Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry)
Crisp deep-fried half-moon pastries filled with minced mutton, onion, and garlic, the taste of the Naadam festival.
Mongolian · medium · serves 4
prep 45 min · cook 20 min
~767 cal · 38g protein · 77g carbs · 32g fat · 3g fiber · 2g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Khuushuur is Mongolia's fried meat pastry, the same simple flour-and-water dough and minced-meat filling as buuz but rolled into a thin round, folded into a half-moon, sealed, and deep-fried until the crust blisters golden and crisp. Mutton or lamb is traditional, with beef common in the cities.
Khuushuur is the food of Naadam, the summer festival of wrestling, horse racing, and archery held across the country each July, where vendors fry them by the dozen at stalls on the festival grounds. Some make a larger, thinner, extra-crisp version for the crowds.
The seasoning stays minimal, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper, letting the meat and its rendered fat carry the flavor, so a good amount of fat in the filling is what keeps it juicy inside the crackling shell. They are eaten hot, often with a simple cabbage salad or pickles.
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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 4
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt (for dough)
about 1 cup warm water
1 lb minced mutton or fatty lamb (or beef)
1 large onion, very finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, grated
1.5 tsp salt (for filling)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp cold water (for the filling)
3 cups sunflower (or other neutral) oil, for deep-frying
Instructions
1
Make the dough: mix the flour and salt, add the warm water gradually, and knead 8 minutes into a firm, smooth dough. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
2
Mix the filling: combine the mutton, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper, then work in the cold water for a couple of minutes until sticky and cohesive.
✎ Chef’s note
Use fatty meat rather than very lean; the rendered fat is what keeps khuushuur juicy, and finely chopped onion softens before the crust over-browns.
3
Divide the dough into pieces and roll each into a thin round about 6 inches across, keeping the center slightly thicker than the edge.
4
Place a spoonful of filling on one half, leaving a border, fold the dough over into a half-moon, and press the edge firmly to force out air.
✎ Chef’s note
Seal the rim thoroughly, pinching or crimping it, so the meat juices do not leak into the hot oil.
5
Heat the oil to about 350F/175C, deep enough for the pastries to float.
6
Fry 2-3 at a time for 3-4 minutes per side, turning once, until deep golden and crisp; do not crowd the pan or the oil cools and they turn greasy.
7
Drain on a rack and serve hot, with a cabbage salad or pickles.
Mongolian Naadam festival street food.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Ulaanbaatar. Dairy carries the year rather than the day. Milk from mares, cows, camels and yaks is soured, dried into rock-hard aaruul curds that keep for months, or fermented into airag, and salted milk tea is the default drink, poured before anything at all is discussed.
🗺️
Mongolia. Meat is cooked with hot stones as often as with fire. Khorkhog puts mutton and river stones together in a sealed metal churn; boodog cooks the animal from the inside, stones packed into the cavity. Buuz, the steamed dumplings, belong above all to Tsagaan Sar, the lunar new year, when households make them by the hundred and stack them for arriving guests.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mongolia
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.
BuuzJuicy steamed dumplings of minced mutton and onion, the dumpling Mongolia eats by the dozen, above all at Tsagaan Sar.
Browse all Mongolia recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Mongolia meal
Suutei TsaiDrink
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Guriltai Shul (Mutton Noodle Soup)Dinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry)?
Crisp deep-fried half-moon pastries filled with minced mutton, onion, and garlic, the taste of the Naadam festival.
Where does Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry) come from?
Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry) is a Mongolian dish from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Can Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry) 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 Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry) 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 Khuushuur (Fried Meat Pastry) take to make?
About 65 minutes total (45 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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