COPPERWhat is the national dish of Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia's official national dish is jareesh, chosen in January 2023 by the Culinary Arts Commission of the Ministry of Culture. It is crushed wheat slow-cooked with meat, then stirred with laban (buttermilk) into a thick porridge and topped with onions fried in ghee. Kabsa, spiced rice with meat, remains the country's best-known dish.
When did jareesh become the national dish?
In January 2023, the Saudi Culinary Arts Commission, part of the Ministry of Culture, announced that jareesh had been selected as the national dish of the Kingdom, and maqshush as the national dessert. The announcement launched an initiative called National and Regional Dishes Narratives, meant to catalogue the dishes most closely tied to Saudi identity.
The commission gave its reasons: jareesh is popular across Saudi society, it appears in heritage books going back centuries, it is served on many occasions, mostly happy ones, and it is simple to make from ingredients that are easy to find. It calls the dish the "master of dishes". A year later, in January 2024, the commission named a representative dish for each of the country's 13 regions.
What is jareesh?
Jareesh is crushed wheat cooked slowly with meat until it breaks down, then finished with dairy. It comes from Najd, the central region, and spread from there across the Kingdom. The Saudi chef Rakan Al-Oraifi told Arab News that people in Najd historically ate wheat rather than rice because it needed fewer resources.
There is more than one jareesh:
- White jareesh, the Najdi version, cooked with laban (buttermilk). Salty, slightly sour, and eaten in winter as in summer.
- Red jareesh, from Hail in the north-west, cooked with tomato sauce.
- The topping, in both cases: ghee, onions fried until golden, called *kushna*, and dried lime powder.
How jareesh is made
The method is mostly patience. In our jareesh recipe, 400 g of crushed wheat soaks for an hour while 500 g of bone-in lamb simmers for 45 minutes. The wheat goes into the broth with a little short-grain rice and cooks on very low heat for at least 2 hours, stirred every 15 minutes so it does not catch.
The lamb is boned, shredded and returned to the pot. During the last 30 minutes, 750 ml of laban goes in a little at a time while the cook presses the mixture against the side of the pot with a ladle, until it turns into a thick, creamy porridge.
The kushna is made separately: two sliced onions fried in ghee for 12 to 15 minutes until deep golden, with a teaspoon of cumin. They are poured into a well in the centre of the dish and dusted with dried lime powder.
What about kabsa?
Kabsa is the Saudi dish most visitors know, and it is often assumed to be the national one. Saudipedia puts it plainly: kabsa is the most famous Saudi dish, while jareesh is the national dish. Kabsa is also widely regarded as a national dish in all the Gulf states, where it is often called machboos; see the national dish of Kuwait. In 2021 the Saudi Ministry of Culture also announced an initiative to promote kabsa as part of the national heritage.
Each region has its own version, made with chicken, lamb, camel or beef, but the spice mix is always the point. Kabsa is a family lunch and the centrepiece of weddings and Eid. It is served on one large platter that the family or the guests sit around, eaten by hand, garnished with raisins and nuts, with daqqus, a simple tomato sauce, on the side. Our kabsa recipe cooks the rice in the chicken broth with dried black limes, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, boiled uncovered until the liquid almost disappears, then steamed on the lowest heat for 15 to 20 minutes without lifting the lid.
Other dishes to know from Saudi Arabia
Mutabbaq is the everyday snack of the west of the country, eaten in Mecca especially during Ramadan, Hajj and Umrah. Dough is stretched until you can see through it, folded into a square around minced meat, beaten egg, leek and green onion, then browned on a griddle and cut into squares, eaten with lemon and green chili.
Maqshush, the national dessert, comes from Hail: small soft breads of white and brown flour, topped with ghee, honey, date molasses or sugar, eaten at breakfast in winter with Saudi coffee.
All three recipes, with ingredients and step-by-step methods, are on our page about the food of Saudi Arabia. For the neighbouring kitchens, see our guide to Middle Eastern food.
The recipes
- Jareesh🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · 4 hours
Kabsa🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · 2 hours
Mutabbaq🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · 2 hours and 30 minutes
Questions people ask
Is kabsa the national dish of Saudi Arabia?
Not officially. Jareesh has been the official national dish since January 2023. Kabsa remains the country's most famous dish and is often called a national dish across the Gulf.
What is the national dessert of Saudi Arabia?
Maqshush, named at the same time as jareesh in January 2023: small breads of white and brown flour topped with ghee, honey, date molasses or sugar.
What is jareesh made of?
Crushed wheat simmered with meat, usually lamb, then stirred with laban (buttermilk) and topped with onions fried in ghee and dried lime powder. A red version from Hail uses tomato sauce.
Is jareesh the same as harees?
They are related wheat-and-meat dishes, but Saudi cuisine treats them separately: harees is wheat and meat cooked with ghee, pepper and cinnamon, while jareesh is crushed wheat finished with laban.
What is served with kabsa?
Daqqus, a simple tomato sauce, and often raisins and nuts scattered over the rice.
Keep reading
- Traditional food of Saudi Arabia: 14 dishes to know
- What is the national dish of Bahrain?
- What is the national dish of Iran?
- What is the national dish of Iraq?
- What is the national dish of Israel?
- What is the national dish of Jordan?