Persian noodle soup is called Ash Reshteh and tastes nothing like any noodle soup you've had before. It gets its distinct, tangy, and savory flavor from kashk, reshteh, and Persian fried onions. It's also packed with nutritious and flavorful greens, beans, and chickpeas.
Why this Recipe Works
Ash Reshteh is a wholesome and filling dish because it pairs a hearty soup with nutritional and filling ingredients like chickpeas, beans, lentils, and spinach.
It has a complex savory flavor combined with a light freshness from the greens like cilantro and scallions.
I share some shortcuts with you and brands that I use for these shortcuts so it can be very simple to make and cut down on your prep time. Even if you start from scratch, this recipe is still a simple one-pot recipe that anyone can master.
The key, distinct flavors of kashk, Persian fried onions, and reshteh noodles are the elements that make this dish unique and recognizable.
Ingredients, Substitutions, and Shortcuts
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kashk - a sour yogurt or whey-like product you can buy as a powder or paste. I prefer the paste version and it has a texture like yogurt. if kashk is hard to come by, sour cream is the best substitution I know of, even though it isn't quite the same. You can find it at a Middle-Eastern market or online.
reshteh - enriched flour noodles. Linguine noodles are an okay substitute, though it doesn't bring the same taste, it is the closest I have found. You can buy them at a Middle-Eastern market or online.
lentils - I use green, but you could use brown.
onions - red or yellow onions work well.
beans and chickpeas - red kidney beans and garbanzo beans. You can use dried, but I use canned. If using dried, soak them the night before.
herbs - this recipe is best with fresh herbs rather than dried.
Shortcuts
You can find the dried herbs for Ash-Reshteh pre-packaged at a middle eastern market or online.
You can also buy the soup mix online. All you need to add is water... and kashk.
How to Make this Recipe
If you have time the day before you're ready to make Ash Reshteh, wash all your herbs and greens and dry them in a salad spinner. Roughly chop the cilantro, and spinach, and thinly slice the scallions. This will save you a significant amount of time the next day.
First, fry your onions and then your greens. Heat ⅓ cup of oil over medium heat. Add both of the sliced onions and cook them until they turn translucent in color.
Continue cooking the onions. You want them to be golden brown, rather than just lightly cooked. This can take up to 25 minutes. Set them aside to sprinkle on top of your soup later.
Then, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the same pot and add the sliced scallions and cilantro. Cook until wilted and cooked down like you would any greens. Remove from the pot and set aside.
Next, add 1 tablespoon of oil and the minced garlic to the pot and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Then add in the beans, lentils, turmeric, and season with salt. Saute them all together for 1 minute.
Add in the cooked greens and mix it all together. Now you're ready to add in the spinach in 3 batches so it doesn't overflow in the pot. Mix and add more spinach until it's cooked down.
Then, add in the water or stock. Partly cover the dish and bring the stock to a boil. Let the soup simmer on low for 1 hour.
After the soup has simmered for 1 hour, add 2 ladles of the soup to a bowl with the 1.5 cups of kashk and whisk them to combine. Add this whisked mixture back into the soup.
Break the noodles in half and add them to the soup pot. Stir initially to make sure they don’t stick together, then reduce the heat back to a simmer. Stir the soup every 10 minutes or so for 30 minutes to keep the noodles from sticking together.
In the meantime, you can prepare the garnishes for serving: fried onions, mint, and more kashk. You can add ½ cup of Kashk to a bowl and set it aside. Mince or stem fresh mint and sent it aside in a bowl.
Season your soup to taste and serve alongside your garnishes.
Kashk & Ash Reshteh FAQs
Reshteh are made in a similar way to pasta noodles – with either eggs or water and flour to create a dough and cut out into different shapes.
Kashk is a dairy product that is essentially a form of dried buttermilk. It has a tangy and sour flavor, like yogurt. You can buy kashk in a dried, crumbled form or as a paste. As a paste, it has a similar texture to sour cream or Greek yogurt.
You use kashk much the same way you would use sour cream or yogurt in dishes. It can be mixed into dishes for flavor, or served as a topping or dipping sauce. It's famously used in the delicious Persian dish, kashke-e-bademjan which is a thick and rich eggplant dip.
The closest in taste and texture would be sour cream or greek yogurt. Although nothing is quite the same as kashk, they are ok substitutes.
Related Recipes
Persian soups and stews are warming for the soul and so flavorful, so try these ones out!
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Ash Reshteh
Ingredients
- ½ cup flavorless oil like canola, vegetable, sunflower seed, or avocado
- 2 onions yellow or red, sliced thinly
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 15 oz. can of chickpeas or ⅓ cup dry (see note below)
- 15 oz. can of red kidney beans or ⅓ cup dry (see note below)
- 1 cup green lentils dry
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ lb. cilantro fresh, 3 bunches, including stems
- 20 scallions greens and light green only. No white parts. Thinly sliced.
- 1 ½ lb. spinach
- 8 oz reshteh enriched flour noodles or linguine
- 2 cups kashk Use up to 1-2 cups depending on your preference. See substitutions below.
- 2 quarts stock or water, I use vegetable stock
- fresh mint a few sprigs, leaves chiffonade, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Heat ⅓ cup of oil over medium heat. Add both of the sliced onions and cook them until they turn translucent in color. Continue cooking the onions until they are golden brown, rather than just lightly cooked. This can take up to 25 minutes. Remove from the pot and set them aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the same pot and add the sliced scallions and cilantro. Cook until wilted and cooked down like you would any greens. Remove from the pot and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the minced garlic to the pot and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Then add in the beans, lentils, turmeric, and season with salt. Saute them all together for 1 minute.
- Add in the cooked greens and mix it all together. Then add in the spinach in 3 batches so it doesn't overflow in the pot. Cook down.
- Add in the water or stock. Partly cover the dish and bring the stock to a boil. Let the soup simmer on low for 1 hour.
- After the soup has simmered for 1 hour, add 2 ladles of the soup to a bowl with the 1.5 cups of kashk and whisk them to combine. Add this whisked mixture back into the soup.
- Break the noodles in half and add them to the soup pot. Stir to make sure they don’t stick together, then reduce the heat back to a simmer. Stir the soup every 10 minutes or so for 30 minutes to keep the noodles from sticking together.
- In the meantime, prepare the garnishes for serving: fried onions, stemmed or chiffonade mint, and the rest of the kashk.
- Season your soup to taste and serve alongside the garnishes.
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