Beshbarmak

Economic context

Kazakhstan’s $3.06 daily figure is among the lower costs of a healthy diet in this atlas, yet beshbarmak itself — built around 1.2 kg of meat for six people, plus handmade noodles — sits well above baseline eating. It is the dish of hospitality and celebration precisely because meat in that quantity is not what fills an ordinary weekday plate.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Kazakhstan generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

History

Beshbarmak, whose name literally means “five fingers” since it is traditionally eaten by hand, is the ultimate dish of hospitality across the steppes of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. It pairs long-boiled meat (mutton, horse or beef) with wide, unleavened flat noodles, all topped with the cooking broth.

Served on a large shared platter set at the center of the table, beshbarmak is carved and distributed according to a precise order of precedence: the choicest cuts, including the sheep’s head in the most ceremonial versions, go to the guests of honor — a ritual that reflects the importance of hospitality in nomadic Kazakh culture.

Ingredients — serves 6

• 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) meat (mutton, beef or horse)
• 500 g (1.1 lb) flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 onions
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt, whole black peppercorns
• Fresh dill or parsley

Step-by-step Kazakh beshbarmak recipe

1. Boil the meat in a large amount of water with one onion, the bay leaf and pepper, for 2 to 3 hours over low heat.
2. Prepare a firm dough with the flour, eggs and a little salted water, then let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. Roll the dough thinly and cut it into wide diamond shapes.
4. Cook the dough diamonds for a few minutes in the simmering meat broth.
5. Slice the second onion thinly and briefly cook it in a little broth.
6. Arrange the noodles on a large platter, cover with shredded meat and onions, then pour over hot broth and dill before serving.

Cooking method

Technique: long simmering over very low heat, noodles cooked directly in the cooking broth to absorb its flavor.

Traditional equipment: large pot (kazan), shared serving platter for the table.

Tips: the meat should come apart easily with a fork, a sign it has cooked long enough.

Nutrition, per serving

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided by six servings.

Fatty mutton or beef shoulder, simmered for hours, keeps its fat content in the broth as much as in the meat itself — 39 g of fat per serving, with a sizable share saturated. The handmade noodles supply most of the 67 g of carbohydrate, cooked directly in that broth rather than boiled separately.

Who this dish suits

What about you?

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