Beshbarmak Recipe from Kazakhstan

Beshbarmak is a traditional Kazakhstan dish made with tender lamb and a flavorful onion broth served over a bed of noodles. It’s a great meal for a casual weeknight or a unique dinner party!

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This Beshbarmak recipe is a traditional Kazakh meal of meat and noodles.

A layer of cooked noodles is topped with perfectly tender meat and a flavorful onion broth.

Traditionally this meal was made with horse meat and eaten with your hands but today’s more modern version of Beshbarmak recipe is much easier to make and enjoy. 

My recipe calls for lamb, made tender in an instant pot or on the stove-top, and uses oven-ready lasagna noodles to cut down on prep time. These simple shortcuts make this meal perfect for a unique and exciting dinner.

Recipe Origin

The name Beshbarmak (and other similar names like Besbarmak) translates to mean “five fingers”, which is how this dish was originally eaten. Nomadic tribes would use their bare hands to enjoy the traditional Kazakh dish, along with a soup or broth called chyk, shurpo or shorpa on the side.

These nomadic lifestyles relied heavily on animals, their milk products, and meat for nourishment. They would make Beshbarmak dish out of horse meat, camel, or mutton or even a mixture of all three. Occasionally beef could be used. 

Because the dish was enjoyed by nomadic peoples, variations can be found all over Central Asian cuisine. It is considered the national dish of Kazakhstan and a big part of Kazakh hospitality.

The serving of Beshbarmak was very ritualistic. It was often prepared for special occasions when the guest of honor would be allowed to choose an animal from the herd for the meal. The entire sheep was cooked, including the head, which was slowly boiled until tender and became the focal point of the traditional dish.

Beshbarmak recipe was served in large communal serving dishes that everyone would sit around on the floor or low table. Pieces of the head would be cut by the most respected member of the table.

Different meats were served to different guests and family members, depending on their age, gender, and social rank. The best pieces of meat went to the oldest adult men, then the men, then women, younger adults, and finally the children, meant to encourage them to work hard to earn their status.

Today the meal is served in a more modern way, letting go of traditions. It is still served at special occasions but is also enjoyed in homes of Kazakh people on an average weeknight as well.

Horse meat is rarely used outside of Kazakhstan as it is illegal in many countries. Lamb is a perfectly authentic replacement. 

Classic Beshbarmak is also rarely eaten with your hands or served dependent on social structure–but you could always give it a try!

Why Make This Recipe

1. Easy Prep: This very traditional meal is made much easier with the use of an Instant Pot and premade noodles.
2. Simple Ingredients: This recipe calls for very few ingredients but you can add extra vegetables to make it even more filling.
3. Traditional Flavor: Kazakhstan doesn’t have many dishes of its own as Kazakh cuisine is heavily influenced by neighboring countries. Beshbarmak is one meal the country is known for! It’s the most popular dish in the country.

What Do I Need to Make This Recipe

Ingredients

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.

1. Lamb Shoulder: Lamb is the most authentic choice, but you could also use beef. Any cut of beef will work. If you can get your hands on it and are feeling adventurous, horse meat is the truly authentic ingredient in this dish! 
2. Yellow Onions: Yellow onions provide the best flavor for this recipe without being overwhelming.
3. Lasagna Noodles: I used oven-ready noodles but you could also use regular lasagna noodles. Most recipes for this meal call for making your pasta from scratch. You can certainly do this instead! Check out this article for a recipe for homemade pasta. 
4. Herbs: Fresh dill, bay leaves
5. Parsley, Dill, and Scallion for Topping: These are all optional but I used all three  

Tools:

1. Instant Pot: Below you can find directions for cooking the meat in an Instant Pot or in a large pot on the stovetop. I prefer the Instant Pot or pressure cooker to make cooking this dish quicker and get more consistent results, but it is not necessary. 

How to Make This Recipe

Step One: Clean the Lamb

Place the lamb shoulder in a large bowl and drizzle with the distilled white vinegar. Make sure the vinegar coats the outside of the lamb, then fill the bowl with cold water. Pour out the water, then rinse the lamb in more cold water. 

In a medium pot, place the lamb meat and fill the rest of the pot with water. Bring the water to a boil, skimming the foam off the top of the water as it is cooking with a slotted spoon. Boil for 10 minutes. 

When the lamb is done being boiled, pour out the water. Rinse the lamb in water again. 

Step Two: Cook the Lamb

Then place the lamb in an instant pot and fill the pot the rest of the way with water (about 12 cups in a 6-quart pot. If you can fit 16 cups in your 8-quart pot, that is even better!).

Place the lid on the pot and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes, ending with an Instant Pressure release. If you are cooking the lamb on the stovetop, cook the lamb in a large pot with 16 cups of water on low heat. Cook with the lid on for 2-3 hours, until it is fall-off-the-bone tender. 

When the lamb is done cooking, remove it from the liquid and set the remaining broth aside. Remove the lamb from the bone, cut into small pieces and set the meat aside. 

Step Three: Prepare the Broth

Pour the reserved broth into a large pot and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add the large onion rings into the broth and allow them to cook until soft (about 15 minutes). Remove from the broth and set aside. 

Salt the broth lightly (remember you will still be eating it, so do not oversalt!). Then add the lasagna noodles into the boiling water and cook until soft. Remove from the broth. 

Step Four: Cook the Noodles

Run the pasta under water until it cools. Then cut the lasagna noodles into thirds to make smaller squares. Set aside. 

Remove about 2 cups of broth from the pot and set aside the remainder.

Step Five: Make the Soup

Finally, make the chyk sauce. To do so, place the reserved two cups of broth in a smaller pot. Add the third chopped onion, bay leaf, salt, and pepper to taste. Bring this to a boil until the onions are tender, about 5-8 minutes. 

Time to serve! To prepare your platter, pile the pasta squares in a thin layer onto a large platter. Then add the cooked onions on top of the pasta, then the lamb meat on top of the onions. Pour your chyk sauce (the 2 cups of broth) over the platter. Sprinkle with parsley, chives, and dill if desired. 

Divide the larger portion of broth into four serving bowls. Sprinkle each serving bowl with fresh dill. The platter goes in the center of the table and each person gets their own bowl of broth! 

Expert Tips:

• Traditionally this dish is made with only onions but I have seen people add potatoes, mushrooms and carrots to the dish for a heartier meal.
• Cooking the onions in the broth is the traditional way to prepare this dish, but you could also caramelize the onions until golden brown which would provide excellent flavor to the meat.
• Removing the foam as the lamb cooks will keep your stock clear and the taste more delicious. 
• The best way to tell your meat is done is whenever it is falling apart. The meat in this dish should be tender, not mushy or dry. If you can use your tongs to easily pull the meat off of the bone, it is ready! 

Recipe adapted from Ingmar App. 

FAQs

Did you enjoy this Beshbarmak recipe? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you: 

• Pollo con Tajadas from Honduras
• Kabuli Pulao from Afghanistan 
• Beef Rendang from Indonesia