Persian green bean rice with spiced lamb — a beloved family dish.
Loobia Polo is one of Persian cuisine's most popular everyday dishes — a fragrant rice layered with green beans and spiced ground lamb or beef, scented with cinnamon and turmeric. It is simpler than many Persian rice dishes but deeply satisfying, with the golden tahdig crust making every serving special. A weeknight staple in Iranian homes.
Serves 6
Brown onion in oil. Add meat and cook until browned. Add turmeric, cinnamon, pepper, and tomato paste. Cook 5 minutes. Add green beans and cook 10 more minutes.
Parboil basmati in salted water 6 minutes. Drain.
In a buttered pot, layer rice alternating with meat and bean mixture. Make holes for steam, add saffron water. Cook covered with towel-wrapped lid: 5 minutes high, 45 minutes low.
Flip onto platter to reveal golden tahdig. Serve with yogurt and salad.
Undercook the green beans slightly — they'll finish in the rice.
Use a non-stick pot for the best tahdig.
Add kidney beans for extra protein.
Make vegetarian by substituting meat with mushrooms.
Refrigerate up to 3 days.
Loobia Polo is a weekly fixture in Iranian family cooking — simple enough for weeknights, delicious enough for company.
Fresh or frozen give much better texture. Canned beans will become too soft.
Per serving (450g) · 6 servings total
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