Entries Tagged as 'Lebanese'

spiced Lebanese rice with mince lamb

We are huge foodies in this house.  We LOVE to eat!  And we love to cook.  If you’ve been following this blog you’ll know that we were doing a huge house renovation project which meant we haven’t had a kitchen for six months!  But we do now and we’ve haven’t stopped cooking since.  I am all for experiencing and eating different foods, foods from around the world but also food that is family friendly.  In the past, I’ve often ended up cooking two meals in an evening – one for Anya and one for Richard and me.  That just takes the joy out of cooking and it starts to feel like a chore.  So I keep looking for new ideas and flavours that will feed us all and I thought I would share some of my favourties here too.

Even though Anya is a fussy eater, I’ve slowly been introducing her to new flavours and tastes and today I wanted to share my version of this delicious spiced Lebanese rice with mince lamb recipe.  This recipe has lots of spices which are exactly what gives this rice dish so much flavour but these spices are in no way spicy.  What’s more, this Lebanese rice is a one pot meal making it a convenient and quick mid-week meal without compromising on flavour.

lebanese rice with minced meat

Spiced Lebanese rice with minced lamb recipe:

Serves: 4
Ingredients:
500 gms minced lamb (I prefer 10% fat but up to 20% is fine)
basmati rice*
1 medium onion
¾ tsp all spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 black cardamom pods (or ½ tsp ground cardamom)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground clove
¼ tsp ground cumin
beef or chicken stock
1 tbs olive oil
large knob of butter
couple of handfuls of frozen peas
handful of coriander (optional)
*I measure my rice in a measuring jug so I know exactly how much liquid to add.  I put in rice up to the 300ml mark and then I put in a little over double the amount of water/stock – around 700-750ml.

lebanese rice with mince

Start by finely chopping the onion.  Then measure out your spices and keep them aside.

Next heat the olive oil in a fairly deep pan and add the chopped onions.  Stir the onions until they soften and turn a very light brown.  Add in the minced lamb to brown making sure that any clumps of meat are broken down.  (These steps can be done a few hours in advance so I usually do this in the afternoon making the dish even quicker to put together at dinner time.)

If you’ve browned the lamb mince in advance, just heat it up first.  Add the knob of butter and once melted throw in all your spices and really mix it well so that they are spread through the lamb.  Add the rice and peas and give it all another very good mix.  Add your hot stock, bring to the boil and let it all boil for a minute or two, turn down heat to low, cover and simmer for around 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on the rice as it’s done once the water has all evaporated.  But make sure all the water has gone and it’s dry – if the rice is even a little wet it will be soggy and not as enjoyable.  Often the rice at the bottom of the pan will burn a bit which makes that rice go crispy – this is the best bit of the dish so don’t throw it away, eat it!

minced lamb recipes for kids

I like to garnish with chopped coriander but that’s not essential.  I usually have this with a simple red onion salad.  Just thinly sliced red onions, sliced cucumbers and chopped coriander mixed together with a bit of salt, pepper and a ¾ teaspoon of vinegar.

lebanese minced lamb recipes

This spiced Lebanese rice with mince lamb is a yummy little dish.  If you give it a go, it may just become a weekly favourite as it’s become in our home.  And the best bit is that not only is it a quick mid-week family dinner to put together, but you also have everything in one pot.  This quantity comfortably feeds the three of us leaving a good amount leftover and this rice dish tastes even more delicious the next day.

lebanese rice with mince by ebabee

P.S. If you want some more inspiration for tasty and easy mid-week family meals, take a look at my soba noodles recipe and my cheesy quesadillas.

*I’ve linked up to Honest Mum’s tasty Tuesday’s.

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