Eaten hot or cold, this Persian Kuku recipe is SO PERFECT and super healthy! This Kuku Sabzi also uses ground beef which adds so much more flavor too! Try this Persian Frittata and you’ll see why it’s the BEST!
Happy almost Persian New Year slash first day of spring!
When you step outside in Chicago and you don’t immediately feel your eyebrows freeze up, you know that spring is on its way. Aaaaand yep! I’m pretty sure I’m alone on that one so let’s try another…
When you step outside in Chicago and it doesn’t hurt, you know that spring is on its way!
So here we are, just a few days away and so, SO ready for it. New beginnings, new life, new growth, and thankfully for us here, new air!
And to start the Persian New Year off right, we need to eat well, right? But not that kind of well where we say, “OK, time to starve so that we can look good for one day only to eat everything again, plus more and then feel really badly about everything. Yeah!!”
No.
I’m talking about the kind of “well” where you pay attention to what’s available to you, to what your body truly craves, and to what gives you nourishment and sustenance. And don’t forget, happiness too! And no, that doesn’t mean we start eating birdseed. Point made above.
So kuku! Well, we’ve got everything that’s good and right in this Persian New Year specialty that I grew up eating all the time, and not just as part of New Year’s dinner. There are a TON of green herbs (vitamins and minerals), colorful spices that don’t overpower in any way (antioxidant central), eggs (nature’s wonder meal), and beef (hello iron and important amino acids!).
This dish is sort of like a frittata and sort of like a quiche, but the thing is, it’s really neither. It’s simply kuku. Funny how most Persian dishes are still kept so secret to the general public in the States. Probably because the best ones just can’t be found in restaurants, but only in our mother’s kitchens.
So here I am at 4 in the AM, exhausted but desperate to spread the food love.
And I hope you try it.
In case you’re looking for more Persian New Year dishes, click here for my Persian herbed rice and fish (sabzi polo baa maahi), and look below for some from my fellow food blogging friends!
Noushejaan! (nourishment to your soul!)
Try my Super Yummy Persian Stovetop Kabob with Rice!
Try my recipe for Amaaaazing Persian Meatballs (Koofteh)!
Try my recipe for Delectable Persian Seared Eggplant & Tomato Beef!
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The BEST Kuku Recipe — Persian Frittata
Ingredients
- 1 Russet Potato rinsed and cut in half
- 1 bunch Cilantro rinsed and stems removed
- 1 bunch Parsley rinsed and stems removed
- 1 bunch Green Onions rinsed, root tips removed, and cut into thirds
- 1 pound Ground Beef
- 1 Onion grated
- 3 ½ teaspoons Sea Salt divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons Black Pepper divided
- 1 ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder divided
- 10 tablespoons ghee or beef tallow divided
- 5 cloves or half a head of Garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup dried Barberries Zereshk, rinsed really well and checked for possible grains of sand
- 1 tablespoon Dried Mint
- 1 tablespoon Dried Dill
- ¼ teaspoon Saffron ground and mixed into ¼ cup of hot water
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- 9 Eggs
Instructions
- Place potato in a pot of enough water to cover it and cook on high heat until fork-tender (about 15 minutes).
- While you’re waiting for potato to cook, finely chop cilantro, parsley, and green onion in a food processor. Set aside.
- Once potato is fork tender, drain water and rinse potatoes with cold water to reduce temperature.
- Peel the potato (it peel very easily after cooking) and mash it right in the same pot.
- In a large nonstick pan, combine beef, grated onion, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and turmeric.
- Cook in the pan on med-high heat, mixing occasionally.
- As soon as the liquid released has evaporated, add two tablespoons ghee/tallow, give it a mix for 10 seconds and remove pan from heat.
- Add beef mixture into pot with mashed potato and mash together until fully mashed and incorporated.
- Add in herbs, garlic, mint, dill, barberries, saffron-hot water mixture, cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and ½ teaspoon turmeric. Mix everything together.
- Crack in 9 eggs. Whisk with fork right on top of the mixture, then combine into the mixture.
- Over med-high heat, add 6 tablespoons ghee/tallow or enough to fully coat the bottom of your pan that you cooked your beef in.
- Once pan and oil are hot, turn down to medium heat and add enough of the kuku mixture to amount to 1-inch thick when spread and leveled out with the back of a spoon/spatula. Cover with lid and turn heat to med-low. Adjust heat if needed to keep from burning.
- After 15-20 minutes, when the kuku has fully set and seared on one side, slice it into triangles or squares with a wooden spatula, and flip pieces over to sear the opposite sides. Add 1 or 2 tbsp oil to help sear the bottom. No need to cover with lid at this point. Serve after 10 minutes. Kuku can be eaten alone or with bread, fresh herbs, yogurt, or rice dishes.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Very elaborate and delectable kuku! A must on every Nowruz dinner table. You are right about the saffron. It takes the dish to a whole different level, to a super decadence. Happy Nowruz to you and yours, dear Bita!
Hi Fae! You’re always the sweetest. :-* <3
Happy Nowruz to you and yours just the same! And happy 4-shanbeh soori tonight!
I love kuku! I’ve never thought to put potato and ground beef in the mix. I bet it makes it even tastier. Really nice pictures and great explanation of everything.
Thanks Sina! I actually didn’t realize that the rest of the Persian world didn’t eat this kind of kuku (with the beef and potato as well) until more recently. I asked my mother about it and she said it’s the Ardebili way. So that explains it haha! Happy 4shanbeh soori!
I loved this video and recipe Bita! Happy Nowruz to you and Barry! Love you.
Thanks, Becky!! 😀 Love you too! xoxo
LOVE the video, Bita joon!
Very lovely.
And this kuku is the best. Dinner in a beautiful package. I’ve never put meat
into mine. Can’t wait to try yours. Eid-eh shomah mobarak! xo
Thanks Coco joonam! You’re so kind! Do you put potato in yours? I’m very curious as to how others make their kuku because for the longest time, I thought this is how everyone’s kuku was 😉 I think it’s an Azeri (Ardebili, specifically) thing.
Nowruzetaan pirooz :-* xoxo!
Lovely video, Bita! And an equally lovely kuku. What a great idea to include potatoes, and ground beef. I haven’t tried it like this before but am looking forward to making it. Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year!
Thank you, Naz! I’m so flattered! So in Ardebil (where my family is from) we eat kuku this way :). It wasn’t until I was older that I realized the rest of the Persian world eats it without the potato and beef! 😉
I hope this spring blossoms into a wonderful new year for you, Naz joon!
I am so pleased to find your website. My beautiful Son’s Grandmother was Persian and I admire her cooking skills and recipies. Being raised in the Southern US, I did not know what I was having when I first tried Persian food, but it was love at first bite. I only hope to come close to duplicating your wonderful recipies. Your website is so beautifully and I enjoy every bit of it.
Robin, you’re so sweet and I’m very grateful that you will be trying out my Persian recipes. They’re very near and dear to my heart, passed down from my mother. We are so happy to share the cooking love! Thank you for taking the time and commenting!