A flavor packed meal with spinach, tender beef, fresh lemon on a bed of rice. This meal comes together in about 30 minutes and packed with so much flavor. A fresh, light and flavorful "stew" like dish. It's perfect on a cold day but even better on a summer day as it's still super light. Simple ingredients, low budget cost, packed with flavor.
A few ingredient highlights
- Fresh beef - inexpensive cut like petite sirloin
- Frozen spinach - I've made this recipe many times over the years and frozen spinach is the way to go. The meal is most comprised of spinach so you need a lot. You would need an enormous amount of fresh spinach to make it work.
How to Make
I have my go-to large skillet that I use for so many of my meals. It's large enough to cook a good sized meal for the whole family. So grab one of your large skillets to start.
Heat up your skillet on medium-high and add your olive oil then add your chopped onions and let them begin to sweat.
Next, add your chopped meat and continuously stir. Once browned, add in your first cup of water or broth, let the meat cook until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding in water or broth as it becomes absorbed. It usually takes about 45 minutes or so until your you use all the liquid. Your meat should be nice and tender by this point.
Next, add in your frozen spinach and the remaining liquid. Let the spinach soften in the juices. Season with salt and pepper to desired taste.
While you spinach finishes cooking, make a pot of Lebanese Vermicelli Rice, it's simply the best! Place a bed of rice on a dish, top with spinach mixture, squeeze fresh lemon on top and top with toasted pine nuts if desired.
This meal is simple enough for a weeknight meal but elegant enough for a weekend dinner party!
I hope you enjoy this recipe! As always, I love seeing your creations. Please leave a review or share your dish with me on social media. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. For more delicious recipes to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter!
xoxo,
Cosette
Lebanese Spinach and Beef Stew (Sabanegh be-riz)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Lebanese
Description
Simple peasant meal for an easy and wholesome meal.
Ingredients
Rice
- 2 cups Jasmine rice or similar, rinsed
- ⅓ cup vermicelli noodles* see note to keep gluten free
- 2 tablespoon salted butter
- 4 cups of water or broth
Spinach + Meat
- 1 lb meat; petite sirloin works well, diced into small pieces
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 cups of water or beef/chicken broth (divided 4+2)
- 24 oz bag of frozen spinach
- Salt + Pepper
- Fresh lemon
- Toasted pine nuts**
Instructions
Rice
- Begin by rinsing your rice. You'll want to soak in water for about 15-20 minutes and then drain and rinse to be sure the water runs clear. Removing the extra starch allows the rice to be much fluffier and not stick together. Continue rinsing and draining until the water runs clear.
- In a non-stick pot, melt butter and add in the vermicelli noodles, let them brown while stirring constantly so they don't burn.
- Once the noodles have browned, add in your rinsed rice and let them get coated with the butter and begin to smell fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
- Next add your 4 cups of water bring to a boil, then cover and lower heat to low. Set timer for 20 minutes.
- Once the rice is done, remove from heat and leave covered for 10-15 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Spinach + Meat
- Place large skillet onto burner on medium-high heat. Add olive oil.
- Once oil is warm, add chopped onions and let them begin to sweat, 5-8 minutes.
- Next, add your chopped meat and continuously stir.
- Once browned, add in your first cup of water or broth, let the meat cook until the liquid is absorbed.
- Add in your next cup of water or broth. Continue adding in water or broth as it becomes absorbed. You'll want to use 4 cups total, it should take about 45 minutes. (reserve the other 2 cups)
- Next, add in your frozen spinach and the remaining 2 cups of liquid. Let the spinach soften in the juices.
- Season with salt and pepper to desired taste. I don't specify the amount because depending on if you choose to use water or broth, it will change the amount. Always start with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and add more from there to taste.
- Plate bed of rice, add spinach mixture and squeeze lemon on top. Add toasted pine nuts if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- **Toasted pine nuts are a delicious added treat to this meal. Melt a little butter in a pan and add pine nuts until they brown and are fragrant. Remove and use as a topping.
- Omit vermicelli noodles to keep dish gluten free
LaRae says
I love this recipe. I already have all of these ingredients in my house. Thanks for a good, solid dinner idea!!
Cosette's Kitchen says
So glad LaRae! It's truly a staple meal in our home! It heats up really well too, I pack in my kids lunches during the school year as well. Thanks for your comment!
Jennifer says
I love when I find a dinner recipe that really speaks to me! I can’t wait to make this for me and the hubs! And I’ll definitely be adding the toasted pine nuts because they’re so good!
Cosette's Kitchen says
Oh yay! That makes me so happy! I hope you both enjoy it! And pines nuts are the best!
Xoxo,
Cosette
Janine says
I have grown up with this dish and actually had some last night for dinner except our spinach/meat mixture is initially prepared with minced garlic and dried coriander, not onions!
Cosette's Kitchen says
Hi Janine,
So happy this a familiar recipe, love hearing the variations!!!
xoxo,
Cosette
Rochelle Broder-Singer says
A few questions:
1) I can't have butter. Do you think ghee (for rice and for pine nuts) will work? Or should we sub olive oil or something else?
2) If we want to use fresh spinach, is it also 24 ounces? We buy it in bulk at Costco, so that's totally an option.
Thank you.
Cosette's Kitchen says
Hi Rochelle,
Ghee or olive oil works great for both the nuts and rice!!
You can certainly use fresh spinach, as you know a lot is actually a little 😆, so you'd probably need more to make a full meal but you can always find your balance. If you are cooking for 2, that might work, if you are cooking for more, more spinach may be needed.
Hope that helps!
Xoxo,
Cosette
Rania Bolotok says
Why do we have to add so much water or broth to the meat? I am being very impatient 🥴
Cosette's Kitchen says
Hahahaha! It helps to create a juice and adding the water will allow the meat to cook through and become tender.
xoxo,
Cosette
Denis Titmus says
I’ve cooked this dish many times as it is one of my favourites, I tend at the end of cooking fry a handful of coriander cumin and garlic and add to the sauce for me this is perfection
Cosette Posko says
Mmmmm, love that adaptation! So glad you love it. Thank you for the review 😉
xoxo,
Cosette