Ash-e reshteh is Iran's beloved thick noodle soup loaded with legumes, spinach, and fresh herbs, finished with caramelised onion, turmeric, and sour kashk — served on Nowruz and at times of prayer.
Ash-e reshteh (آش رشته) is the most culturally significant soup in Persian cuisine — a thick, warming, deeply herby pot that has been made in Iran for centuries, especially at Nowruz (Persian New Year), during the month of Ramadan, and when a family member is undertaking a journey, as the reshteh (noodles) symbolise the threads of fate that lead the traveller safely home. The soup is built on a base of three types of legumes — chickpeas, kidney beans, and lentils — cooked until tender, then given body by thick hand-stretched noodles (reshteh), and made vivid green by enormous quantities of fresh parsley, coriander, spinach, spring onions, and dried fenugreek leaves (shanbalileh). The three-part topping is what elevates the soup from good to transcendent: crispy fried onions in turmeric, kashk (a thick fermented whey, intensely sour), and mint oil fried in butter. Each topping is added separately, swirled into the bowl at the table, so every spoonful has a different ratio of sour, crispy, herby, and earthy.
Serves 6
Drain soaked chickpeas and kidney beans. Cover with fresh cold water in a large pot, bring to a boil, and cook for 40 minutes until nearly tender. Add lentils and cook 20 more minutes. Season with salt in the last 10 minutes.
In a separate pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and fry half the sliced onion until golden. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric and fry 1 more minute. Add this to the legume pot.
Add the spinach, parsley, coriander, spring onions, and fenugreek to the soup. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the noodles, broken into thirds if using linguine. Stir well and cook 10–12 more minutes until noodles are tender. The soup should be thick — add water if needed.
Ash-e reshteh thickens dramatically as the noodles absorb liquid. It should be very thick, almost a stew. Add stock or water in 1-cup increments if it gets too thick.
Fry the remaining onion in 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat for 12–15 minutes, stirring often, until deep golden-brown and crispy. Add remaining turmeric, toss, and remove from heat. Set aside.
In a small pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add dried mint and remove from heat immediately — the mint fries in the residual heat and becomes aromatic without burning.
Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle generously with kashk. Scatter crispy turmeric onions over the top. Drizzle with mint butter. Serve immediately — the contrast of the three toppings is what makes this dish exceptional.
Kashk is available at Persian supermarkets and some online retailers; it tastes like intensely sour, creamy whey — nothing else replicates it precisely, though thick Greek yogurt thinned with lemon juice is an acceptable emergency substitute.
The soup must be very thick — if it's thin, simmer uncovered for 10–15 minutes and mash some of the legumes against the side of the pot to add body.
Add kashk only at serving, not into the pot — it curdles if boiled and should stay as a fresh, bright garnish.
With meat: add 300g diced lamb or beef to the pot at the start, before the legumes, for a heartier version.
Ash-e jo (barley ash): substitute pearl barley for the noodles and use dried herbs throughout for a different texture.
The soup keeps very well in the fridge for up to 4 days and freezes for 2 months. Thin with a little water when reheating as the noodles absorb liquid overnight. Always make toppings fresh.
Ash (thick soup) represents one of the oldest categories of Persian cooking, with references to noodle-based thick soups appearing in Persian manuscripts from at least the 14th century. The tradition of eating ash-e reshteh at Nowruz is documented from the Safavid period (16th–17th century), and the specific symbolism of the noodles as threads of fate is deeply embedded in Persian folk culture. The dish is eaten across Iran and in Iranian diaspora communities worldwide.
Kashk is a concentrated, fermented whey product — thick, sour, and creamy, similar in concept to very intense sour cream but made from cooked and reduced yogurt whey. It is sold in jars or plastic bags at Persian supermarkets. A rough substitute is 4 tbsp Greek yogurt mixed with 1 tbsp lemon juice, though the flavour is milder.
Yes, as a shortcut. Use one 400g can each of chickpeas and kidney beans, drained and rinsed. Skip step 1 and add them directly with the herbs in step 3. The flavour will be slightly less rich but still very good.
Reshteh are flat, hand-cut Persian noodles, thicker and chewier than pasta. They are sold dried at Iranian grocery stores. Linguine broken into thirds is the best widely-available substitute — the thickness is similar and it holds up in the thick soup.
Per serving (420g / 14.8 oz) · 6 servings total
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