Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Buuz
Juicy steamed dumplings of minced mutton and onion, the dumpling Mongolia eats by the dozen, above all at Tsagaan Sar.
Mongolian · medium · serves 4
prep 45 min · cook 20 min
~877 cal · 58g protein · 81g carbs · 34g fat · 4g fiber · 4g sugars · 15g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Buuz are Mongolia's beloved steamed dumplings, eaten year-round but central above all to Tsagaan Sar, the lunar new year, when families make and freeze them by the hundreds to welcome a stream of guests. Counting how many you can eat is part of the fun.
A simple flour dough is wrapped around a filling of minced mutton or beef seasoned simply with onion, garlic, and plenty of pepper, pleated closed with a small opening on top, and steamed until juicy. The reward is the burst of hot, fatty broth inside, so they are eaten carefully, and traditionally with the hands.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, egg-, 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
3 cups flour
1 1/2 lb minced mutton or beef
3 oz sheep tail fat (or simply use fatty minced mutton)
2 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
Instructions
1
Make a firm dough with the flour, salt, and water and rest.
2
Mix the meat and chopped fat with the onion, garlic, caraway, pepper, salt, and a little cold water so it stays juicy.
✎ Chef’s note
The fat is not optional in a real buuz. Mongolians prize fatty meat and add sheep tail fat on top of it; along with a splash of cold water, it is what becomes the burst of broth inside each steamed dumpling.
3
Roll thick dough circles, add filling, and pleat closed leaving a small hole on top.
4
Steam over high heat until the filling is cooked and juicy, about 15 minutes.
Mongolian Tsagaan Sar tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Ulaanbaatar. Buuz get counted in the hundreds. Families fold them in batches ahead of Tsagaan Sar, the lunar new year, and set them outside where the weather does a freezer's work, then steam them for every guest through the holiday beside a built-up tower of fried biscuits.
🗺️
Mongolia. The dairy has names and seasons. Suutei tsai is tea boiled with milk and salt and drunk all day; aaruul is curd dried hard on the roof of the ger and kept for months; airag is fermented mare's milk, mildly alcoholic and made in summer when the mares are in milk. The white foods are treated as a category of their own.
🌍
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 Mongolia
Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry)Crisp deep-fried half-moon pastries filled with minced mutton, onion, and garlic, the taste of the Naadam festival.
TsuivanSteppe-style fried noodles steamed over a mutton and vegetable braise, Mongolia’s one-pan answer to a cold night.
BoortsogSimple fried dough biscuits eaten with milky, lightly salted tea across the Mongolian steppe.
Browse all Mongolia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer.
Storing it: Uncooked parcels freeze well and cook from frozen. Cooked ones keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and steam or pan-warm to serve.
Make it a Mongolia meal
Suutei TsaiDrink
Khailmag (Caramelized Clotted Cream)Dessert
Guriltai Shul (Mutton Noodle Soup)Dinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Buuz?
Juicy steamed dumplings of minced mutton and onion, the dumpling Mongolia eats by the dozen, above all at Tsagaan Sar.
Where does Buuz come from?
Buuz is a Mongolian dish from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Can Buuz be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Buuz 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 Buuz 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 Buuz take to make?
About 65 minutes total (45 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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