Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Iraqi Quzi
The Iraqi feast dish: spice-braised then roasted lamb piled on saffron rice and showered with toasted nuts and raisins.
Iraqi · advanced · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 180 min
~861 cal · 47g protein · 72g carbs · 43g fat · 4g fiber · 10g sugars · 16g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Quzi is the grand celebration dish of Iraq, brought out for Eid, weddings and honoured guests. Lamb is gently boiled with whole spices, cinnamon, , bay and dried black lime, until fall-apart tender, then roasted hot so the edges crisp.
The reserved broth cooks the rice, staining it gold with turmeric and , and the whole thing is mounded on a platter and scattered with -toasted almonds, pine nuts and plump raisins. Traditionally a whole stuffed lamb, most Baghdad homes now serve it as tender pieces over rice.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, egg- 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 6
2 lb bone-in lamb shoulder, in pieces
2 cups basmati rice
3 tbsp
1 large onion, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
5 green pods
2 bay leaves
2 dried black lime, pierced
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground allspice
1/3 cup slivered almonds
2 tbsp pine nuts
1/3 cup golden raisins
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Cover the lamb with water and bring to a boil, skimming the foam. Add the onion, cinnamon, cardamom, bay, black lime, allspice and salt, then simmer covered 90 minutes until tender.
2
Lift the lamb into a roasting tray, spoon over a little broth, and roast at 425F for 15 to 20 minutes until the edges brown and crisp.
✎ Chef’s note
Skimming the foam early is what keeps the broth and the finished rice clean-tasting.
3
Strain the broth and measure it for the rice. Cook the rinsed rice with the turmeric and 3 cups of the seasoned broth until fluffy, then rest 10 minutes.
4
Toast the almonds and pine nuts in the ghee until golden, add the raisins for a minute until they swell.
5
Spread the rice on a platter, top with the roasted lamb, and shower with the toasted nuts and raisins. Serve hot.
Iraqi celebration table.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Baghdad. Masgouf is cooked standing up. The carp is split down the back, salted, staked on a frame around a wood fire with the open side to the flames for close to an hour, then laid flat on the embers to finish. The riverside strip at Abu Nuwas is where Baghdadis go for it.
🗺️
Iraq. Iraqi cooking descends from ancient Mesopotamia, famous for masgouf grilled river fish, dolma, and slow-cooked stews over rice. Dates, tamarind, and dried lime lend a distinctive sweet-and-sour depth.
🌍
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 Iraq
Iraqi DolmaVine leaves and vegetables stuffed with tomato-and-pomegranate rice, packed tight and steamed until sweet-sour and tender.
Kahi with GeymarFlaky layered pastry baked crisp, soaked in syrup, and topped with rich clotted geymar cream.
MasgoufButterflied river fish marinated and slow-grilled over open flame, Iraq's national dish and the pride of Baghdad.
Browse all Iraq recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Iraq meal
Iraqi ChaiDrink
KleichaDessert
MasgoufLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Iraqi Quzi?
The Iraqi feast dish: spice-braised then roasted lamb piled on saffron rice and showered with toasted nuts and raisins.
Where does Iraqi Quzi come from?
Iraqi Quzi is a Iraqi dish from Baghdad, Iraq.
Can Iraqi Quzi be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Iraqi Quzi 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 Iraqi Quzi 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 Iraqi Quzi take to make?
About 210 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 180 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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