Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Tavë Kosi
Lamb and rice baked under a tangy, set yogurt-and-egg custard, Albania’s national comfort dish.
Albanian · medium · serves 5
prep 20 min · cook 60 min
~610 cal · 43g protein · 26g carbs · 36g fat · 0g fiber · 5g sugars · 18g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Tave kosi, whose name means "yogurt bake", is Albania's national dish, said to have originated in the city of Elbasan before spreading across the whole country. It is chunks of lamb (or sometimes mutton) baked under a thick custard of yogurt, eggs, and a little flour that sets in the oven into something poised between a souffle and a savoury cheesecake.
Its magic is in that topping. As it bakes, the yogurt-and-egg mixture puffs and sets golden on top while staying soft beneath, tangy from the yogurt and rich from the lamb juices that seep up into it. Rice is often scattered in to soak up the custard, and a little oregano ties it together.
It is a dish for the Sunday table and for feasts, cooked in a single earthenware tave and brought out whole to be portioned at the table. Comforting, tangy, and distinctive, it treats yogurt as a cooking ingredient rather than just a condiment.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 5
1.5 lbs lamb shoulder, cubed
1/2 cup short-grain rice
2 cups plain yogurt
3 eggs
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
Instructions
1
Brown the lamb (or mushrooms and beans) with garlic and oregano; nestle into a baking dish with the raw rice and a cup of water. Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes.
2
Make a light roux with the butter and flour; whisk it off the heat into the yogurt and eggs (or slurries) with salt.
3
Pour the custard over the lamb and rice, letting it seep through.
4
Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes until the top is set, puffed, and golden.
5
Rest 15 minutes so it firms enough to cut into squares. Serve warm with a simple salad.
Elbasan/Tirana tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tirana. Tirana bakes tave kosi, lamb and rice set under a tangy custard of yogurt and egg until it puffs golden. Albanian cooking mixes Ottoman and Mediterranean habits, with byrek pastries, peppers, olive oil, and abundant fresh dairy.
🗺️
Albania. Tave kosi is thought to come from Elbasan, which is why the same dish is called Elbasan tava in Turkey, Greece, Kosovo and North Macedonia, so Albania is best described as eating it rather than inventing it in Tirana. Lamb and rice go under a topping of kos, sheep's or goat's soured milk, bound with a butter-and-flour roux and egg so it puffs in the oven and then settles.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Albania
PetullaSoft Albanian fried dough eaten warm with honey, jam, feta, or a dusting of sugar.
FërgesëPeppers and tomato baked with soft white cheese into a rich, bubbling dish, the pride of Tirana's kitchen.
TrileçeA sponge soaked in three milks and finished with a caramel glaze, Albania's much-loved milk cake.
Browse all Albania recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Whisk.
Storing it: Keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and reheats covered in the oven. Most bakes can be assembled a day ahead and baked when needed.
Make it a Albania meal
TrileçeDessert
FërgesëLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
MoussakaGreece
Aussie Meat PieAustralia
Te Bua Toro ni BaukinKiribati
Lū PuluTonga
Rocoto RellenoPeru
Empanadas MendocinasArgentina
Frequently asked questions
What is Tavë Kosi?
Lamb and rice baked under a tangy, set yogurt-and-egg custard, Albania’s national comfort dish.
Where does Tavë Kosi come from?
Tavë Kosi is a Albanian dish from Tirana, Albania.
Can Tavë Kosi be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Tavë Kosi recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Tavë Kosi safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Tavë Kosi take to make?
About 80 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 5.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.