Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Omani Harees
The Omani wheat porridge: cracked wheat and chicken slow-simmered creamy, scented with saffron and a spiced Omani ghee.
Omani · medium · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 180 min
~455 cal · 35g protein · 42g carbs · 16g fat · 7g fiber · 2g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Harees is one of the oldest recorded dishes in the world, and the Omani version is prized for its delicate, creamy character. Wheat and chicken for hours, scented with , cinnamon and dried lime, until the grain breaks down into a silky porridge with a soft bite.
What marks the Omani style is the finish: a spiced Omani , warmed with coriander seed, cumin and dried chili, drizzled over the top with a scatter of crisp fried onions. Slow-cooked and comforting, it is a fixture of Ramadan iftars and family occasions in Muscat.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally 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 cracked wheat, soaked
1 1/2 lb chicken, bone-in pieces
4 tbsp
1 onion, chopped
6 green pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 dried black lime, pierced
1 pinch threads
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
2 dried red chili
1 onion, thinly sliced for topping
10 cups water
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Simmer the chicken with the chopped onion, cardamom, cinnamon, pierced black lime and salt in the water about 1 hour until very tender. Lift out, shred, and strain the broth.
2
Return the shredded chicken to the broth, add the drained wheat and saffron, and simmer over low heat.
3
Cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for about 1.5 hours until the wheat breaks down into a creamy porridge, adding water as needed.
✎ Chef’s note
Beat it with the spoon near the end to help the grain break down into that signature silkiness.
4
For the Omani ghee, warm the coriander seeds, cumin and dried chili in the ghee over low heat until fragrant, then strain.
5
Fry the sliced onion until crisp and golden. Ladle the harees into bowls, drizzle with the spiced ghee, and top with fried onions.
Muscat home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Muscat. The pantry reads like an Indian Ocean trade list. Cardamom, saffron and cloves go into the rice; loomi, whole limes boiled in brine and dried until they rattle, give a sour and slightly fermented note to soups and stews; and the fish is landed that morning off a coast that looks toward India rather than Arabia.
🗺️
Oman. Omani food reflects Indian Ocean trade, fragrant rice dishes, slow-cooked shuwa (spiced meat buried and roasted for a day), and dates in everything. Cardamom coffee and rosewater define its hospitable table.
🌍
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 Oman
Shuwa (Home-Oven Version)Lamb rubbed with date-dark Omani spices, wrapped in banana leaves, and roasted low until it falls apart, Eid on a platter.
SakhanaA thick, sweet Omani wheat soup of dates, date molasses and milk, made through Ramadan and eaten after the fast.
Omani MachboosFragrant spiced rice cooked with chicken, dried lime, and saffron, a cornerstone of the Omani and Gulf table.
Browse all Oman recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Oman meal
Qahwa OmaniDrink
Omani HalwaDessert
MishkakDinner
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Cuisine
Diet
Themes
Frequently asked questions
What is Omani Harees?
The Omani wheat porridge: cracked wheat and chicken slow-simmered creamy, scented with saffron and a spiced Omani ghee.
Where does Omani Harees come from?
Omani Harees is a Omani dish from Muscat, Oman.
Can Omani Harees be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Omani Harees 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 Omani Harees 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 Omani Harees take to make?
About 200 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 180 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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