What is Ghormeh Sabzi?

Iran’s beloved herb stew: mountains of sautéed greens, kidney beans, dried limes, and lamb over saffron rice.

Where does Ghormeh Sabzi come from?

Ghormeh Sabzi is a Persian dish from Tehran, Iran.

Can Ghormeh Sabzi be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Ghormeh Sabzi 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 Ghormeh Sabzi take to make?

About 150 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 120 minutes cooking), serving 5.

Ghormeh Sabzi — a Tehran, Iran recipe

Name: Ghormeh Sabzi
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Persian
Ingredients: 1 lb lamb or beef stew meat; 6 cups total parsley + cilantro + chives (or scallion tops), finely chopped; 2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves; 1.5 cups kidney beans, cooked; 4 dried limes (limoo amani), pierced; 1 large onion, diced; 1.5 tsp turmeric; 1/3 cup neutral oil; for 5 saffron basmati rice, to serve

Asia → 🇮🇷 Iran → Tehran

Ghormeh Sabzi

Persian · medium · serves 5

prep 30 min · cook 120 min

~560 cal · 36g protein · 39g carbs · 29g fat (estimated, per serving)

🍽️

Dark green herb stew with kidney beans and dried limes over rice

🇮🇷 Tehran

Ask Iranians for their national dish and most will say ghormeh sabzi — a stew that is mostly herbs, cooked dark and deep, soured with limoo amani (dried limes). Tehran households simmer it for hours and judge each other kindly but firmly on the color.

Sign in to save recipes to your book and leave reviews.

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 5 —

•

1 lb lamb or beef stew meat

•

6 cups total parsley + cilantro + chives (or scallion tops), finely chopped

•

2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves

•

1.5 cups kidney beans, cooked

•

4 dried limes (limoo amani), pierced

•

1 large onion, diced

•

1.5 tsp turmeric

•

1/3 cup neutral oil

•

for 5 saffron basmati rice, to serve

Instructions

1

Fry the onion golden with the turmeric; brown the meat (or mushrooms) in it.

2

In a separate dry pan, sauté the chopped herbs and fenugreek over medium heat 15 minutes, stirring, until deep forest-green and fragrant — this step decides everything.

3

Combine meat, herbs, and 4 cups water. Simmer, covered, 90 minutes.

4

Add the beans and pierced dried limes; simmer 30 more, pressing the limes now and then to release their sour depth.

5

Season and serve over saffron rice — ideally with crisp tahdig from the rice pot’s bottom.

Tehran home-kitchen standard.

Ratings & reviews

Sign in to rate this recipe once you’ve cooked it.

No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Tehran. A capital that judges cooks by their ghormeh sabzi.

🗺️

Iran. Persian kitchens of herbs, saffron, and dried limes.

🌍

Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.

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 →