interesting breakfast dish Evelyne…I like the almond and the raisins in it…very nourishing…
Have a great week 🙂
Thanks Juliana, it is a whole breakfast in one dish for sure, filling 🙂
Lovely dish! Love Middle eastern flavours and dishes. There’s a lot going on but the resulting flavours are always mind blowing. I especially love the cheese in this one!
Great comment: lots going on but mind blowing results, that is so true.
Arabian food huh?! That is totally new to me!!
Got to give it a try Gigi! 😀
This sounds wonderful! I don’t eat dairy but I could definitely use coconut milk for the whipped cream and cashew cheese instead of the cheese. Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks Dawn and feel free to adapt for sure, great suggestions.
This is new for me. It looks like a great dish to kick start the day.
It is really good and healthy, hope you try it Angie.
I can see how the cheese would work in this dish it adds a saltiness to balance the sweetness of banana and honey. I will have to try it sometime.
Yes the cheese sounds weird but a must lol
I love discovering new kitchens and flavors. I am sure we would love masoub as well. It has all our favorite flavors!
It is very good, especially with the toppings
Evelyn, masoub looks yummy! I should have gone for it too… thought it was boring!
It is totally worth it, hope you make some 🙂
Wow there is so many things to learn about Middle Eastern cuisine. I’ve had and really enjoyed Kabsa but I haven’t tried Masoub 🙂
There is indeed so much to learn, will have to check out Kasba!