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    Home » Recipes » Mediterranean Recipes

    Lebanese Hashweh Rice (Spiced Rice with Ground Beef and Pine Nuts)

    Published: Nov 11, 2020 · Modified: Oct 4, 2022 by Samantha Ferraro · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

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    A decadent and impressive spiced rice dish that literally translates to "stuffing". Layered with warm spices of cinnamon and allspice, savory ground beef and toasted pine nuts.

    A decadent and impressive spiced rice dish that literally translates to "stuffing". Layered with warm spices of cinnamon and allspice, savory ground beef and toasted pine nuts.

    What is Hashweh

    A gorgeous spiced rice dish with Levantine decent that is also called hashwee. The rice is flavored with warm spices such as cinnamon and allspice and is layered with ground meat and topped with toasted pine nuts.

    The word hashweh literally means stuffing and is fantastic stuffed into zucchini, eggplant or layer hashweh over creamy tahini. Hashweh is also served for the holidays and makes a fantastic dinner centerpiece.

    Lebanese Spiced Rice Ingredients

    Ghee: Is clarified butter and is classic in this recipe. Though butter or olive oil will work too, but the olive oil may offer a stronger and fruitier flavor.

    Ground Beef: Lean ground beef is browned with the rice, but I've made this with ground lamb adn a combination of the two.

    Basmati Rice: Our favorite style of rice because it is light and fragrant.

    Onion and Garlic: Classic aromatics, I used a red onion in this recipe for the color and sweetness but others should work well.

    Warm Spices: Cinnamon, cumin, allspice, nutmeg, salt and pepper is what gives this dish its exciting and warm flavors.

    Pint Nuts: Toasted in ghee until golden brown. Slivered almonds would be fantastic to add or substitute.

    A decadent and impressive spiced rice dish that literally translates to "stuffing". Layered with warm spices of cinnamon and allspice, savory ground beef and toasted pine nuts.

    Instructions to Make Hashweh

    Over medium heat, add ghee to a medium sized pot. Add in ground beef and onion and cook until beef is fully cooked through. Add in garlic and spices and saute for another minute.

    Wash rice very well until water turns clear and add rice to the meat mixture and give everything a good stir.

    Pour in stock and add another tablespoon of ghee.

    Place lid on and bring to a boil, then reduce down to a simmer and cook until rice is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

    While rice is cooking, make the toasted pine nuts. Melt ghee in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat and pine nuts. Toss pine nuts around and saute for a few minutes until the pine nuts just start to turn golden brown. As soon as you can smell the pine nuts, remove them to another plate and let cool. They will be very hot.

    Once done, let rice sit for a few minutes and then fluff with a fork. Garnish with toasted pine nuts and fresh chopped herbs.

    If you like this Hashweh recipe you may enjoy my Mediterranean rice and my Persian Rice with Dates and Pistachios.

    What to Serve Hashweh With

    Serve hashweh with creamy tahini sauce and homemade pita bread to dip in everything.

    More great rice dishes

    • Tahdig (Persian Rice)
    • Jeweled Cauliflower Rice with Pomegranate and Pistachios
    • Greek rice pilaf with orzo and fresh dill.
      Greek Rice Pilaf with Orzo
    • Persian Jeweled rice with dried fruit, orange and fragrant basmati.
      Persian Jeweled Rice
    A decadent and impressive spiced rice dish that literally translates to "stuffing". Layered with warm spices of cinnamon and allspice, savory ground beef and toasted pine nuts.

    Lebanese Hushweh Rice (Spiced Rice with Meat and Pine Nuts)

    Samantha Ferraro

    LittleFerraroKitchen.com

    A decadent and impressive spiced rice dish that literally translates to "stuffing". Layered with warm spices of cinnamon and allspice, savory ground beef and toasted pine nuts.
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    Resting Time 10 minutes mins
    Total Time 40 minutes mins
    Course Main Course, Side Dish
    Cuisine Lebanese, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories 820 kcal

    Ingredients
     
     

    Rice

    • 3 tablespoons ghee separated
    • 1 pound ground beef
    • 1 small red onion chopped finely
    • 2 garlic cloves chopped finely
    • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon cumin
    • ½ teaspoon allspice
    • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • Ground pepper
    • 1 ¼ cup Basmati rice
    • 2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken stock

    Toppings:

    • 1 tablespoon ghee
    • ½ cup pine nuts
    • Fresh parsley leaves roughly chopped
    • Sumac optional
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    Instructions
     

    • Cook Beef in Ghee. Over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of ghee to a medium sized pot. Add in ground beef and onion and cook until beef is fully cooked through, breaking up the meat as you go. Add in garlic and spices and saute for another minute.
    • Add Rice. Wash rice very well until water turns clear and add rice to the meat mixture and give everything a good stir.
    • Add Stock. Pour in stock and add another tablespoon of ghee.
    • Simmer Rice. Place lid on and bring to a boil, then reduce down to a simmer and cook until rice is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
    • Toast Pine Nuts. While rice is cooking, make the toasted pine nuts. Melt ghee in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat and pine nuts.
    • Toss pine nuts around and saute for a few minutes until the pine nuts just start to turn golden brown. As soon as you can smell the pine nuts, remove them to another plate and let cool. They will be very hot.
    • Garnish Rice. Once done, let rice sit for a few minutes and then fluff with a fork. Garnish with toasted pine nuts, fresh chopped herbs and good sprinkle of sumac.

    Notes

    If you don't like ground beef, ground lamb is a great substitute and very authentic as well.
    For a vegetarian take, I would suggest chopped up mushrooms such as portobello and cremini. if pine nuts aren't available, slivered almonds will work too.
    Servings are set for 4 as a main course but can go up to 6 servings as a side dish
    Leftovers are fantastic stuffed in zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 820kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 30gFat: 53gSaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 119mgSodium: 418mgPotassium: 665mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 67mgIron: 4mg
    Did you make this recipe?Let us know by leaving a comment and 5 star rating!

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      Baked Za'atar Fries
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      Baba Ganoush without Tahini
    • Mediterranean rice recipe with turmeric and toasted pine nuts.
      Mediterranean Rice
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      Herb Crusted Salmon

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Gigi says

      February 20, 2022 at 3:26 pm

      5 stars
      14 tsp nutmeg? That's 1/4 tsp right?

      Reply
      • Samantha says

        February 28, 2022 at 10:01 am

        Thank you Gigi for catching that mistake..yes you are right. It is 1/4 teaspoon. Will update ASAP!

        Reply
        • A Engelke says

          April 23, 2023 at 5:04 am

          5 stars
          This was an excellent dish that the whole family loved. They want it to go into the "permanent rotation!" As was noticed in another comment, watch the spice amounts when converting from US to metric - the site goes wonky with the fractions, so 1/4 becomes 14 and 1/2 becomes 28 teaspoons!

          Reply
          • Samantha Ferraro says

            April 23, 2023 at 8:45 am

            Hello, So glad you and your family loved the recipe. I will send an email to the company we pay to do the conversion. They need to permanently fix the issue. Thank you so much. Samantha

            Reply

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