Persian Food: 10 Iranian Dishes and What to Order

Persian food is built on rice, fresh herbs, slow-cooked stews and grilled kebabs, with sour notes from dried lime, barberries and pomegranate. It is rarely hot with chilli. Flavour comes from saffron, turmeric, dried lime and fresh herbs instead.

Below are 10 dishes you will see on menus from Tehran to Shiraz, with where to find each one and whether it works for vegetarians.

Each one links to a full recipe, if you want to try it at home.

What Persian Food Is Like

Food has a central place in Iranian hospitality. A common saying calls the guest “the beloved of God” (mehman habib-e khodast), and hosts tend to serve far more than a guest can eat. Recipes vary by region: fish and rice in the Caspian provinces, spicier and more sour dishes on the Persian Gulf coast, and rich meat dishes in the northwest.

Building Blocks of Persian Cuisine

Rice (chelow and polow)

Long-grain rice is the base of most meals. Chelow is plain steamed rice, often topped with saffron rice. Polow is rice cooked with other ingredients such as herbs, beans or barberries. The crisp layer from the bottom of the pot, tahdig, is the part people compete for.

Bread (nan)

Sangak, lavash, barbari and taftoon are the main flatbreads. Bread is eaten at breakfast with cheese, herbs and jam, and alongside dishes such as abgoosht and kebab. See our guide to the Iranian breakfast.

Meat and fish

Lamb, beef and chicken dominate. Fish is common on the Caspian and Persian Gulf coasts. Meat is often marinated with onion, yoghurt or lemon, then grilled or stewed.

Herbs, sour notes and spices

Parsley, coriander, dill, fenugreek and chives appear in large quantities. Dried lime, barberries, pomegranate molasses and verjuice add sourness. Saffron and turmeric are used in most kitchens.

How a Persian Meal Is Served

Restaurant menus in Iran are usually built around a few formats. Knowing them makes ordering easier.

Kebab (kabab)

Served with rice (chelow kabab) or bread, plus grilled tomato and raw onion. Kebab houses are the easiest place for a first meal in any city.

Stews (khoresht)

Slow-cooked stews served with plain rice, ordered as chelow khoresht. Ghormeh sabzi, gheimeh and fesenjan are the ones you will see most often. More in our guide to chelow khoresh dishes.

Ash (thick soups)

Ash reshteh is a thick soup of noodles, beans, lentils and herbs, topped with kashk (fermented whey), fried mint and onion. It is often made for Nowruz and other gatherings, and sold in small ash shops.

Side dishes

Mast-o khiar (yoghurt with cucumber), salad shirazi (tomato, cucumber and onion), torshi (pickles) and a plate of fresh herbs (sabzi khordan) arrive with many meals. Dolmeh, vegetables or vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, appears as a starter or main.

10 Persian Dishes to Try

1. Khoresht-e Fesenjan

Fesenjan is a thick, dark stew of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses, usually made with chicken. Traditionally it was also made with duck, and on the Caspian coast it is sometimes made with fish.

The taste is sweet and sour, depending on the cook and the region. It is slow-cooked so the walnut oil separates and the sauce turns almost black. It is a classic dish for weddings and family celebrations.

Where to try it: Traditional restaurants in most cities, and in homes for special occasions. It is less common on everyday kebab-house menus.

Vegetarian? Usually no, it is made with chicken. Meat-free versions exist, so ask, but do not expect them on menus.

2. Zereshk Polo

Zereshk polo is saffron rice scattered with barberries (zereshk), small red berries with a sharp, sour taste. It is usually served with chicken, often zereshk polo ba morgh, chicken braised with onion, tomato and saffron.

It is a favourite for weddings and large gatherings because it looks impressive and is easy to cook in quantity.

Where to try it: Traditional restaurants and many lunch menus. Southern Khorasan, around Birjand, is the main barberry-growing region.

Vegetarian? The rice itself is vegetarian. Ask for it without the chicken, or pair it with yoghurt and salad.

3. Khoresht-e Ghormeh Sabzi

Ghormeh sabzi is a herb stew of parsley, coriander, chives and fenugreek, slow-fried and then cooked with red kidney beans, dried limes and lamb or beef. Many Iranians call it the national dish.

Recipes vary by region. Some cooks in Iranian Azerbaijan use black-eyed beans, and some southern recipes add more garlic and chilli. Fenugreek gives it a distinctive aroma.

Where to try it: Almost every traditional restaurant serves it as chelow ghormeh sabzi, often as a lunch dish.

Vegetarian? No, it is cooked with meat. Some homes make a meat-free version, but restaurants rarely do.

4. Sabzi Polo

Sabzi polo is rice cooked with chopped dill, parsley, coriander and chives. With fish, it becomes sabzi polo ba mahi, the traditional meal for the first days of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

In the Caspian provinces the fish is often fried; on the Persian Gulf coast it may be stuffed with herbs and baked.

Where to try it: Restaurants in the Caspian provinces and in Tehran fish restaurants, and in homes around Nowruz.

Vegetarian? The rice is vegetarian. The classic dish comes with fish.

5. Kabab Koobideh and Other Kebabs

Kabab koobideh is minced lamb or beef mixed with grated onion, salt and pepper, pressed onto wide flat skewers and grilled over charcoal. Served with saffron rice and grilled tomato, it is chelow kabab koobideh, the dish most visitors order first.

Other kebabs to look for: barg (thin fillets of lamb or beef), joojeh (chicken marinated in lemon, onion and saffron, sometimes on the bone), soltani (one barg and one koobideh skewer) and jigar (lamb liver, a common street food).

Where to try it: Kebab houses in every town. To eat with a local guide, see our Iran food and culinary tours.

Vegetarian? No. Kebab houses usually serve grilled tomatoes, salad, yoghurt and bread, which can make a light vegetarian meal.

6. Khoresht-e Gheimeh

Gheimeh is a stew of diced lamb or beef, yellow split peas, tomato and dried lime, topped with thin fried potato sticks. Some versions add aubergine (gheimeh bademjan).

The name comes from gheimeh, small pieces of meat. Before refrigeration, families preserved fried meat under a layer of fat in clay jars for the winter. Gheimeh is also the dish often cooked in large quantities and shared during religious commemorations.

Where to try it: Traditional restaurants and lunch menus across the country.

Vegetarian? No, it is a meat stew. A meat-free version with split peas and aubergine is easy to make at home.

7. Tahchin

Tahchin is a baked rice cake of rice, yoghurt, egg and saffron, with a crisp golden crust. The classic filling is chicken, but lamb, aubergine or vegetables are also used.

At home it is often cooked with a layer of white rice above the crust. In restaurants it is usually served as a single crisp slice, often with barberries on top.

Where to try it: Traditional restaurants, especially in Tehran and Isfahan.

Vegetarian? The chicken version is not. Ask whether a vegetable or aubergine version is available.

8. Abgoosht (Dizi)

Abgoosht is a slow-cooked broth of lamb, chickpeas, white beans, potato, tomato and dried lime. When served in an individual stone or clay pot it is called dizi.

It is eaten in two stages. First you tear bread into a bowl and pour the broth over it (tilit). Then you mash the meat, beans and potato into a paste (goosht koobideh) and eat it with bread, raw onion, herbs and pickles. It started as a working people’s meal in teahouses and caravanserais and is still a popular lunch.

Where to try it: Dizi houses (dizi-sara) and traditional teahouse restaurants, mostly at lunchtime.

Vegetarian? No, the broth is made with lamb.

9. Mirza Ghasemi

Mirza ghasemi is a dish of smoked aubergine, garlic, tomato and egg from Gilan province on the Caspian coast. It is eaten with bread or rice as a starter, a light meal or part of breakfast.

Gilan has its own set of aubergine and herb dishes, including baghala ghatogh and kal kabab. Our list of restaurants in Rasht is a good starting point.

Where to try it: Restaurants in Gilan and Mazandaran, and many traditional restaurants in Tehran.

Vegetarian? Yes, it is vegetarian, but it contains egg, so it is not vegan.

10. Baghali Polo

Baghali polo is rice cooked with broad beans and plenty of dill. It is often served with braised lamb shank (baghali polo ba mahicheh) or chicken.

With its green colour, it is associated with spring and often appears at Nowruz and family celebrations.

Where to try it: Traditional restaurants, especially those that serve lamb shank.

Vegetarian? The rice is vegetarian. Order it without the lamb shank, with yoghurt on the side.

Vegetarian Persian Dishes

Many Persian stews and soups are cooked with meat or meat stock, even when meat is not the main ingredient. These dishes are usually meat-free, but it is worth asking. “Without meat” is bedun-e goosht in Persian.

• Kashk-e bademjan: fried aubergine mashed with kashk, garlic, fried onion and mint.
• Kuku sabzi: a thick herb frittata, often with walnuts and barberries. Contains egg.
• Mirza ghasemi: smoked aubergine with tomato, garlic and egg.
• Ash reshteh: noodle, bean and herb soup with kashk. Check that no meat stock was used.
• Adasi and lentil soups: common at breakfast and in winter.
• Borani: yoghurt mixed with cooked spinach or aubergine.
• Dolmeh: stuffed vine leaves or vegetables. Some versions contain minced meat.

For more detail, read our guide for vegetarians travelling in Iran.

Unusual Iranian Dishes for Adventurous Eaters

Most visitors stick to kebabs and stews, but a few regional and traditional foods surprise first-time visitors.

• Ash-e doogh: a yoghurt soup from Iranian Azerbaijan with herbs, rice and chickpeas, served hot.
• Del, jigar and gholveh: heart, liver and kidney kebabs, a common street food. You will see jigar on the grills of eateries along the mountain path at Darband in Tehran.
• Dolmeh sirabi: a speciality of Arak in central Iran. Cleaned tripe is filled with minced meat, onion, rice, split peas and herbs, then cooked slowly.
• Kalleh pacheh: sheep’s head and hooves, slow-cooked overnight and eaten as an early breakfast. Specialist shops open before dawn.
• Sirabi: lamb tripe slow-cooked with onion, garlic and lemon, often sold from street stalls in winter.
• Ashpal: fish roe from the Caspian provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran, grilled, salted or fried with egg.

Where to Eat Persian Food in Iran

• Kebab houses (kababi): quick, reliable and found in every town.
• Traditional restaurants (sofreh-khaneh): often in restored houses or caravanserais, with a wider range of stews and rice dishes.
• Ash and dizi shops: small, local places, mostly busy at lunchtime.
• Bazaars: good for snacks, sweets, dried fruit and nuts. See what to buy in Iran.
• Family homes: the best place to taste home cooking. Our guide to visiting Iranian homes explains the etiquette.

Food changes a lot from one province to the next. Mashhad has its own traditional dishes, the Caspian coast is known for fish, aubergine and herb dishes, and Tabriz is known for its large stuffed meatballs (kufteh tabrizi).

What to Drink with Persian Food

Doogh, a salted yoghurt drink, often with dried mint, is the classic partner for kebab and abgoosht. Tea follows almost every meal. Alcohol is not served in Iranian restaurants. See our guide to Iranian drinks for sharbat, juices and herbal drinks.

Persian Cookbooks for Further Reading

If you want to cook these dishes at home, these widely available books are a good place to start.

• Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies by Najmieh Batmanglij
• Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories by Naz Deravian
• The Saffron Tales: Recipes from the Persian Kitchen by Yasmin Khan
• Persiana: Recipes from the Middle East and Beyond by Sabrina Ghayour
• Taste of Persia: A Cook’s Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan by Naomi Duguid
• Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine by Nasim Alikhani

Where to Start

Order chelow kabab on your first night and ghormeh sabzi at your first lunch. After that, eat what the region does best: fish and aubergine in Gilan, dizi in Tehran, kufteh in Tabriz. If you want to cook with local families, the 14-day Iran culinary tour includes cooking classes in local homes. You can also browse all Iran tour packages, or book flights and hotels through OrientTrips.

Persian Food: FAQs