Turkish Lamb Stew with Chickpeas is a one pot dish made with slow cooked lamb, chickpeas and small onions. In Turkey we call it etli nohut, and we eat it all through the winter. The lamb cooks until it's soft enough to fall apart, and the chickpeas soak up the sauce.
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It's a budget-friendly dinner that feeds four with some bread on the side, and once it's in the pot there's very little left to do. We serve it with Turkish Rice or Bulgur Rice Pilaf and a bowl of Cacik. I usually make a big pot on a Sunday, because it tastes even better the next day.
In Turkey this goes by a few names. Etli nohut and etli nohut yemeği both mean the chickpea dish with meat, and you will also hear it called nohut yahni.
Why This Recipe Works
- It all cooks in one pot, and almost none of the time is hands on.
- A cup of dried chickpeas and a slow cooking cut of lamb feeds four people.
- The lamb falls apart after a few hours in the oven.
- Leftovers taste better than they did on the day you made it.
- This lamb stew freezes well, so you can keep a batch for three months.
- You can use up leftover roast lamb or beef instead of raw meat.
- A bowl of cacik and some pilaf on the side turn it into a proper Turkish dinner.
Ingredients You'll Need
Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.
- Lamb - Shoulder, shank or shin. They have plenty of collagen in them, which melts down over a few hours and gives the sauce body. Leg is too lean for this and goes stringy.
- Chickpeas - I use dried chickpeas for this. They keep their shape and have more flavor than canned ones. Try to buy them from a shop that sells a lot of them, because old chickpeas never soften properly no matter how long you cook them.
- Pearl onions - I leave them whole so they stay in one piece and turn sweet as the stew cooks. If you can't find them, use small shallots or a couple of regular onions cut into chunks.
- Stock - Homemade Beef Stock is best here, because the gelatin from the bones gives the stew body. Chicken Bone Broth works as well, and stock cubes are fine. Go easy on the salt if you use cubes, since they carry plenty already.
- Cumin - Add a pinch with the other spices. In Turkey we always add it to chickpea dishes because it makes them easier to digest, and it goes well with the stew anyway.
How to Make Turkish Lamb Stew with Chickpeas?
Soak and Cook the Dried Chickpeas
Soak the dried chickpeas in plenty of water overnight, or for at least 8 hours. Stir half a teaspoon of baking soda into the soaking water. It softens them faster, loosens the skins, and they sit easier afterwards.
Use at least twice as much water as chickpeas, because they swell a lot overnight. Put them in a big bowl so they have room.
Drain the chickpeas, rinse them, then put them in a pan with fresh water and bring it to a boil. Skim the foam off the top as it rises, and lift out any skins that float up.
Lower the heat and cook them for 30 to 40 minutes, until they have softened a little. Leave the salt out at this stage, because chickpeas stay hard if they cook in salted water.
If you're using a pressure cooker, depending on the setting, the cooking period will be around 20-25 minutes at low heat after the pressure is up.
Prepare the Base
If you want to use a Dutch oven for cooking your chickpea stew, preheat the fan oven to 180° C (360° F).
Heat the Dutch oven on medium-high heat, add olive oil, and sear the lamb in batches to achieve equally golden brown meat.
Lower the heat, add the onions, and sauté until slightly browned then add the garlic. You can use 2 large onions if you don't have pearl onions or small shallots.
Chop the large onions into chunky pieces. Cook them for another minute, then stir in the tomato paste and the red pepper paste. Use an extra tablespoon of tomato paste if you have no red pepper paste.
Add the cumin and the flour and stir them through.
Deglaze the pan with a splash of stock, scraping the sticky bits off the bottom, then add the chickpeas.
If you are using canned chickpeas, keep them back until the last twenty minutes.
Pour in the rest of the stock and add the chilies and the freshly ground black pepper. Leave the salt out for now. Bring it to a boil, put the lid on, and move the pot to the oven.
Cook it for 2 hours, or until the meat and the chickpeas are soft. Check the liquid now and then and top it up with stock if it looks dry, and stir it every half hour so nothing catches on the bottom.
Season it with salt in the last 20 minutes, once the chickpeas have gone soft.
Recipe Tips From the Chef
- Soak the chickpeas overnight in at least twice their volume of water, because they swell a lot.
- Add half a teaspoon of baking soda to the soaking water. The chickpeas soften faster, the skins come off more easily, and they're easier to digest.
- Skim off the foam as the chickpeas boil, and pick out any skins that float to the top. It makes the stew smoother and cleaner looking.
- Don't add the salt too early. Chickpeas stay hard if they cook in salted water, so season the stew in the last twenty minutes.
- Sear the lamb in batches. A crowded pan steams the meat instead of browning it.
- Use homemade stock if you have some. The gelatin from the bones is what gives the stew its body.
- Stir it every half hour so nothing catches on the bottom of the pot.
- Cook it a day ahead if you can. It tastes better reheated than it does the first time.
Serving Suggestions
In Turkey this comes to the table with a plate of Pickled Cucumbers and a glass of Ayran alongside it. A spoonful of Homemade Greek Yogurt on top works just as well if you would rather.
Bread is just as good for mopping up the sauce. I usually make Bazlama, but Turkish Pide Bread - Ramazan Pidesi or Garlic Naan - Indian Flatbread go really well with it.
Variations
- If you want it without meat, make nohut yemeği instead. In Turkey it's a proper dish on its own, and we cook it just as often.
- Use beef instead of lamb. Go for a marbled cut with some connective tissue in it, like brisket, chuck or shin.
- Use canned chickpeas when you are short of time. Drain them and add them for the last twenty minutes so they hold together.
- Cook it in a pressure cooker. The chickpeas need about 25 minutes once the pressure is up.
- Drop a bay leaf or a sprig of rosemary into the pot with the stock.
Storage and Make Ahead Instructions
Leftovers keep for five days in the fridge in an airtight container, and they taste better than they did on the day. Let the stew cool before it goes in, and reheat it gently on the stove with a splash of stock or water, because the chickpeas drink up the liquid as they sit.
It freezes for three months. Freeze it in portions so you can take out what you need, and thaw it overnight in the fridge before you reheat it.
Cook it a day or two ahead when you have people coming. You can split the work up further by soaking and precooking the chickpeas the day before that.
Recipe FAQs
We call it etli nohut, or etli nohut yemeği, which means the chickpea dish with meat. You will also see it written as nohut yahni. Without the meat it is nohut yemeği, and that is a dish in its own right rather than a version of this one.
It is a tencere yemeği, a one pot dish cooked slowly on the stove or in the oven rather than fast over a grill. Lamb, onions, tomato and pepper paste and stock go in the pot, and it cooks until the meat is soft enough to fall apart.
Either they were old, or salt went in too early. Buy chickpeas that have not sat in a cupboard for years, soak them overnight with a little baking soda, and leave the salt until the last twenty minutes.
Yes, or for at least eight hours. They need that time to take up water, and unsoaked chickpeas cook unevenly and take hours longer. If you forget, use canned ones that night instead.
Yes. Drain them and add them for the last twenty minutes, or they break up. Dried chickpeas hold their shape better and taste of more, so I use them when I have the time to plan ahead.
Related Recipes
For more hearty one pot recipes why not try:
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I hope you enjoy the process of making this hearty and rich Turkish Lamb and Chickpea Stew as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
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Turkish Lamb Stew with Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas (250 g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (for the chickpea soaking water)
- 1 ¾ lbs diced lamb (800 g)
- 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
- 8-10 pearl onions or small shallots (peeled and left whole)
- 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon red pepper paste (replace with 1 tablespoon tomato paste if you do not have it)
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 cups chicken, lamb or beef stock (1 litre)
- 1 chopped red chili (optional) (or ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Soak and Cook the Dried Chickpeas
- Soak the chickpeas overnight, or for at least 8 hours, in at least twice their volume of water. Stir the baking soda into the soaking water.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then put them in a pan with fresh water and bring it to a boil. Skim the foam off the top and lift out any skins that float up.
- Lower the heat and cook them for 30 to 40 minutes, until they have softened a little, then drain them. Leave the salt out at this stage, because chickpeas stay hard if they cook in salted water. In a pressure cooker they need about 20 to 25 minutes once the pressure is up.
Prepare the Base
- Preheat a fan oven to 180° C - 360° F if you are cooking it in a Dutch oven.
- Heat the Dutch oven or a heavy based pan over medium high heat, add the olive oil, and sear the lamb in batches so it browns rather than steams.
- Turn the heat down to medium, add the onions and cook until they color a little, then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Stir in the tomato paste and the red pepper paste, then add the cumin and the flour and stir them through.
- Deglaze the pan with a splash of stock, scraping the sticky bits off the bottom, then add the chickpeas. If you are using canned chickpeas, keep them back until the last twenty minutes.
- Pour in the rest of the stock and add the chilies and the black pepper. Leave the salt out for now. Bring it to a boil, put the lid on, and move the pot to the oven.
- Cook it for 2 hours, or until the meat and the chickpeas are soft. Check the liquid now and then and top it up with stock if it looks dry, and stir it every half hour so nothing catches on the bottom.
- Season it with salt in the last 20 minutes, once the chickpeas have gone soft.
- On the stove, cover the pan and simmer it gently for the same 2 hours, stirring more often because it catches more easily.
Notes
- Soak the chickpeas overnight in at least twice their volume of water, with half a teaspoon of baking soda stirred in. They soften faster, the skins loosen, and they sit easier afterwards.
- Skim the foam while the chickpeas boil and lift out the skins that float up, for a smoother stew.
- Salt goes in late. Chickpeas stay hard if they cook in salted water, so season the stew in the last twenty minutes.
- Sear the lamb in batches. A crowded pan steams the meat instead of browning it.
- Shoulder, shank or shin are the cuts to use. They have the collagen that gives the sauce body. Leg is too lean and goes stringy.
- For beef, use a marbled cut with connective tissue in it, like brisket, chuck or shin.
- Homemade stock makes a real difference here, because the gelatin from the bones gives the stew body. Go easy on the salt if you use cubes instead.
- Stir it every half hour so nothing catches on the bottom of the pot.
- Canned chickpeas work when you are short of time. Drain them and add them for the last twenty minutes.
- In a pressure cooker the chickpeas need about 20 to 25 minutes once the pressure is up.
- Leave the meat out and you have nohut yemegi, the meatless version, which is a dish in its own right in Turkey.
- Leftovers keep 5 days in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer, and they taste better reheated. Add a splash of stock or water when you warm them, because the chickpeas take up the liquid as they sit.
Sally says
Delicious simple, yet hearty recipe that has become a family favourite. I've cooked this with lamb, beef and without any meat. I've also swapped the white beans for chickpeas. Each dish worked perfectly and I now cook it regularly. We serve it on white and brown rice and we all love it! Thank you for sharing this excellent recipe!
Ayla Clulee says
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback Sally!
I am thrilled to hear that this recipe has become a family favorite for you. Your kind words mean a lot to me.
Happy cooking, and thank you for trying out our recipe!
Best wishes
Ayla
Letitia says
I tried this today and it was delicious! I served it with creamy mashed potatoes. A great recipe. Not too fussy, and very effective.
Ayla says
This is my first time making and eating this recipe. I absolutely loved it. Thank you. I will definitely be making this again!