Deeply flavorful pomegranates add a pop of color and sweetness to all sorts of dishes. From crunchy salads to creamy baba ghannouj to elegant cocktails, we’ve rounded up our favorite pomegranate recipes.
Sweet sautéed corn and crunchy cucumber make for a delicious summer salad. A toasty sesame oil vinaigrette adds warm, while pomegranate seeds add a touch of tartness. We also use the seeds in our bright fattoush, a Middle Eastern bread salad we make with mint, parsley, and fava beans.
Baba ghannouj, a smoky, creamy Middle Eastern dip made with mashed eggplant, is one of our favorite appetizers. For an extra smooth variation we turn to an unexpected ingredient: white chocolate. The sweetness of the chocolate adds an unexpected, complex note to play against the garlic, lemon, cumin, and paprika. Pomegranate seeds are a beautiful finishing touch.
Grenadine is a classic cocktail ingredient. The bottled stuff is mostly high fructose corn syrup and food coloring, but it was originally made of pomegranate. It’s easy to make your own at home using just pomegranate juice, turbinado sugar, and an orange. Use it in cocktails like our red sangria or the Arab Spring, made with a Turkish fig brandy called boukha.
Find all of these dishes, drinks, and more in our collection of pomegranate recipes.
Packed full of glowing winter produce—sweet roasted beets, tart pomegranate seeds—this lentil salad makes a colorful addition to the winter table. Pair it with chicken, beef, lamb, or fish, or serve it as a vegetarian main; it’s hearty enough to stand on its own. Get the recipe for Lentil Salad with Beets and Pomegranate »
For his riff on the classic Spanish wine-based drink, Jon Santer of Prizefighter in Emeryville, California, layers on more fruity flavors with French apéritif Lillet Rouge and the orange cognac-based liqueur Grand Marnier. Get the recipe for Red Sangria »
Almost any vegetable can be substituted for spinach in this vegetarian appetizer sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. In Georgia, roasted beet and green bean versions are common.
New York City bar The Daily serves this lightly sweet, effervescent gin-based punch made with chamomile tea and sparkling wine. Created by mixologist Naren Young, it was inspired by classic holiday punches but is easily adapted to any season—try it in fall garnished with apples, pears, and cinnamon sticks; in winter with citrus slices and pomegranate; and in spring with edible flowers.
Brussels sprouts are zipped up with horseradish by chef Ken Oringer of Toro in Boston and New York.
This fruity beer-based cocktail is an ideal outdoor sipper—mix the pomegranate lemonade ahead of time and bring a six-pack to top each glass individually.
The famously smoky Middle Eastern eggplant puree reaches new heights of smoothness with the inclusion of white chocolate, which compliments the nutty flavor of tahini and the delicate spice of fresh garlic and paprika. Get the recipe for White Chocolate Baba Ghannouj »
Simple, fruity, and slightly floral, this champagne-based cocktail comes to us by way of astrologer/bartender Patricia Clark Hippolyte, who developed the drink for our Mixstrology series.
Pomegranate Fig Smash
Traditionally made in Puebla to celebrate Mexican Independence Day on September 16, these chiles have a minced pork filling enhanced with chopped fruit, and a creamy walnut sauce.
This herb-laced frittata of eggs, potatoes, and leeks is a popular Iranian side dish.
Sweet and tangy, with the mild smokiness of pink peppercorns and the salty edge of black cured olives, this elaboration of a vodka martini is as grand and glamorous as the wide avenues of Paris.
This Middle-Eastern-influenced tart heaps white chocolate-orange ganache accented with rose water into a pistachio shortbread crust. Pomegranate meringue shaped to form rose petals makes for a show-stopping finish.
