Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Gabout
Kuwaiti stuffed dough dumplings filled with spiced lamb, simmered in a golden saffron and dried-lime broth with vegetables.
Kuwaiti · advanced · serves 6
prep 45 min · cook 60 min
~361 cal · 17g protein · 43g carbs · 13g fat · 3g fiber · 3g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
Gabout are Kuwait answer to the dumpling: rounds of dough folded around spiced minced lamb and simmered gently in a golden broth perfumed with , turmeric and dried lime. The broth, thick with potato, carrot and tomato, is prized as much as the dumplings it carries.
Both soup and main course at once, gabout is winter and family-table food, the kind a Kuwaiti grandmother makes when the household needs gathering. It reflects the old Gulf dumpling tradition that runs along the coast from Basra to Muscat.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, 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 cups all-purpose flour
10 oz ground lamb
1 small onion, grated
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 dried black lime, pierced
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 pinch threads
1 potato, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 tomato, chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cups water
to taste salt
to garnish cilantro
Instructions
1
Make a soft dough from the flour, a little salt and warm water. Knead until smooth, cover, and rest 20 minutes.
2
Mix the lamb with the grated onion, allspice, cinnamon and a little salt for the filling.
3
Soften the diced onion base in oil with the turmeric, add the tomato, pierced black limes, saffron and water, and bring to a simmer. Add the potato and carrot.
✎ Chef’s note
Bloom the saffron in a spoon of the hot broth first so its colour spreads evenly.
4
Roll the dough thin and cut into rounds. Place a little filling in each, fold into half-moons, and press the edges to seal.
5
Drop the dumplings into the gently simmering broth and cook 10 to 12 minutes until the dough is cooked through and they float.
6
Season the broth, ladle dumplings and vegetables into bowls, and finish with cilantro.
Kuwaiti home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kuwait City. Kuwait City pairs Gulf prawns with spiced rice in machboos, built on the local bezar blend and dried lime. Its kitchen shows Persian and Indian trade in saffron, rosewater, and the crisp-bottomed rice served at family gatherings.
🗺️
Kuwait. The Kuwaiti signature within the machboos family is the prawn version, machboos rubyan, because Gulf shrimp were landed here in quantity long before oil. The dried black lime is pricked with a fork before it goes into the pot so its sourness can leach out, and bzar, the local spice blend, does the rest.
🌍
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 Kuwait
MurabyanSpiced Gulf shrimp folded through rice cooked in their fragrant broth, layered with dill and dried lime.
KhameerSoft, lightly sweet date-and-cardamom yeast breads, griddled and eaten with cream or cheese.
Mutabbaq SamakSpiced fish served over caramelized-onion rice with dried lime, a classic Kuwaiti and Gulf seafood dish.
Browse all Kuwait recipes →
Good to know
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 Kuwait meal
Gers OgailyDessert
Mutabbaq SamakLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Gabout?
Kuwaiti stuffed dough dumplings filled with spiced lamb, simmered in a golden saffron and dried-lime broth with vegetables.
Where does Gabout come from?
Gabout is a Kuwaiti dish from Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Can Gabout be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Gabout 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 Gabout 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 Gabout take to make?
About 105 minutes total (45 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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