Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Spas
A warming yogurt-and-wheat soup fragrant with mint and herbs, a soothing Armenian everyday bowl.
Armenian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 30 min
~243 cal · 11g protein · 30g carbs · 9g fat · 3g fiber · 13g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Spas is a traditional Armenian soup built on matsun, the country's cultured yogurt, thickened with wheat and brightened with herbs. Comforting and tangy, it is eaten year-round, warm in winter and sometimes cool in summer, and is famed as a restorative.
The yogurt is gently cooked with dzavar (cracked or shelled wheat) or barley, stabilised with a little egg or flour so it does not curdle, and finished with a generous handful of fresh or dried mint, cilantro, and sautéed onion. Silky, sour, and herbal, it is the kind of nourishing, soul-warming bowl that Armenian grandmothers swear by.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and 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 4
4 cups plain yogurt (matsun)
1 egg (to stabilize)
1/2 cup shelled wheat (dzavar) or barley
1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp fresh and dried mint
1 handful fresh cilantro
Instructions
1
Cook the wheat or barley in water until tender.
2
Whisk the yogurt with the egg and a ladle of warm liquid, then stir into the pot.
✎ Chef’s note
Temper the yogurt with warm liquid and keep the soup below a hard boil once it is in, stirring constantly, so it stays smooth and never curdles.
3
Cook gently, stirring constantly in one direction, until slightly thickened and hot.
4
Stir in sautéed onion and plenty of mint and cilantro, and serve warm.
Armenian home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Yerevan. Ghapama is festive before it is seasonal, made mostly for New Year's Eve and the run up to Armenian Christmas on 6 January. The name means cooked in a covered pot, the pumpkin's own top goes back on as the lid, and the dish is loved enough to have a folk song attached to it.
🗺️
Armenia. Armenian food is among the world's oldest, built on lavash bread, grilled meats (khorovats), bulgur, and an abundance of herbs and fruit. Ancient, generous, and preservation-savvy, it centers the family feast.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
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.
KhorovatsArmenian barbecue: marinated pork or lamb grilled over vine coals with fire-roasted vegetables.
Zhingyalov HatsThin flatbread stuffed with a dozen or more chopped herbs and greens, griddled until blistered.
Browse all Armenia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Armenia meal
Ghapama (Stuffed Pumpkin)Dessert
KhorovatsDinner
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Spas?
A warming yogurt-and-wheat soup fragrant with mint and herbs, a soothing Armenian everyday bowl.
Where does Spas come from?
Spas is a Armenian dish from Yerevan, Armenia.
Can Spas be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Spas 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 Spas 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 Spas take to make?
About 45 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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