Lagman is a One-Pot Lamb and Vegetable Noodle Stew. This traditional Central Asian dish is made with lots of vegetables: onion, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic. There are lots of flavors and spices in this Uzbek noodle dish: cumin seed, fresh parsley, fresh basil. Everything is cooked in one pan. Minimal clean-up!
What is lagman?
Lamb vegetable noodle stew, called Lagman, is a popular comfort food in Central Asian countries. This stew has Chinese origins and has a long history of being a staple of oriental cuisines from the Great Silk Road. Savory and delicious, lagman can be served as a stew, soup, or pasta dish. It all depends how you wish to serve it.
Lagman also uses LOTS of vegetables, here is the photo of all vegetables that went into this lamb and vegetable stew recipe:
I love lamb, and the below recipe is one of the simplest (and cheapest!) ways to cook lamb. I will be using lamb shoulder chops, which are affordable and can be found in most stores.
How to make Lagman - One-Pot Lamb and Vegetable Noodle Stew:
Below are step-by-step photos to show how to make lagman. For complete recipe, scroll down.
1) Finely chop all vegetables: Cut onion in half and then slice thin rings. Chop carrots, bell peppers, potatoes in small-medium cubes. Slice tomatoes finely. Finely chop parsley and basil. Chop garlic cloves.
2) Pour olive oil in a large pan and heat it on high heat until hot.
3) Add lamb chops and cook on each side until nicely browned - about 7 minutes on each side.
4) If lamb chops start sticking to the pan, just leave them there to cook until they do not stick any more and then you can flip them over to the other side - when pan gets hot enough it will be easy to flip them over.
5) Do not cover with lid - use splatter screen instead. Splatter screen lets the steam out and prevents olive oil from spraying out of the pan. It's a very handy tool!
6) After you browned lamb chops in the olive oil (which should remain in the pan - do not discard the oil), continue putting ingredients in the same pan in the following sequence (you can also see the sequence in my photos):
7) First, add onions to lamb chops and continue cooking on high heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, until onions get a little browned.
8) Add carrots and continue cooking and stirring on high heat, uncovered, or using splatter screen. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add bell peppers.
9) At this point, remove lamb chops to a separate plate and continue cooking vegetables uncovered on high heat for 5 minutes.
10) Add tomatoes, cumin seed to the pan. Continue cooking for 10-15 minutes until tomatoes are cooked.
11) Finally add potatoes, half of chopped parsley and basil, salt to taste - mix everything up, cook for 5 minutes.
12) Add 2.5 cups of water, when it starts boiling, throw the garlic in.
13) Return lamb chops back to the pan, settle them at the bottom of the pan, with the vegetables around or a bit on top of lamb chops, bring to boil.
14) Reduce heat to low, but so that the liquid continues simmering in the pan. On my stove when the dish has been heated through like that, low setting still results in pretty strong simmering, but on a different stoves, the low setting might be too low for simmering.
15) Salt to taste.
16) Cover with the lid and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
17) In the mean time, boil water for pasta, throw the pasta and cook it until al dente. Drain pasta.
How to serve lagman
1) Prepare 4 bowls.
2) Add noodles in each bowl.
3) Pour the stew with vegetables over the noodles.
4) Top with a lamb chop.
5) Sprinkle with chopped greens (parsley and basil) on top.
Lagman Recipe – One-Pot Lamb and Vegetable Noodle Stew
Ingredients
- 1 lb Lamb Shoulder Chops
- ⅓ cup Olive Oil
- 1 Onion , big
- 2 Carrots , medium
- 2 Bell Peppers , green or red
- 2 Tomatoes , medium
- 2 tablespoons Cumin Seed (not powder)
- 2 Potatoes , small
- 1 Bunch of Parsley , fresh
- 10 Leaves Basil , fresh
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2.5 cups Water
- 8 oz Fettuccine
Instructions
Finely chop the vegetables:
- Finely chop all vegetables: Cut onion in half and then slice thin rings. Chop carrots, bell peppers, potatoes in small-medium cubes. Slice tomatoes finely. Finely chop parsley and basil. Chop garlic cloves.
Cook lamb:
- Pour olive oil in a large pan and heat it on high heat until hot.
- Add lamb chops and cook on each side until nicely browned – about 7 minutes on each side. If lamb chops start sticking to the pan, just leave them there to cook until they do not stick any more and then you can flip them over to the other side – when pan gets hot enough it will be easy to flip them over. Do not cover with lid – use splatter screen instead. Splatter screen lets the steam out and prevents olive oil from spraying out of the pan. It’s a very handy tool!
Add the vegetables to the skillet:
- After you browned lamb chops in the olive oil (which should remain in the pan – do not discard the oil), continue putting ingredients in the same pan in the following sequence (you can also see the sequence in my photos above):
- First, add onions to lamb chops and continue cooking on high heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, until onions get a little browned.
- Add carrots and continue cooking and stirring on high heat, uncovered, or using splatter screen. Cook for about 10 minutes.
- Then add bell peppers. At this point, remove lamb chops to a separate plate and continue cooking vegetables uncovered on high heat for 5 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, cumin seed to the pan. Continue cooking for 10-15 minutes until tomatoes are cooked.
- Finally add potatoes, half of chopped parsley and basil, salt to taste – mix everything up, cook for 5 minutes.
- Add 2.5 cups of water, when it starts boiling, throw the garlic in.
Cook lamb and vegetables together:
- Return lamb chops back to the pan, settle them at the bottom of the pan, with the vegetables around or a bit on top of lamb chops, bring to boil.
- Reduce heat to low, but so that the liquid continues simmering in the pan. On my stove when the dish has been heated through like that, low setting still results in pretty strong simmering, but on a different stoves, the low setting might be too low for simmering. Salt to taste. Cover with the lid and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Cook noodles:
- In the mean time, boil water for pasta, throw the noodles and cook it until al dente. Drain pasta.
How to serve lagman:
- Prepare 4 soup bowls.
- Add equal amount of noodles in each bowl.
- Pour the vegetable stew over the noodles.
- Top with a lamb chop (slice lamb chops, if desired).
- Sprinkle with chopped greens (parsley and basil) on top.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Wonderful recipe! Love lagman!
This was a hit with my family. Including my 2 year old! Thank you!!
Michelle, I am so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to share such a positive comment and a 5-star review - I appreciate it! 🙂
Hi Julia,
I may cook this for 20 guests, do you think I could prepare chunks or pieces of lamb, and not lamb shoulders? Would be more "Stew" like…let me know your thoughts?
thank you!!!
What a wonderful recipe 🙂 great job with the pics
Oh my, this is beautiful!! And delicious, of course. I also love your plate in the very first photo...so pretty.
I really need one of those splatter screens! Looks delicious. Cab't wait to try it and I can't remember the last time I cooked lamb.
Thank you! Yes, those splatter screens are great!
The colors on this dish look beautiful. I'm a beginner at lamb myself, but this looks very doable. Do you leave all the oil in there after you brown the lamb? Is it harder to eat with a long pasta like fettuccine? Thanks for sharing
This recipe is very doable! The only "challenging" part is chopping all vegetables, because it's somewhat time consuming. Yes, I leave the oil in the pan after browning the lamb. All the juices absorbed by olive oil during browning and the flavor of olive oil itself add to the dish. The pasta actually SHOULD be quite long. Traditionally, this dish is eaten with homemade pasta, which is made extremely long.