🍢 SNACK
Laboo (Persian Hot Beetroot Street Snack)
Whole beetroots boiled slowly until tender, peeled, cut into wedges and tossed hot in a glossy syrup made from their own cooking liquid, the steaming winter snack of Iranian street carts.
Iranian · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 100 min
~37 cal · 0g protein · 10g carbs · 0g fat · 0g fiber · 10g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Laboo is one of the oldest street foods in Iran. In autumn and winter, carts piled with steaming beetroots appear on city streets, the vendors calling out "laboo, laboo daagh", hot beets, over clouds of sweet-smelling steam.
The beets are boiled slowly for a long time in a big pot until they are soft all the way through. On the cart they sit stacked on skewers; when you order, the vendor cuts off as much as you want, dips it in the thick, dark red syrup that has been reduced from the cooking liquid, and hands it over wrapped in paper, too hot to hold.
At home it is made the same way, with a little sugar added to the cooking liquid as it . It is eaten hot, as a snack on a cold day.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, 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
- 1 kg (about 6) medium red beetroots, unpeeled, leaves trimmed
- 2.5 litres water, enough to cover the beets
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- 1Scrub the beetroots without breaking the skin, leaving a little of the stalk and root on so they do not bleed. Put them in a deep pot with water to cover and the salt.
- 2Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until a skewer slides into the centre with no resistance.✎ Chef’s noteBig beets take longer. Laboo should be soft all the way through, never crunchy in the middle.
- 3Lift out the beets, keeping the cooking liquid. When you can handle them, slip off the skins and cut them into thick wedges.
- 4Pour off all but about 1 cup of the dark cooking liquid, stir in the sugar and boil it for 8 to 10 minutes, until it thickens into a light syrup. Return the beet wedges and turn them in the syrup until hot and glossy. Serve at once, hot.
Iranian winter street-food tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tehran. Ghormeh sabzi is less purely Persian than its reputation suggests. The dried limes are limoo omani, developed in Oman, and ghormeh is a borrowed Ottoman Turkish word for an old method of preserving meat. What is not negotiable is dried fenugreek leaf, without which it becomes a different stew entirely.
🗺️
Iran. The best part of the rice is the bit stuck to the pan. Tahdig is the crust formed at the bottom of the pot, sometimes plain rice, sometimes lined first with potato slices or flatbread or yoghurt-loosened rice, and it is turned out and fought over. Ghormeh sabzi and fesenjan are the two khoresh to know, one green with herbs and dried lime, the other dark with walnut and pomegranate.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Iran
Ghormeh SabziIran’s beloved herb stew: mountains of sautéed greens, kidney beans, dried limes, and lamb over saffron rice.
AdasiA warming Persian lentil breakfast stew spiced with turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon.
Ash-e ReshtehOne of Iran’s best-loved thick soups: legumes and a mountain of herbs simmered with reshteh noodles, finished with tangy kashk, sizzled mint, and caramelized onion.
Browse all Iran recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.
Make it an Iran meal
SekanjabinDrink
Sholeh ZardDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Laboo (Persian Hot Beetroot Street Snack)?
Whole beetroots boiled slowly until tender, peeled, cut into wedges and tossed hot in a glossy syrup made from their own cooking liquid, the steaming winter snack of Iranian street carts.
Where does Laboo (Persian Hot Beetroot Street Snack) come from?
Laboo (Persian Hot Beetroot Street Snack) is an Iranian dish from Tehran, Iran.
Can Laboo (Persian Hot Beetroot Street Snack) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Laboo (Persian Hot Beetroot Street Snack) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Laboo (Persian Hot Beetroot Street Snack) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Laboo (Persian Hot Beetroot Street Snack) take to make?
About 110 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 100 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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