Jordanian Lamb Mansaf

Jordanian Lamb Mansaf is a spectacular rice dish featuring meltingly tender lamb in a rich yoghurt based sauce. The whole affair is served on a large thin flatbread – a communal free-for-all of delicious Middle Eastern flavours.

Rice dishes are amongst my favourites like my fantastic Moroccan Rice with Silverbeet (Chard) or my famous Chicken Pilaf, but this very special Jordanian rice dish is a step up in flavour and appearance and really brings on the celebration.

Mansaf is the national dish of Jordan for good reason; it's jam packed with flavour, fragrance and texture. Lamb is cooked in spices until tender then the liquid from that lamb used to cook the rice resulting in flavoursome fluffy grains. The lamb is then cooked in a very special Jameed sauce. Jameed is a fermented yoghurt product unique to the region which gives the distinctive sour and tangy flavour.

Mansaf is presented as a bed of rice with the meat on top on a large flatbread known as Shrak or Markouk - you can find these in good Middle Eastern stores, but failing that use any flatbread arranged into a large covering of your platter. The idea is that the dish is placed in the centre of the table and everyone can take bread, rice and lamb and a little extra jameed sauce if they like.

It's a fun, family-style dish that guests will love to share in. It's one of my favourite dishes to serve for a Middle Eastern themed dinner.

What's Ahead?

What is Mansaf?

Mansaf is a traditional Arab dish made across the Middle East. When talking about the history of Mansaf, it is agreed that the dish originated in Jordan. It's considered their national dish. Mansaf consists of meat cooked with basmati rice or bulgur wheat, jameed, a special fermented yoghurt product, yoghurt and spices. The dish is finished with an array of nuts and herbs.

The dish is often cooked in a large pot and served on a big communal platter, making it a symbol of hospitality and celebration in Jordanian and Levantine culture.

More about Jameed

Jameed is a hard, dried yogurt made from goat or sheep milk, known for its tangy, salty, and slightly funky flavor. The name "jameed" comes from the Arabic word "jumad," meaning "hardened" or "solidified," reflecting its texture.

Jameed can be bought dried in balls or as a 'soup starter' in liquid form. Hard jameed is soaked overnight in water before being stirred into the sauce. The liquid jameed is ready-to-go, so a good time saving option. Both create the same flavour.

Why it works?

Eat the plate! - Mansaf sits on a huge flatbread called a 'shraak', which acts as both the serving vessel AND part of the meal itself! Who doesn't love the idea of eating the food and the serving dish!!?

It's a nutty & meaty plate of food - Mansaf is hearty and filling with lots of contrasting flavours and textures, tangy, meaty, nutty - It's a cornucopia of delights for the palette!

Stuff You'll Need

There are a fair few ingredients to the Mansaf, but it's all worth it for the flavour!

• Lamb - I use boneless lamb shoulder or leg. You can use goat too.
• Jameed - Jameed is a Jordanian fermented yoghurt with a sour taste - I buy mine in liquid form (often called 'soup starter') but it is also available as a dried ball which you must reconstitute yourself with water - use whichever you can find.
• Yoghurt - I use regular natural yoghurt as well as jameed for a milder, sour note.
• Basmati rice - the rice is cooked in the lamb cooking liquid as a fragrant pilaf.
• Spices - there's a lot of flavour in mansaf and it's thanks to fragrant: cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves.
• Onion and garlic - bring a little backbone to the dish
• Almonds - it's a festival of crunch with toasted almonds.
• Parlsey - brings its grassy herbacous flavour and fleck of green to the final dish.
• Flatbread - Shraak is traditional, but not always easy to find outside the Middle East. My photograph of this recipe used a large Afghani flatbread as I couldn't get hold of a Shraak. Don't worry what you use, just cover your platter in some kind of flatbread!

Step by Step

Making mansaf is actually a simple affair. There are a few steps but nothing too taxing. Here's a breakdown of how your time is spent.

• Step 1 - Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the lamb until browned. Remove from the pan.
• Step 2 - To the same pan, add the cumin seeds, pepper, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cardamom and salt and fry briefly before adding the onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes until soft.
• Step 3 - Return the lamb to the pan and cover with 5 cups of water. Bring this to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until the lamb is tender. Strain the lamb through a sieve and retain all the liquid. Set both aside.
• Step 4 - When the lamb has about 20 minutes left to cook, rinse and then soak the rice for 20 minutes in cold water. To a saucepan, add 2 cups of the lamb cooking liquid, a cup of water and the turmeric and bring to a simmer. Drain the rice then add to the lamb liquid. Reduce the heat to very low. Cover the pan and simmer very gently for 10-12 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice cooked. Remove from the heat, place a clean tea towel over the pan and then place the lid on top and set aside.
• Step 5 - Whisk the jameed, yoghurt, cornstarch, minced garlic and 1 1/2 cups of the lamb cooking liquid.
• Step 6 - Pour this into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook gently over a low heat for 10 minutes to thicken and cook out the garlic. Add the strained lamb/onion etc. and stir well. Let this simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

• Arranging the dish - if you managed to get hold of a large bread then place that on a large serving platter. If not, make a bed of smaller flatbreads to form one large surface. Turn out the rice and spread over the bread in a thick layer. Top with the lamb and a little sauce. Scatter over the toasted almonds* and parlsey. Serve hot, with more of the jameed sauce on the side.

  * I like to fry my almonds in a little oil until golden brown (then cooled on paper towels). You can also dry fry them or buy them already toasted.

Helpful Tips

• Substitute Jameed - Jameed brings the authentic flavour here, but if you are unable to find this where you live, don't worry too much - use regular yoghurt as a substitute - it's not quite as authentic, but still delivers a tasty dish.

Serving & Storage Suggestions

Serving mansaf on bread is traditional, but if you prefer, simply serve the meat and the rice from from separate pans and use bowls or plates.

• Leftovers fridge - leftovers may be kept in the fridge in airight containers for 3-4 days in the fridge (the bread will be soggy, so either don't store as a leftover or eat it soggy!
• Freeze - You may freeze the meat in the sauce and the rice separately for 3+ months in airtight containers. Reheat separately in the microwave and arrange the dish as normal when everything is piping hot.

Ready to get cooking?

Lamb Mansaf really is a celebration of everything! Flavour, fragrance, colour and texture - it's little wonder it's so celebrated in Jordan, and it's the perfect dish for a celebration of your own. Nothing looks more impressive than a giant mound of the rice with lamb atop. It's truly a memorable dish to make at home.

It may look like a lot to prepare, but in essence it's actually really easy to make at home. I urge you to try and see for yourself! Hope you enjoy!

More Middle Eastern recipes

If you liked my Lamb Mansaf recipe, then you must try one of my other delicious Middle Eastern Recipes:

• Moroccan Matbucha – Tomato & Pepper Salad
• Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant Salad)
• Hawaij Spice (Spice mix from Yemen)
• Palestinian Zucchini Dip
• Hummus Bi Arnabeet – Hummus with Roasted Cauliflower
• Lamb & Eggplant Fatteh
• Middle Eastern Lamb Kebabs (Kabobs)
• Eggplant With Tomato Sauce & Pine Nuts
• Roast Duck with Zaatar
• Chicken Pilaf

This recipe uses affiliations and may receive a commission based on your activity (link clicks). Learn more.