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Gulf Arab · Saudi Arabian

Harees

Non-vegetarian

هريس · harīs

Whole wheat and lamb cooked very slowly with a little cinnamon and cardamom, then beaten into a smooth, stretchy porridge and finished with melted ghee.

Harees is a Gulf Arab porridge, ready in about 3 hours 10 minutes and made with whole wheat berries, lamb shoulder and ghee. It serves 6 and is rated easy to cook.

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A serving of Harees
Photo: Ketone16 / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
10 min
Cook
3 h
Total
3 h 10 min
Serves
6
Level
Easy
Calories
423

Plus overnight soaking of the wheat.

Ingredients

6 servings

To serve

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Drain the soaked wheat and put it in a heavy pot with the lamb, water, cinnamon (opens in a new tab) stick and cardamom (opens in a new tab). Bring to the boil and skim off any foam.

  2. Step 2

    Cover and simmer very gently, stirring now and then and adding hot water if it gets too thick, until the wheat has burst and the meat falls apart.

    • 160 min
    • low heat

    A pressure cooker does this in about 1 hour.

  3. Step 3

    Remove the whole spices. Add the salt and beat hard with a wooden spoon, potato masher or stick blender until the meat and wheat merge into a thick, smooth, elastic porridge.

    • 10 min
    • low heat

  4. Step 4

    Spoon into bowls, make a well in the centre and pour in hot melted ghee (opens in a new tab). Dust with cinnamon (opens in a new tab) if you like.

    • 2 min

About this dish

Origin
Not attributed to one place · Commonly attributedEaten across the Arabian Peninsula, especially in Ramadan and at Eid; closely related to Armenian harissa.Also popular in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq
Dish
Dinner · Lunch · Porridge & cereals · Main courses
Cooking method
Slow-cooked, Simmered
Taste
savoury, buttery, mild, aromatic / warmly spiced
Diet
No nut ingredients
All labelsNon-vegetarian · Whole-food focused · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Carb-conscious · Calorie-conscious
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Festive & celebration · Batch cooking
Cook more with
Whole wheat berries · Lamb shoulder · Ghee · Cinnamon · Cardamom
Techniques
Boiling · Simmering · Stock making

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom ghee
  • Contains: Wheatfrom whole wheat berries
  • Contains: Glutenfrom whole wheat berries

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

423 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 384 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 17%
  • Carbohydrate 28%
  • Fat 55%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy423 kcal110 kcal
Protein18.8 g4.9 g
Carbohydrate30.3 g7.9 g
Net carbohydrate25 g6.5 g
Sugars0.2 g0 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre5.4 g1.4 g
Fat26.4 g6.9 g
Saturated fat12.5 g3.3 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol67 mg18 mg
Sodium642 mg167 mg
Salt equivalent1.6 g0.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
372 mg
Calcium
51 mg
Iron
2.2 mg
Magnesium
72 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
68 µg
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
0.2 µg
Vitamin B12
1.6 µg
Folate (DFE)
—

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: cinnamon.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • If the porridge won't come together, beat in a ladle of hot water and keep working it — the stretch comes from vigorous beating.

Common mistakes

  • Letting it catch on the bottom — stir regularly, especially towards the end.

Serve with

  • Traditionally eaten to break the fast in Ramadan, alongside dates and laban.

Food safety

  • Cook the lamb until it falls apart (well above 71 °C).
  • Cool leftovers quickly in shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours; reheat until piping hot all the way through.

Storage

  • Keeps 3 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen.

Reheating

  • Reheat with a splash of water, stirring well.

Variations

  • Armenian harissa (Armenia): A similar wheat and chicken or lamb porridge, cooked for hours and eaten especially at Easter.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 4

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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