This Persian beef stew, known as Ghormeh Sabzi, is a dish I grew up eating almost every week. Filled with fresh herbs and dried limes, its rich aroma instantly transports me to family dinners. This foolproof recipe ensures tender meat, fragrant herbs, and the perfect tangy flavor. Learn how to make this authentic Persian herb stew and bring a taste of tradition to your table.
The beef and beans bring heartiness, and the herbs and lime bring a unique, unforgettable flavor. Noush-ie-jan!
The word “sabzi” means greens, and we use large quantities of fresh herbs to make this Persian recipe earn its name: parsley, scallions, fenugreek, and cilantro. Gourmeh sabzi means “fried greens” because we cook the herbs in oil until wilted, similar to how you sautee spinach.
This stew is loaded with incredible, fresh herbs: parsley, scallions, fenugreek, and cilantro. It’s packed with flavor and is a great, no-fuss, slow simmer stew. Other herb-packed dishes are kuku sabzi, an herb-filled frittata, and sabzi polo, herbed rice.
🧾Ingredients in this recipe
Dried Limes
The magic element is really the dried limes: they add a subtle sour taste to the stew that takes it to the next level. A little goes a long way though with these!
Dried limes are small limes that get boiled in a salt brine and left to dry until they are hard, and are about the size of a golf ball.
The taste dried limes bring is not comparable to other ingredients, and I would not recommend substituting anything in place of the dried limes.
They are often used in Persian cooking to add a sour flavor to soups and stews. You crack the dried lime to release the aroma and flavor and pop them into whatever you are cooking that needs something a little sour.
I don’t usually eat the limes after the dish is cooked (well, I’ll eat a few small bites). They are moreso there to add flavor during the cooking process.
👩🍳How to Make This Recipe
Serve with steamed basmati rice.
Pro Tip: Adding Saffron
Optional: Before serving, grind and steep the saffron in 1 tablespoon of hot water, add to the stew, and mix.
✂ Shortcut
You can find pre-made frozen fried greens aka “ghormeh sabzi” at a Middle-Eastern market in the freezer section. Most people I talk to swear by this shortcut because it takes so much time to prep the herbs in this recipe and most Persian homes eat this dish often. The frozen shortcut also makes it easy to make this dish all year round.
❄️How to Freeze Ghormeh Sabzi
Gourmeh Sabzi freezes very well. The best way to freeze it is in a freezer bag, or use a silicone tray. These are the trays I use to freeze my Persian stews, stocks, and more.
🍍Related Recipes
Here are my favorite stews other than this ghormeh sabzi, and don’t forget to check out all my Persian recipes on the blog.
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Traditional Ghormeh Sabzi (Persian Herb Stew)
Print Recipe SaveIngredients
Ingredients
- 5 bunches Italian parsley large stems removed
- 20 scallions
- 2 bunches cilantro including stems
- 1 bunch fenugreek or 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 lb. stew meat cow shoulder, neck, or chuck, 1-1 1/2 inch cubes
- 16 oz. can red kidney beans washed and drained
- 5 dried limes cracked open
- 1 onion diced
- 1 lemon juiced
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 4 tbsp flavorless oil like canola, split into 2+2
- 1 pinch saffron optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Clean and dry the herbs and scallions ingredients. Chop them very small and sautee in 2 tbsp canola oil for 5-10 minutes on medium-high heat until wilted like sauteed greens. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Add the other 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and cook the onion until translucent over medium-high heat.
- Add the meat. Season with turmeric, salt, and pepper. Cook until just browned on all sides.
- Add 4 cups hot water, the cooked herbs, washed and drained kidney beans, dried limes, and lemon juice. Bring to boil. Simmer for 90 minutes.
- Optional: Before serving, grind and steep the saffron in 1 tbsp of hot water, add to the stew, and mix.
- Serve with basmati rice.
Quick question …bunches of herbs vary in size from small to large…what do you use in relation to quantity requested in this recipe?
Great question, Dawn. The average bunch of parsley weighs 2-3 oz., the average bunch of scallions is 3-4 oz. and has 4-6 scallions, and the average bunch of cilantro is 2-3 oz. For the fenugreek, you will need about 3 tablespoons – 1/4 cup of fresh leaves. If you don’t grow it yourself it’s hard to find, so I recommend just using dried for the feugreek. Hope this helps!
I didn’t think I would be able to make this right because I didn’t find the dried limes and my normal market, but I called around and the Middle Eastern market pretty close by had them. It turned out so delicious and the beef was super tender.
So glad you found them, Jane… the recipe just isn’t the same without them! And I’m glad to hear you loved the recipe… enjoy!
I had this once at a friends house so I wanted to try making my own and this recipe did not disappoint! I feel like I recreated it perfectly, thank you for the detailed instructions.
I’m so glad you liked it, Salima, and that it came out perfectly… such a compliment! Thank you for taking the time to share.
I’m going to try this recipe soon. Gourmeh Sabzi was mentioned in a movie that I was watching and I stumbled upon your lovely website when I searched for it. I’ll will be trying Ash Reshteh as well as it looks like the ultimate comfort food. 😉
I live in the Netherlands and I hope I can find all the right ingredients.
I will let you know how it worked out.
Thank you for sharing, Rutger, and welcome! Can’t wait to hear what you think.
Rutger, if you have Persian Markets you don’t have to cook from fresh, you can also use dried herbs that come in a bag or can, or frozen, already fried herbs. Amazon carries canned and bagged as well as in a jar. Here is a link to the canned type:
https://amzn.to/3QGkFH4
by dried limes are you meaning Black Limes ?, recently I was given some and would like to try them
Hi Philip. Yes, you can use black limes. They are another name for dried limes or limoo amani.
Unreal! Uniquely sour flavor, we could not stop slurping the broth!
So glad you liked it, Sue! It’s one of my favorites. Enjoy!
I eat a low carb diet -can you use 1/2 the kidney beans or substitute black beans without changing the flavour of this dish much?
Hi Vicky. I’ve never made it with black beans and most Persians would not be happy with this substitution. However, when it comes to flavor and texture, I think it would be OK.
You can use canned black eye peas. Just rinse well
About to make this recipe tomorrow! How much of the frozen herbs do you use to replace the fresh? I bought 2- 10oz containers because I wasn’t sure but from the reviews I’m 100% sure I’ll be making this again.
When I use frozen, the ones I buy are usually 12 oz., but one of your 10 oz. containers should work just fine. Let me know how it goes!
Because I like cilantro, I can see me liking this dish. Thank you for sharing your flavors with us.
Can’t wait to see what you think when you give it a try, Nicole!
I have recently visited a Persian restaurant for the first time and I realized how little I know about Persian cuisine. I loved what I got to eat – I am a big saffron person and I just realized I definitely need to get more into this cuisine which is still pretty obscure to me. So I was excited to stumble upon your post and learn about a new recipe. And of course the saffron is not missing – hehehe love that!
I’m so glad to hear it, Eva! Persian food is definitely something special. I have some of my favorite recipes on the blog… so be sure to try them out! Here is the one I’ve been enjoying lately, fesenjoon.
I loved reading your post and once I saw how really easy the soup is to make I had to give it a go. We loved it. We had a bit left over and gave some to our son for lunch. He wants me to make the soup again when he comes over. The recipe is a keeper.
That makes me so, so happy to hear, Marisa! I’m glad you all loved it.
I have never tried Persion Beef Stew before but this just was incredible! I love the flavors in this!
That makes me so happy to hear, Leslie!
Love to know about dried limes. Thanks for sharing it! And this stew is filled with full of flavor great for the upcoming season!
Thank you so much, Uma!
I absolutely LOVE gourmeh sabzi, but with little to no authentic Persian restaurants around here, I’m out of luck. So happy I can make it on my own with this amazing recipe.
That makes me so happy to hear, Marta… it’s one of those dishes that have a flavor you just can’t compare to others.
This is such a fantastic post, Candice! I learned a TON, and really appreciated all the little tips along the way, plus the handy links to products I’ll need and even the link to farsi cooking terms. Great shortcut suggestion on the pre-made frozen “ghormeh sabzi” – I am all about shortcuts that work well, that’s for sure! Oh – and those freezing trays are absolute genius – I’ve never seen them before and they’re awesome! Super excited that this recipe freezes well, as I love making delicious recipes to enjoy one night, then slipping extra in the freezer to save for later. Thanks bunches – this is so great!
This makes me so, so happy to hear, Shelley… thank you for taking the time to share this with me. I’m glad you found it helpful, and the freezing trays are something I use with so many of my recipes. Worth having on hand! Thanks again 🙂