Hummus kawarma with lamb and sumac is a luscious, healthy way to change-up your hummus by adding marinated, sautéed lamb atop smooth hummus.

This dish of flavorful lamb over hummus is not something new in the Lebanese repertoire; it’s a classic dish, but one that many, in my clan at least, have not had on the table at home. It’s interesting to me to consider which dishes have remained important, have held on as mainstays, among the long line of our immigrant forbears here in the U.S., and which dishes either never made it or just lost their place along the way. Much of that depends, no doubt, on families and where they came from and whether a mama loved to cook or not (though it doesn’t seem there was much room at a certain time for a Lebanese woman to not love to cook, or at least just to not cook like crazy regardless of how she felt about it…).

Hummus kawarma–hummus smoothed out on a small plate and topped with caramelized, tangy spiced lamb, along with herbs and toasted pine nuts–is so succulent and downright luscious that I’m hoping to bring it to new prominence around here, and over there where you are too. This will become one of the very best hummus dishes you make, so very next level!

What is hummus kawarma?

Hummus kawarma is the Lebanese name for the dish of hummus topped with highly seasoned sautéed chopped lamb. It is incredibly, deeply savory and delicious and one of the finest texture and flavor combinations on the planet! Make the dish as part of a mezze, as a hummus bowl, or serve it as a small meal or main course. Serve Hummus Kawarma with a variety of other mezze dishes, salads such as Fattoush and Tabbouleh in particular are a fresh, light counterpoint. Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi popularized this recipe including it in his cookbook of Middle East deliciousness, Jerusalem. One of the special elements of this dish is the texture of the lamb, which we accomplish by chopping lamb shoulder meat, along with the creamy texture of the hummus. Ground lamb is a fine substitute but this texture facet that is a hallmark of the dish will be missing. 

Ingredients

Hummus ingredients:

As with any recipe that calls for hummus, homemade hummus is extra delicious and beloved for its purity and smoothness. Store-bought plain hummus is perfectly acceptable here if you don’t have time or interest in making your own hummus. You’ll need about ¾ cup per serving.

3 cups cooked chickpeas. Peeled chickpeas make the hummus ultra-smooth. Make your own from a can of drained chickpeas softened over medium heat with a tablespoon of baking soda, then remove the peels in a big bowl of water in the sink. Or try my pre-peeled chickpeas here.

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup tahini

Juice 1/2 lemon, plus more as needed

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Kawarma Ingredients:

1 lb. lamb shoulder meat. The lamb (kawarma) is ideally a tougher cut, like shoulder for stew, that gets a quick marinade for flavor and a little softening, and then a sizzling sauté for deep caramelization. Beef stew meat would work equally well. Either one is chopped by you, coarsely.

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. For this recipe, we make a marinade of lemon, garlic, and sumac which is sometimes referred to as lemon sauce.

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons sumac

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, which is in the family of warm spices that is a hallmark Lebanese flavor

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs such as mint, cilantro, chopped parsley, for garnish

How to make hummus with lamb

For the Hummus:

Step 1. In the bowl of the food processor, puree the chickpeas and garlic clove. Stop and scrape down the food processor bowl as you go, processing for several minutes until everything is completely pureed. This mixture may be very thick and ball up in the processor, depending how much liquid may be left in the cooked chickpeas.

Step 2. Add the tahini, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Process, taste, and add more salt or lemon juice to adjust texture and taste as needed.

For the Lamb:

Step 1. Cut the lamb shoulder into 1-inch pieces, cutting away excess fat and gristle.

Step 2. In a medium bowl, combine the lamb with the lemon juice, minced or grated garlic, salt, and one tablespoon of the sumac. Stir well and let the mixture rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Step 3. Drain the meat and pat it lightly with a paper towel to dry it off so that the meat will brown properly. 

Step 4. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. 

Step 5. Add the meat to the pan and sauté over high heat until the meat is completely browned and caramelized, 5-10 minutes. Season with the remaining tablespoon of sumac and cinnamon. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste.

Step 6. Spoon the hummus onto 6 plates or and make a well in the center of each with the back of a spoon. Place a spoonful of the warm kawarma on top of each plate, and garnish the lamb mixture with pine nuts, chopped fresh herbs, and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately with warm pita bread.

Expert Tips and Substitutions

To make this dish ahead, store the hummus in an airtight container for up to one week. Before serving, bring the hummus to room temperature. Give the hummus a good stir and add a little liquid (lemon juice or water) to smooth it out if necessary. 

To make the lamb ahead, cook it all the way through to caramelize and season it. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate it for up to 3 days. Reheat the lamb on the stovetop in a sauté pan. 

Don’t plate the hummus until just before serving, because it can form a skin and dry out on top.

To make this dish vegetarian, substitute mushrooms or red bell pepper for the lamb. Cut the vegetables in 2-inch pieces rather than 1-inch pieces so they don’t shrink too small when cooking.

It’s true that this dish can be made with hummus of any sort: the coarser textured, the store bought; just be sure it is plain hummus so the kawarma can stand out. The hummus I’ve been making with pre-peeled chickpeas is so smooth and has such amazing texture, body and flavor that I can’t help but feel as though we, as a world of hummus eaters, have not properly known hummus until we’ve eaten it like this. When you have hummus that is so good you can’t stop reaching for another spoonful, can’t stop thinking of it as snack, condiment, and basic food group, then it’s only a matter of time before it busts out of the world of dips and becomes much, much more.

The best substitute for the lamb shoulder with is an equally chewy cut of beef, such as beef stew meat, to get great kawarma-style texture with beefy flavor. 

Substitute ground lamb or ground beef for the lamb shoulder. Follow the recipe as is, simply skipping the step of cutting the meat. While that will be really so very delicious, it won’t be a perfect textural balance. And who doesn’t love perfect?

Finish the dish with a variety of garnishes, including fresh mint, flat-leaf parsley, pomegranate seeds, oregano leaves, or ground black pepper. Try a spicy version; to give the kawarma some heat, add a chopped green chili either fresh or sauteed with the lamb. 

Don’t have sumac? This spice offers acidity like citrus juice. We already have lemon in the recipe, so a fine substitution for the sumac would be a teaspoon of white wine vinegar. 

Other ways to serve hummus

Try an incredibly silky and healthy avocado hummus for another hummus twist to love.

Check out all of the ways for various styles of Lebanese Hummus Recipes

A similar dish that makes this a vegetarian take on hummus kawarma is my Hummus with Spicy Red Pepper

​More Mezze Recipes

Build the ultimate mezze with my Lebanese Mezze Platter ideas

Lebanese Turnip Pickles are a bright, beautiful addition to mezze and all kinds of Lebanese wraps and meals

Lebanese Stuffed Grape Leaves make a hearty, delicious mezze element, a favorite.