Product knowledge
What is za'atar made of?
Za'atar is a spice blend, not a single herb: dried thyme (often mixed with related herbs like marjoram or oregano), tart ground sumac, toasted sesame seeds and salt. Most cooks stir the dry blend with olive oil right before eating rather than baking oil into the mix itself. The exact ratio shifts from mill to mill and region to region, but those four dry ingredients are the constant across nearly every version.
The name adds to the confusion, because za'atar (زعتر) refers both to the wild thyme-like herb that grows across the Levant and to the finished blend built around it. When a recipe or a supplier says "za'atar," check which one is meant — a jar of loose dried thyme is a different product from a ready-mixed blend, even though both carry the same name.
The four ingredients, one at a time
Each component in za'atar does a specific job, which is why leaving one out changes the blend more than it might seem.
- Dried thyme (or a thyme-family blend): the herbal backbone — earthy, slightly minty, sometimes cut with oregano or marjoram depending on the house recipe.
- Ground sumac: a tart, wine-red spice made from dried sumac berries; it supplies the sour lift that keeps the blend from tasting flat.
- Toasted sesame seeds: adds nuttiness and a little crunch, and rounds out the sourness of the sumac.
- Salt: ties the other three together and is usually the only seasoning added.
Why the mix on a shelf can look and taste different bag to bag
Za'atar has no single fixed recipe — it's a family of blends, and the balance of herb, sumac and sesame changes by region, mill and even household. That's normal, not a quality flaw. See Palestinian, Jordanian, Syrian and Lebanese za'atar compared for how those regional tendencies actually differ.
What should stay constant is transparency: a well-made za'atar names its herb and its origin rather than hiding behind a generic "spice blend" label.
Green thyme vs a red za'atar-style blend
"Za'atar" on a shelf can mean two different things, and our own catalogue reflects that split. Green Jordanian Thyme is the herb itself — loose dried thyme, green in color, closer to the raw ingredient than the finished mix. Red Thyme (Za'atar-Style Blend) is the fully mixed version, where sumac's red tone dominates the color alongside the sesame and thyme.
Both are milled by AbdulRahim Mills, a Jordan-based house with Palestinian heritage, and both sit in our za'atar category alongside our standalone sumac — the same souring spice that gives the red blend its color.
Where the practice comes from
The blend's cultural weight runs deep. UNESCO inscribed Al-Man'ouché — the Lebanese morning flatbread topped with exactly this mixture of thyme, sumac, toasted sesame, salt and olive oil — on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2023, citing the morning ritual (sobhhiyé) built around it. It's a useful anchor for what za'atar "should" contain: thyme, sumac, sesame, salt, and oil at the table.
What this means when you're sourcing at wholesale
For a restaurant or grocer building a spice order, the ingredient question isn't academic — it determines what you're actually buying. A supplier listing "za'atar" should tell you whether the jar is straight dried thyme or the full four-ingredient blend, because the two serve different purposes on a menu or a shelf. Loose thyme is a raw ingredient for a kitchen that blends its own mix to a house recipe or wants to control the sumac-to-thyme ratio itself; a ready blend is meant to go straight from the case to a manakish counter or a retail shelf with no further work.
Ask which one you're being quoted before you commit to a case count, especially if you're planning a manakish program or a retail facing built around one specific blend. See how does inquiry-based wholesale ordering work? for how to structure that first inquiry so the quotation reflects the exact product you mean.
Related questions
Does za'atar contain nuts?
No. The traditional blend is thyme, sumac, toasted sesame and salt — sesame is a seed, not a tree nut, but always check a specific product's label if you're managing allergens.
Is za'atar the same thing as dried thyme?
No — dried thyme is one ingredient in za'atar, not the finished blend. See is za'atar the same as thyme or oregano? for how the two differ in the kitchen.
Is za'atar vegan?
The traditional dry blend is plant-based — herb, spice, seed and salt. Some prepared or oil-mixed versions may add other ingredients, so check the label if that matters for your menu.
Is a jar labelled just "thyme" the same product as one labelled "za'atar"?
Not necessarily — always check whether it's the loose herb or the full blend. Our own two products are named to make the distinction clear: Green Jordanian Thyme is the herb; Red Thyme (Za'atar-Style Blend) is the finished mix.