A firm barley-flour dome served in a spiced lamb-and-tomato sauce with a hard-boiled egg.

Where does Bazin come from?

Bazin is a Libyan dish from Tripoli, Libya.

Can Bazin be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Bazin recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Bazin take to make?

About 90 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 70 minutes cooking), serving 6.

Bazin — a Tripoli, Libya recipe

Name: Bazin
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Libyan
Ingredients: 3 cups barley flour; 1.5 lb lamb, cubed; 4 eggs, hard-boiled; 3 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tsp fenugreek; 1 tsp turmeric; 1 onion; 4 cloves garlic; 1 tsp dried chili

Africa → 🇱🇾 Libya → Tripoli

Bazin

Libyan · medium · serves 6

prep 20 min · cook 70 min

~615 cal · 41g protein · 61g carbs · 23g fat (estimated, per serving)

🍽️

Smooth barley-dough dome in a red lamb sauce with egg

🇱🇾 Tripoli

Bazin is a Libyan classic and comfort food: a stiff dough of barley flour cooked and shaped into a smooth dome, set in a deep dish of richly spiced lamb-and-tomato sauce. Traditionally eaten communally by hand, torn pieces of the dense bazin are dipped into the fenugreek-scented sauce around the shared plate.

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Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 6 —

•

3 cups barley flour

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1.5 lb lamb, cubed

•

4 eggs, hard-boiled

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3 tbsp tomato paste

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1 tsp fenugreek

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1 tsp turmeric

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1 onion

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4 cloves garlic

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1 tsp dried chili

Instructions

1

Brown the lamb (or chickpeas) with the onion and garlic, add the tomato paste, fenugreek, turmeric, and chili, and simmer with water into a rich sauce.

2

Bring salted water to a boil and rain in the barley flour, stirring hard.

3

Cook the stiff dough, kneading it in the pot, until smooth, then shape into a dome.

4

Set the dome in a dish and surround with the sauce and hard-boiled eggs (or extra potato).

5

Serve communally, tearing pieces of bazin to dip in the sauce.

Tripoli tradition.

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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Tripoli. Where Ramadan nights open with mint-sharp shorba.

🗺️

Libya. Mediterranean shores with Saharan depth.

🌍

Africa. Fifty-four countries of tagines, stews, and fire-kissed grills.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →