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    Home » Recipes » Easy Lebanese Spinach Stew

    Easy Lebanese Spinach Stew

    This easy spinach stew can be made in around half an hour, including the rice if you cook it while the spinach is simmering.

    A 'Yekhneh' is the Lebanese word for stew and we have lots of them here in Zaatar and Zaytoun including yekhnet fasolia (white bean stew) and loubia (green bean) and finally bazala (pea stew).

    Spinach stew

    They all involve a similar process with one star ingredient such as the white beans or spinach in this case, and they all start with a similar onion, garlic and cilantro (fresh coriander) base to accommodate the flavours.

    Lebanese Spinach stew

    Lebanese stews, unlike your fiery indian curries, don't have a lot of spice in them. Sometimes you can add a pinch of seven spice or black pepper but not more than that.

    We also usually add lots of lemon towards the end to bring out the flavours. Beef is traditionally used in most yekhnehs but if you replace the meat with lamb I would pan fry it in a separate pan to avoid 'zenkha' or that fatty taste you can get with lamb if it boils.

    The wonderful thing about spinach unlike mloukhiya or hindbeh is that it takes practically no time to cook, you basically need to wilt the leaves and just let it simmer for ten minutes or so with the other flavours.

    spinach stew

    I quite like this stew to be slightly on the watery side so the vermicelli rice can soak it all up.

    You can speed up this recipe even more by using frozen spinach, cilantro and garlic and if you really like to prep, you can even freeze your cooked mince meat and onion to sprinkle on your many stews in literally no time.

    The final touch of toasted pine nuts on top make it all the more moreish. Oh and of course, you can never have enough lemon on the side to squeeze on just before devouring it all down.

    Easy Lebanese Spinach stew
    5 from 5 votes
    Print

    Lebanese Spinach Stew

    Easy Spinach stew with beef mince and pine nuts

    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Lebanese
    Keyword Authentic, Easy, Healthy
    Total Time 30 minutes
    Servings 4 people

    Ingredients

    • 700 g of spinach 1 big bag
    • 250 g of mince beef
    • 1 large onion chopped
    • 2-3 tablespoon regular olive oil
    • 2-3 garlic cloves chopped
    • 1 handful of cilantro (fresh coriander) roughly chopped
    • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
    • Salt to taste approx 1 full tsp
    • ½ teaspoon sumac
    • 1 lemon juiced (approx 45 ml)
    • Approx 1 cup of boiling water
    • ½ cup toasted pine nuts

    Instructions

    1. Toast the pine nuts in a dry non stick pan for around five minutes until golden

    2. In a good sized pot, sauté the onion in a drizzle of regular cooking olive oil until golden. Add the garlic and cilantro and sauté for another few minutes.

    3. Add the beef mince, sumac and black pepper. Fry off the mince over medium high heat for about 5-10 minutes until cooked

    4. Add the spinach, salt and boiling water to the pot and cover so the spinach wilts down. Simmer for about 10 minutes

    5. Add the lemon juice just before turning off the heat and taste to check the seasoning
    6. Serve with rice, extra lemon slices and top with toasted pine nuts

    Easy Lebanese Spinach stew

    If you enjoyed making this recipe, leave us a star rating below.

    We have a lively Facebook group where we post frequent recipes and discuss Lebanese cooking in general, as well as a handy Pinterest page where you can save all of your favourite Zaatar and Zaytoun recipes!

    You might also like these recipe from the Zaatar and Zaytoun collection:

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Anonymous

      August 12, 2021 at 6:33 pm

      5 stars
      Super healthy and delicious

    2. M

      August 14, 2021 at 12:46 pm

      5 stars
      I will be making this again

    3. Ghassan Doughman

      September 28, 2021 at 11:17 pm

      5 stars
      Excellent

    4. renee lisowy

      October 24, 2021 at 7:31 pm

      5 stars
      i love this recipe. reminds me of my mama.

    5. Peter

      April 22, 2022 at 4:33 pm

      5 stars
      Really lovely and fairly simple to make. My wife is from Lebanon and she hadn't tasted this particular dish for years. Thank you!

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    Ahlen I'm Yosra, a Lebanon born - London based foodie. Welcome to my kitchen.

    Here you'll find recipes collected from my Lebanese Mama (pictured), some regional classics and some secret family recipes.

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