Food of Kuwait
Kuwaiti cooking is built on rice, seafood, dates and spices, with strong influences from Persia, India and the wider Gulf. Machboos and fish dishes dominate home tables, and guests in the diwaniya are offered tea, coffee and sweets. Cardamom, saffron and dried lime flavor many dishes.
Machboos
Spiced rice cooked with meat, chicken or shrimp in an aromatic broth.
How to make Machboos- Main dishes (6)
- Breakfast (2)
- Street food (2)
- Soups (1)
- Salads (1)
- Desserts and sweets (3)
- Drinks (3)
- Fruits and produce (3)
Staples
- rice
- fish
- shrimp
- lamb
- chicken
- dates
- flatbread
Signature flavors
- cardamom
- saffron
- dried lime
- turmeric
- cumin
- baharat
Main dishes
Spiced rice cooked with meat, chicken or shrimp in an aromatic broth.
Key ingredients: rice, chicken or shrimp, dried lime, baharatFull guide →Shrimp cooked in a spicy tomato sauce and served over rice.
Key ingredients: shrimp, rice, tomato, chili, turmericCrushed wheat cooked with meat and yogurt into a creamy dish.
Key ingredients: crushed wheat, lamb, yogurt, onionFull guide →Whole silver pomfret fried crisp and served over spiced rice.
Key ingredients: pomfret, rice, tomato, baharat
Slow-roasted lamb on rice studded with nuts and raisins.
Key ingredients: lamb, rice, almonds, raisinsA Kuwaiti stew of meat and dumplings of rice or flour in a spiced broth.
Key ingredients: lamb, rice dough, onion, turmericBreakfast
Sweet saffron noodles served with a fried egg.
Key ingredients: vermicelli, saffron, sugar, eggs
Warm bread filled with sesame halva and cream for a quick breakfast.
Key ingredients: bread, halva, creamStreet food
Crisp fried chickpea fritters in bread with pickles.
Key ingredients: chickpeas, herbs, cuminFull guide →
Fried pastry triangles with a meat or cheese filling.
Key ingredients: dough, ground meat, cheeseSoups
Slow-cooked wheat and meat porridge.
Key ingredients: wheat, lamb, gheeFull guide →Salads
Tomato, cucumber and onion dressed with lemon and parsley.
Key ingredients: tomato, cucumber, onion, lemonDesserts and sweets
Golden dough puffs soaked in date syrup.
Key ingredients: flour, yeast, date syrupFull guide →A warm pudding of toasted flour, sugar, ghee and cardamom.
Key ingredients: flour, sugar, ghee, cardamom
A chewy, translucent sweet from the Gulf made with starch, sugar and nuts.
Key ingredients: starch, sugar, ghee, nutsFull guide →Drinks
Spiced milk tea simmered with cardamom.
Key ingredients: tea, milk, cardamomFull guide →
Cardamom coffee served in small cups.
Key ingredients: coffee, cardamomFull guide →A cool, salty yogurt drink served with rice dishes.
Key ingredients: yogurt, water, saltFruits and produce
Dates are served at every gathering with coffee.
Key ingredients: coffee pairing, sweetsFull guide →
Sweet summer melons enjoyed chilled.
Key ingredients: chilled, juice
Tart and sweet seeds for salads and juice.
Key ingredients: juice, garnishDish guides from Kuwait
More cuisines of Western Asia
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Georgia
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Oman
- Palestine
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- Türkiye
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
Descriptions written by Intercontinental Chef. Dishes are listed as commonly eaten today; many are shared across neighbouring countries.
- Machboos (cropped): Miansari66, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Iraqi Qoozi : aziz1005, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Homemade Balaleet, 2023: Mohamed Toorani, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Orient sweets (special halva) Samarkand, Siyab: Shuhrenataxmedov, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Falafels 2: Popo le Chien, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Samosas, snack food at Wikipedia's 16th Birthday celebration in Chittagong (01): Moheen Reeyad, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Armenian Harisa: Ketone16, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- A large mixed salad: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Sam'dan lokma tatlisi: elif ayse, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Chai In Sakora: Dadhichbittu007, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- A dallah a traditional Arabic coffee pot with cups and coffee beans: Canbel, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Dates005: Nepenthes, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Meloen vrucht met bloem: Rasbak at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Pomegranate Juice (2019): Augustus Binu : flickr, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
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