This Middle Eastern Lamb and Lentil Rice Pilaf is so aromatic that if you close your eyes you’ll be instantly transported to a spice market somewhere in the desert. With a surprising amount of greens “hidden” in the pilaf, this is a complete meal made in one pot with an “A” Grade nutrition rating. Just 10 minutes of active effort, a fabulous midweek meal to add to your rotation!
Wikipedia says “A Pilaf is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth.” That’s exactly what this dish is. Lamb mince and spinach cooked with rice seasoned with Middle Eastern spices. Hence it’s name – Middle Eastern Lamb and Lentil Rice Pilaf. I’ve repeatedly professed my love for Middle Eastern food. It’s the spices that does it for me. I find the smell and flavour of Middle Eastern spices irresistible. If you have a stash of cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, cardamon and cinnamon, you’ll have the flavourings for the majority of Middle Eastern dishes.
You’ll be surprised at the quantity of greens “hidden” in this pilaf. There are 6 cups of silverbeet (chard) – packed cups! It looks like a huge mound when you chop it but it wilts significantly, as you can see in the photo above. I alternate between spinach and silverbeet in this recipe depending on price as they can vary quite a lot. You’ll need 1 1/2 to 2 bunches of spinach, or about 1/2 – 3/4 a bunch of silverbeet (leaves only).
Even with that much silverbeet, my Middle Eastern Lamb and Lentil Rice Pilaf itself only has a Nutrition Grade rating of “B” (I ran it through a Nutritional Analysis). The challenge I find with coming up with fresh ideas for one pot meals is making sure that they are a complete meal. To me, a complete meal is one with a Nutrition Grade rating of A. So if you serve this with a few juicy slices of tomato (just plain, no dressing), it brings it up to A. This pilaf is so aromatic that plain slices of tomato are the perfect accompaniment to bring a burst of freshness to this meal.
Food Geek Stuff: This is the section where I prattle on about logic for why I do things a certain way, what works and what doesn’t. It’s kind of sharing my lessons learned from all the attempts and failures making this over the years. Those that aren’t interested can skip right over it and get to the recipe!
a) Silverbeet (chard) – I made this one using silverbeet because that’s what I had. Silverbeet leaves are thicker than spinach so the steps are slightly different. My preference is to tear the green leaves off the white stems because the stems take longer to cook and you’ll end up with slightly crunchy bits in the pilaf. If you don’t mind that, then include the stem but I recommend slicing it finely. Silverbeet cooked with the rice tends to turn brown.
So to keep the colour of this dish more appealing, I only cook half the silverbeet with the rice, then I add the other half while the rice is resting – just spread it over the top of the rice and clamp the lid back on. The residual heat wilts the spinach while the rice is resting, then stir it through. Why only half? Because silverbeet has thicker leaves than spinach and when I tried “steaming” all of it using the residual heat, it did not wilt very much.
b) Spinach – spinach leaves are more delicate than silverbeet, so it is best added after the rice has cooked otherwise it wilts so much that it almost disappears and also turns a bit brownish. So when using spinach, I add all of it to the resting rice.
c) Water quantity – when making pilaf, you need to get the water quantity right because different meats and vegetables absorb and release different quantities of liquid. To cook plain rice, typically the ratio is 1 cup of rice to 1 1/2 cups of water. In this recipe, when you pour the water in with the rice, meat, lentils and silverbeet, it will probably look like there is not enough water. But the silverbeet and lentils cooked with the rice releases a bit of water, plus the silverbeet (or spinach) that is added to the resting rice releases a small amount of liquid as well which is absorbed. So the combination of these factors contribute to the liquid content to produce a perfectly al dente rice pilaf.
d) Adding more vegetables – if you want to add more vegetables, you need to take into account the effect of watery vegetables on the water to rice ratio. Too much liquid will result in overcooked rice which is sticky and gluggy. For example, peas and carrots will not release nor absorb (much) liquid so no adjustment is required. They can simply be added when you add the rice.
But zucchinis, eggplants and capsicums (bell peppers) have a high water content. So if you want to add vegetables with a high water content to this recipe, you need to sauté them separately, then set aside to add later when you are adding the rice. The reason you have to sauté them separately is because with the quantity of ingredients already in this recipe, adding more vegetables will crowd the pan and you’ll end up “stewing” everything instead of sautéing it. Who here likes stewed mince? Not me!
e) Other meats – this dish is just as fabulous made with beef mince (ground beef). Lamb is best because the flavour of lamb is quite strong which goes well with these aromatic spices. The strength of the spice flavour is the reason why I don’t think chicken mince is suitable because you just won’t taste any chicken at all!
f) Vegetarian – yes, this dish is great to make into a vegetarian dish. Substitute the lamb with more vegetables (follow d) above) or just omit altogether. Great vegetables to add are: grated or diced carrot, zucchini and eggplant.
OK, enough with the foodie geek stuff! Here’s the recipe. It serves 4 normal servings or 5 smaller servings. Love to hear if you try it and what you think! I always love getting feedback (constructive criticism is always welcome :)).
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Middle Eastern Lamb and Lentil Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
- 400 g / 13 oz mince/ground lamb
- 1 onion , diced (brown, white or yellow)
- 6 cups (loosely packed) spinach or silverbeet/chard, roughly shredded
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tin lentils , drained (400g/14oz) (Note 6)
- 1 cup rice , preferably basmati (see notes)
- 1 1/2 cups water (see notes)
Spice Mix
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder , or cayenne pepper or other hot chilli powder (not American Chilli Powder) (optional)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
To Serve
- 3 tomatoes , sliced thickly
- Fried Asian Shallots (Scallions) (optional - see notes)
- Parsley leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
- Add garlic and onion. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and translucent.
- Turn up heat to high and add lamb. Use spatula to break mince up and cook until browned.
- Add Spice Mix and cook for 30 seconds until spices are fragrant and mixed through the mince.
- If using silverbeet/chard, add half the silverbeet into the pan and sauté for 15 seconds until starting to wilt. (If using spinach, do not add any at this stage).
- Add rice, water and lentils and stir. Bring to simmer, then put lid on and turn down heat to medium low.
- Cook for 10 to 12 minutes until water is absorbed.
- Remove pot from heat, take lid off and quickly spread the remaining silverbeet or all the spinach on top of the rice, then put the lid back on.
- Rest rice for 10 minutes. Remove lid, stir through silverbeet/spinach and fluff up the rice.
- Spoon rice into serving dish, top with Fried Asian Shallots and parsley if desired. Serve the sliced tomatoes on the side.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Well impressed.
I used ground coriander seed as I think that was what was called for – Australia. If it was supposed to be leaves, please let me know but the ground seeds were great.
My Miss 8 thought it was delicious. She won’t go anywhere near 🌶️ or coriander, turns her nose up a silverbeet of late, and has never had lamb mince. I also found it delicious even though I can’t stand cinnamon in meat.
This is clearly a miracle dish 😁. Thank you ❤️
An outright winner in our house. My teenage son CONSTANTLY nags me to make this for dinner! Think he might be addicted to the fried shallots too.
What a delicious meal this was. I live the combination of lentil, rice and mince and the spices took it to a lovely level of warmth and comfort.
Made this tonight with beef mince and spinach and added a lonely grated carrot, so easy and full of flavour.
I forgot to add thank goodness for your notes about looking like there is not enough water, otherwise I would have definitely ruined it by panicking and adding a lot more warer.
Made this today, it was soo good! Usually the Lebanese half boil the lentils and use the lentil stock to cook the rice in, you get the nutrients from the lentils this way too. I also substituted the rice for burgal and turned out👌
Hi Nagi, do you think I could directly substitute frozen spinach in this dish, if I defrost and squeeze out the water?
Love your site – your gozleme recipe is my go to (and where the other 100g of minced lamb will be going!).
I made this tonight for dinner and it was AMAZING! No joke my whole family loved it. Thanks for a great recipe that I will be making often 🙂
Made this and it was divine!! Love all your recipes Nagi! I also was gifted your book for christmas (joy!!) so planning to work my way through it this year!
The first time I had this, I knew I was going to need to eat it again that week. I crave this ALL the time. Everyone I have made this for loves it. I serve it with my take on tabbouleh. So good. You make my life so much better Nagi! Thank you!!!
Big Nagi fan! 😀
I am going to attempt this tonight but with brown rice. I think I will par boil the rice so that it is half cooked before I add it to this recipe… do you think this will be sufficient? Trying to save myself a trip to the shops just for rice… :-p
Rita, did this work with brown rice? I would love to know! 🙂 although… seeing as you posted this comment two years ago, I can’t blame you if you don’t remember haha!!
Very good! Surprisingly quick meal but flavorful. I did just use 1lb of lamb. Next time, will try the lentils.
Love this! It’s one of my stand by options when I want something quick and healthy. We often have it vegetarian and put a side of your veggies with tahini
Cooked this tonight. Super easy and super tasty 😋
hi Nagi..could you cook this with brown/Doongara rice instead of white? would i need to add more water?
thanks
I used combination brown and white rice and just added a bit more liquid and it worked!
Hi, this recipe wont work as written with brown sorry (the cook tie and liquid ratio will change) N x
thanks anyway 🙂 will make a trip to get some white rice soon as i still want to try it!
Have you any meal plan’s for people with kidney disease ?
Hi Louis, I’m not a dietician so I don’t plan meals based on certain ailments. I’m sure there are some recipes here that could be tailored to suit your needs though! N x
I am in the process if making….bt i just learnt that i dont have to serve right away so now what should i do about the spinich? Right now its 4 30 and i have to serve it by 7 =(
Love it! Added toasted pine nuts and served it with Greek yoghurt. Very tasty and simple
YUUUUM! Sounds divine Cherie!
Just made this as we had some random lamb mince in the fridge – a quick search on Recipe Tin and 20 minutes later we had dinner on the table!!
This is a deceptively simple dish that is AMAZING!! You are definitely the best internet chef and I’m so glad I stumbled across this recipe as I’d never made pilaf before and never realised how easy it was! Thank you!
Wahoo! That’s great Caroline!
Nagi – we love all of your recipes! I have two questions about this one: I will be using lentils from my pantry – should I use green, brown, or red? Also, could you tell me how much dried lentils to use?
Hi Ruth, I typically use brown, you’ll need about 125g of dried to equal one can. – N x
Best dish everrr! I never liked cooking until I found your blog. Now I’m obsessed haha. I added 1 beef stock cube when I added the water for flavour, and I used brown basmati rice so it took 40 minutes as you said. Thank you again!
That’s wonderful Perna!
Made this for the family tonight and it was a hit. It’s easy to follow and super delicious. Thanks Nagi. Your recipe never fails to impress.