🍲 Shorbat Lahm (Lamb and Vermicelli Soup)
Shorbat lahm is a brothy soup of tender lamb pieces simmered with onion and tomato, seasoned with cinnamon and plenty of black pepper, and thickened with fine vermicelli. The broth is rich and peppery with a warm hint of spice. In Saudi Arabia and the Gulf it is traditionally the first thing ladled out at the iftar table during Ramadan.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g lamb on the bone, in small pieces
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tomatoes, grated
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 80 g vermicelli
- 2 l water
- Salt
Method
- Cover the lamb with water, bring to the boil and skim the foam.
- Add the onion, cinnamon, pepper and salt and simmer 60 minutes until tender.
- Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and cook 10 minutes.
- Stir in the vermicelli and simmer 8–10 minutes until soft. Serve hot.
How to make it lighter
- Chill the broth and lift off the hardened fat before adding the vermicelli.
- Use lean lamb shoulder trimmed of fat.
- Use less vermicelli and add diced vegetables instead.
History
Meat broths with vermicelli are an everyday soup across the Gulf and the Levant. Shorbat lahm is closely tied to Ramadan, when families break the fast with dates, water and a bowl of soup before the main meal.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →