Beshbarmak (Chicken Pasta Recipe) – Kazakhstan's national dish is one I'm excited to share with you! Made with homemade pasta and chicken, smothered in an onion broth, this simple yet flavorful recipe is one made with an extra dose of love and whole, fresh ingredients.
Growing up in Kazakhstan, we ate beshbarmak quite often. This national dish is popular among many peoples of Central Asia. Although it started as a dish reserved for special occasions, it has since turned into comfort food perfect for serving during the week as well as a way to welcome guests into your home!
It’s an easy, simple, and tasty dish made completely from scratch, and because it’s made with simple ingredients, it’s a recipe you can whip up at any given time.
Jump to:
What is Beshbarmak?
Essentially it’s made from meat, pasta, and an onion broth. The meat can be anything from horse meat, to lamb, to beef, and chicken. It gets boiled until it falls apart tender and then enjoyed with dough, in the form of pasta, and served with onions that were cooked in the chicken broth. It’s so good.
The name beshbarmak translates to “five fingers” because originally it was meant to be eaten with your hands. It’s evolved to a dish eaten with a fork, however, you do you! No matter how you eat it, you’re going to finish every last bite!
Why this Recipe Works
- From scratch - Yet, it’s still so easy! There’s only 25 minutes of active time and the rest is waiting for things to cook. Making homemade pasta has never been so easy, so if you’ve ever wanted to learn, now’s your chance.
- Fresh ingredients - There’s nothing better than a homemade meal made with fresh, simple ingredients that are delicious, comforting, and nutritious!
- An exploration of culture - Make this beshbarmak recipe and find out why I loved eating it growing up and why my kids now love it too! Kazakhstan doesn’t have too many dishes that it can truly call its own, but beshbarmak is certainly one of them!
Cooking Tips
- Save some time. As much as this beshbarmak kazakh food is my favorite made from scratch, there are ways to make it with shortcuts. Instead of making the dough yourself, feel free to use store bought dough. You can even use store-bought noodles if you’d like.
- Use a different protein. Although horse meat is the most authentic way to cook this dish, I don’t know how big that will go over with most American families, so feel free to use beef instead. Lamb is also a great choice.
- To speed up the recipe, feel free to cook the chicken in an instant pot.
- If you’d rather slow down the recipe, you can cook the chicken in a slow cooker instead. This is great for starting to prepare the meal ahead of time, and then continuing later on.
Beshbarmak Ingredients
- For the Chicken and Broth: You’ll need chicken skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks, water, and salt.
- The onions: Sliced into half rings. You can use either 1 large onion or 2 medium-sized onions. Ground black pepper, to taste, and finely chopped fresh herbs like parsley or chives.
- To make the pasta: Grab flour, sea salt, an egg, and water.
How to Cook Beshbarmak
Step 1: Rinse the chicken under cold water. Place it in a large stock pot and add water and salt, bringing it to a boil. Simmer the chicken for about 45-50 minutes. Occasionally skim any foam that makes its way to the surface.
Step 2: While the chicken is boiling, grab a mixing bowl for the dough. Dissolve the salt in water and mix it with the egg. Sift the flour and add it to the water and egg mixture. Knead the dough with your hands until the pasta dough comes together.
Step 3: Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Step 4: Transfer the dough out onto a clean surface and divide it into 2 parts. Roll each part out thin, and then cut it into large rectangular pieces. (Think large enough that if you were to eat it with your hands, you’d be able to use the noodles to pick it up!). There’s no need to be fancy or precise. These can be rustic-looking pieces of pasta!
Step 5: Now, grab your onion and cut it into rings, and then half rings. Place them in a saucepan and pour some of the chicken broth overtop to cover the onions completely. Season with pepper and stir.
Step 6: Bring the onions to a gentle boil and allow them to simmer for about 5 minutes. While they are simmering, remove the chicken from their pot and cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.
Step 7: Turn the heat up under the pot with the chicken broth and stir in the dough. Cook over medium heat until the pasta is cooked through. This should be about 7-9 minutes. Once ready, transfer to a serving plate or casserole dish and pour the onions and broth over top to keep them moist. Cook the remaining pasta.
Step 8: Garnish with chopped herbs and enjoy!
More Delicious Chicken Recipes
- 30-min Oven Baked Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- One Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta
- Chicken Chow Mein
- Creamy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
When YOU make Chicken and Pasta Recipe tag us on @munchkintimeblog on Instagram, we would LOVE to see your creation!
If you tried this Chicken Pasta Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a * star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting! 😀
📖 Recipe
Beshbarmak (Chicken Pasta Recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Chicken & Broth
- 4 chicken drumsticks or bone in thighs,
- 15 cups water
- 1 ½ tablespoons sea salt
For Onion
- 2 medium onion peeled & sliced into half rings
- ½ teaspoon black pepper ot to taste
Instructions
For the Chicken & Broth
- Rinse the chicken, place it in a pot and add water with salt. Bring to a gentle boil skim off the foam, then reduce the heat to simmer and simmer on low heat until done, about 45-50 minutes, or until chicken is cooked thru.
- Remove chicken from pan and cool slightly. Then cut it into bite size pieces.
For Onion
- Cut the onion into thin halves of rings and place it the sauce pan. Pour in some of the broth to cover, add pepper and give it a good mix then bring it to a gentle boil. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
Homemade Pasta
- While chicken is boiling lets make pasta. To make the dough, using a bowl dissolve salt in water, whisk in the egg. Add flour (start with 1 ½ cup of flour, if needed add more) and knead a pasta dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave it on the table for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Divide the dough into 2 parts. Take one, roll it out thin and cut into large rectangle pieces using a pizza cutter. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Increase the heat under the broth pot to high and bring it to a boil. Add pasta. Stir and when the liquid returns to boil, cook over medium heat until pasta is cooked thru about 7-9 minutes, stirring few times. Transfer to a big serving plate/ casserole dish. Add chicken and onion with some broth over the top. Sprinkle with chopped herbs and serve immediately.
Leave a Reply