Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Khorovats
Armenian barbecue: marinated pork or lamb grilled over vine coals with fire-roasted vegetables.
Armenian · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 25 min
~615 cal · 50g protein · 14g carbs · 39g fat · 5g fiber · 8g sugars · 15g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Khorovats is Armenian barbecue, chunks of pork or lamb marinated and grilled over grapevine cuttings or charcoal, a ritual as much as a dish. Grilling khorovats is often the domain of men and the centerpiece of gatherings, celebrations, and weekend feasts across Armenia.
The meat is typically marinated simply, letting the smoke and the quality of the meat shine, and grilled alongside vegetables like eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes that char on the same skewers. The vine-cutting smoke lends a distinctive fragrance.
Served with lavash flatbread, fresh herbs, and grilled vegetables, khorovats is communal, festive food at the heart of Armenian hospitality.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg- and nut-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 6
2.5 lb pork shoulder or lamb, cubed
2 onion, grated (for marinade)
2 eggplant
2 bell pepper
3 tomato
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
to taste salt
3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp a splash of wine or vinegar
Instructions
1
Marinate the meat (or mushrooms and tofu) with the grated onion, paprika, pepper, oil, and wine for a few hours.
✎ Chef’s note
The grated onion is key: its juice tenderises the meat and keeps it moist over the fierce heat of the coals.
2
Thread the meat onto skewers and grill over hot coals, turning, until charred and juicy.
3
Grill the whole eggplant, peppers, and tomato until blistered all over.
4
Peel and chop the roasted vegetables into a rustic salad with salt and oil.
5
Serve the khorovats with the roasted-vegetable salad and lavash.
Yerevan tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Yerevan. Yerevan turns autumn into ghapama, a whole pumpkin stuffed with rice, dried fruit, and nuts and baked until collapsing. Armenian cooking rests on lavash bread, apricots, herbs by the handful, grilled khorovats meats, and cracked wheat.
🗺️
Armenia. The apricot carries Armenia's name in Latin, Prunus armeniaca, but genetic work points to Central Asia rather than Armenia as the centre of origin, and the name reflects the route by which the fruit reached Europe. What is not in doubt is how deep it runs here: it is the national fruit, its colour sits on the flag, and the duduk is carved from apricot wood.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Armenia
Ghapama (Stuffed Pumpkin)A whole pumpkin packed with rice, dried apricots, walnuts, and honey, baked until the shell is a spoonable bowl.
Zhingyalov HatsThin flatbread stuffed with a dozen or more chopped herbs and greens, griddled until blistered.
SpasA warming yogurt-and-wheat soup fragrant with mint and herbs, a soothing Armenian everyday bowl.
Browse all Armenia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Grill or barbecue.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Armenia meal
Ghapama (Stuffed Pumpkin)Dessert
LahmajounLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Khorovats?
Armenian barbecue: marinated pork or lamb grilled over vine coals with fire-roasted vegetables.
Where does Khorovats come from?
Khorovats is a Armenian dish from Yerevan, Armenia.
Can Khorovats be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Khorovats 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 Khorovats 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 Khorovats take to make?
About 55 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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