Cuisine · Uzbekistan

Uzbek cooking

Uzbek recipes tested and adapted for the home kitchen — 6 dishes from Uzbekistan, each with step-by-step instructions and ingredient notes.

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Achichuk with tomatoes, onion and green chili pepper — Uzbekistan recipe

🇺🇿UzbekistanEasy

Salads

Achichuk

An Uzbek salad of paper-thin ripe tomatoes and onion with hot green chili and fresh herbs, dressed simply with salt, pepper, and a little unrefined sunflower oil. It is the classic fresh companion to plov, cutting the richness of the rice with bright acidity and a touch of heat.

15 min60 kcal6 serves

🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

Lagman with lamb, wheat flour and onions — Uzbekistan recipe

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Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Lagman

Lagman is a Central Asian noodle dish: thick, chewy wheat noodles under a braise of lamb and vegetables seasoned with cumin and coriander. It reached Uzbekistan from the Uyghurs of western China, where the noodles are pulled by hand from a single rope of dough; this home version rolls and cuts the dough, then stretches each strip by hand to get the same chew. The sauce, called vaja, is thick — closer to a gravy than a broth — and it is spooned over the noodles rather than served as soup.

95 min1080 kcal4 serves

Plov (Uzbek Pilaf) with rice, lamb and carrot — Uzbekistan recipe

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Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Plov (Uzbek Pilaf)

The king of Central Asian cuisine: a fragrant pilaf of long-grain rice cooked with slow-fried lamb, golden carrots, whole garlic heads and cumin in a large kazan. Rich, aromatic and deeply satisfying — every grain of rice absorbs the flavors of the zirvak base.

180 min1000 kcal10 serves

💪High protein

Samsa (Uzbek Lamb Pastries) with lamb, onion and flour — Uzbekistan recipe

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Flour and Confectionery Products

Samsa (Uzbek Lamb Pastries)

Samsa are Uzbek baked pastries with a crisp, layered dough and a juicy filling of hand-chopped lamb and onion. The layering is built by rolling butter into thin sheets of dough, which creates flaky, oven-crisped pastry without a drop of yeast. The golden rule: chop the meat with a knife, never mince it, and use as much onion as meat.

120 min380 kcal12 serves

Shurpa with lamb on the bone, chickpeas and carrots — Uzbekistan recipe

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Soups

Shurpa

A slow-simmered Uzbek lamb soup of bone-in lamb, chickpeas, and large chunks of vegetables in a clear, fragrant broth. The chickpeas need soaking in cold water for 6 to 8 hours before you start cooking, so plan ahead. Seasoned with cumin and coriander, it is served with plenty of cilantro and flatbread, the broth often drunk alongside the meat and vegetables.

120 min350 kcal6 serves

🌾Gluten-free

Uzbek Kavardak (Lamb and Potato Stew with Cumin) with lamb shoulder, potatoes and cumin seeds — Uzbekistan recipe

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Meat Dishes

Uzbek Kavardak (Lamb and Potato Stew with Cumin)

Uzbek kavardak is a hearty stew of lamb, potatoes, and seasonal vegetables, slow-cooked in a kazan with cumin, coriander, and fresh tomatoes. The name comes from the Uzbek qovurdoq, meaning fried or braised meat, from qovurmoq, "to fry" — the popular idea that it means "mess" or "chaos" is a mix-up with an unrelated Russian word that sounds the same. Key technique: lamb is seared in smoking-hot oil until a deep crust forms, vegetables are layered in stages, and everything braises under a tight lid until the potatoes have soaked up the meat juices. Serves six, served in deep bowls with fresh cilantro and crushed garlic on top, alongside flatbread. Forgiving on ingredients, strict on technique.

120 min500 kcal6 serves

💪High protein🌾Gluten-free