Wheat berries and meat pounded together over long cooking into a smooth, comforting porridge.

Where does Harees come from?

Harees is a Qatari dish from Doha, Qatar.

Can Harees be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Harees 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 Harees take to make?

About 195 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 180 minutes cooking), serving 6.

Harees — a Doha, Qatar recipe

Name: Harees
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 195 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Qatari
Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat berries (harees wheat), soaked overnight; 2 lb bone-in chicken or lamb; 3 tbsp ghee, to finish; 1 tsp cinnamon; to taste salt; 8 cups water

Asia → 🇶🇦 Qatar → Doha

Harees

Qatari · medium · serves 6

prep 15 min · cook 180 min

~310 cal · 38g protein · 0g carbs · 16g fat (estimated, per serving)

🍽️

Smooth pale wheat-and-meat porridge topped with melted ghee

🇶🇦 Doha

Harees is treasured across the Gulf and especially at Qatari gatherings during Ramadan and weddings, when huge pots are cooked overnight. Whole wheat and meat simmer for hours, then are beaten until they melt into one another — a plain, soothing porridge finished with a slick of ghee and a dust of cinnamon.

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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 6 —

•

2 cups whole wheat berries (harees wheat), soaked overnight

•

2 lb bone-in chicken or lamb

•

3 tbsp ghee, to finish

•

1 tsp cinnamon

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to taste salt

•

8 cups water

Instructions

1

Simmer the wheat (or rice) and meat (or chickpeas) together in the water with salt for 2–3 hours until everything is very soft.

2

Lift out any bones and shred the meat back into the pot.

3

Beat the mixture hard with a wooden mallet or whisk until it turns smooth and creamy.

4

Adjust the salt and loosen with hot water if needed.

5

Serve topped with melted ghee (or oil) and a dust of cinnamon.

Doha tradition.

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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Doha. A gleaming bay city that treasures slow-pounded harees.

🗺️

Qatar. A peninsula where slow wheat-and-meat porridge is prized.

🌍

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 →