Plov is a very popular, historic Uzbek dish. Also referred to as “pilaf” or “palov”, it’s made up of long grain rice, tender chunks of lamb, onions, and carrots. In this recipe, you’ll learn how to make this traditional dish in no time.

What is Plov?
Plov to Uzbekis is like pasta to Italians. Considered Uzbekistan’s national dish, it’s a source of delicious pride throughout the country and everyone has their own spin on it. Because it’s so simple to prepare, plov is often served at large gatherings, such as weddings, holiday parties, and birthdays.
If you’re unfamiliar with Uzbekistan, it’s a Central Asian nation that sits at the border of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. A former Soviet republic and a stopping point on the Silk Road (the ancient trading route between China and the Mediterranean), the country boasts a delicious cuisine that has been influenced by many different cultures over the centuries. Plov is a perfect example of Uzbekistan’s rich food history.
In this recipe, you’ll tap the powers of the dutch oven to get the most flavorful plov possible. Get ready for an irresistibly savory smell to waft from your kitchen. Bonus: This entire dish is made in just one pot.

Best Meat to Use for Plov
Traditionally, plov is best made with lamb. Its rich and savory flavors are signature to the dish. However, many also like to use beef. Below, find the best cuts to use for plov:
- Lamb (most traditional and recommended): Bone-in pork shoulder, bone-in leg, or sirloin chop (the marrow from the bone adds a wonderful, fatty flavor)
- Beef: Short ribs, ribeye, New York Strip, stew meat, or chuck roast
Hot Tip: If you have the time, salt your meat overnight. Season it on both sides, pop it into a bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap. This will tenderize and infuse flavor into the meat.
How to Make Uzbek Plov
Making Uzbek plov only requires a handful of wholesome ingredients and a bit of legwork. Most of the magic is done in the Dutch oven, which perfectly fluffs the rice and tenderizes the meat.
- Prep the Meat and Veggies: Cut the meat into cubes, slice carrots, and dice onions.
- Brown the Meat: In a preheated Dutch oven, use tongs to brown the sides of the meat.
- Cook the Veggies: Add onions and carrots to the Dutch oven, sautéing until the onions turn translucent.
- Add Rice and Seasoning: Add long grain rice and bay leaves to the Dutch oven, stirring until ingredients are evenly distributed, and toasting the rice slightly. Slice off the top of a head of garlic and place the entire head inside the Dutch oven. Add water and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Cook and Cover: Allow the plov to come to a simmer. Turn the heat down low, pop the lid on, and cook for an additional 40-50 minutes.
- Serve: Serve warm alongside pickled veggies or salad.


Tips to Make the Best Uzbek Plav
Below, find the top tips to making the best, most authentic Uzbek Plav:
- Using a dutch oven is a must. A Dutch oven is essential for this dish. It tenderizes the meat and really brings out the best flavors.
- Don’t skip browning the meat. Brown the meat until it has a golden brown color on all sides. This will not only enhance the texture of the plov, but it will also create a richer, meatier taste.
- Rinse the rice before cooking. Run the rice under cold water in a colander a few times to remove any excess starch. This will prevent the rice from turning mushy.
- Toast the rice slightly. Once you add the long grain rice to the pan, take a few minutes to toast it. This will bring out its fragrant flavors and also help it keep its texture as it cooks in the broth.
- Use a whole garlic head versus individual cloves. Cooking plov with an entire garlic head is not only traditional, it also yields the most flavor. It also makes for such a lovely presentation.
- Use a sharp knife to cut carrots. Carrots can be one of the tougher veggies to slice. Invest in a sharp knife to prevent slippage.

Serving Uzbek Plov
Uzbek plov is perfect for lunch or dinner. It’s also a wonderful dish to make for your next dinner party, as it serves a lot of people, requires minimal clean-up, and is ultra filling. Keep it traditional by serving plov alongside vinegary pickles. It’s hard to explain how satisfying this combination is! The savoriness of the dish is also complimented nicely by a cabbage salad.
FAQ
Are pilaf and pulao same?
Yes, pilaf and pulao are the same. There are many different names for pilaf-style dishes all across the globe, but the essential recipe remains the same – broth, meat, veggies, and long grain rice.
What’s the best rice for plov?
Long grain rice is the best for plov. The grains are long and slender, and they contain a type of starch that prevents the from sticking and turning to mush.
Should I rinse the rice for plov?
You should always rinse your rice before making plov. This removes excess starch and yields rice with more texture.
Storing Leftover Plov
- Refrigerating: Refrigerate leftover plov by storing it in an airtight container in the fridge. It should stay fresh for up to a week.
- Freezing: Freeze leftover plov by storing it in a freezer-safe storage bag. It will stay fresh for up to three months.
Reheating Tip: Reheat plov in a skillet with a bit of butter or oil. You could also zap it in the microwave with a bit of water to help the rice rehydrate.
More Rice Recipes to Try:
- Lazy Cabbage Rice Stew – Healthy cabbage and rice stew
- Creamy Cauliflower Rice Pilaf – Low-carb pilaf
- Slow-Cooker Beef And Barley Pilaf – Set it and forget it pilaf
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs lamb (or beef)
- 2 medium onions
- 5 medium carrots
- 3 cup long grain rice
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 2 tsp cumin (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare ingredients for the recipe. Clean carrots and cut them into long slices about 1/4-inch thick. Dice onions into small pieces. Cut meat into 1-inch cubes.
- Preheat oil in the Dutch oven over high heat. Using tongs, brown the sides of the meat. Add onions and carrots and cook until the onion turns translucent and the carrots soften.
- Add rice and bay leaves to the Dutch oven. Saute for a couple of minutes. Remove a couple of the top layers of a garlic head and cut off the small part of the clove edges. Place the garlic clove inside of the rice. Cover the cooking ingredients with boiled water. The water should be filled just about 1-inch over the rice. Season with salt and pepper.
- Once it simmers, turn the heat down to very low. Cook for about 40-50 minutes. About 20 minutes into cooking, turn over the top layer of rice to promote even cooking.
Anyone know how much water is needed if only using 2 cups of rice? This recipe calls for a ton of rice, which is too much for a small family. Would love guidance so that it’s enough water and not too much !
Hi Val, you can just dive the recipe. Where it says "8 people for serving" that can be changed to whatever you prefer. Enjoy
Where does the oil come to play in this recipe?
Hi Andy, it is preheated prior to adding meat to the pan. See step 2, it shared details of the oil use. Hope you love this one!
Turned out very mushy... Found the directions to be really lacking for such a time consuming dish.
Hi Ann, Sorry to hear that. Some things that help prevent mushy rice is rinsing the rice with water before cooking it. Also, making sure the rice isn't being cooked in too much liquid, or perhaps it needed to be cooked a bit longer. Hope this helps for next time you try the recipe.
It's a great dish! Can be time consuming doing it from scratch, if you're not a great cook like me. I always add some raisins and chickpeas to spice things up a bit. Highly recommended. Make sure to soak the hickpeas overnight before start cooking. Enjoy!
Hi Al, thank you for those great tips! I am thrilled that you love this recipe. Thank you for taking the time to share your process and feedback. Enjoy!
I tried the recipe today and specifically bought long grain rice after reading the comments. My rice also came out mushy even though I followed all the instructions. Next time I will probably use less rice and less water, and add more cumin for more flavor. My first time trying Uzbek cuisine so thank you for sharing the recipe!
You need to wash long grain rice a few times till the water is transparent and soak it for about 15 minutes to get rid of the powder that makes it stick together. And like Natasha mentioned dont mix rice a lot but only once when the water has almost dried.
Hey dear, with plov the rice is going to be fully cooked and on a soft side but we didnt find it mushy. Its important not to mix it too much. Just enough to combine everything together. The fats in the meat will also help for the rice to be fully coated. Did you mix it a lot? Also, what type of meat did you use? I am trying to understand what happened.
My rice came out mushy. I don’t make this often and feel that the instructions were lacking details. Would love to know how much salt to add since I have no idea if I should add 1 teaspoon or 2 tablespoons, again, I don’t make this often. I chose this recipe because of the star rating. Also, would be great to see optional spices to add besides coriander.
Hi Tosya, thank you so much for sharing your feedback. I can see how adding measurement to salt would be useful but it really depends type of salt you use. I will think of ways to add more details. We only use cumin, salt and pepper in this recipe. If you like other seasoning, you are welcome to add it. Not sure why the rice was mushy, what type of rice did you use?
Thanks for posting this. I'll be honest, I haven't cooked it with your recipe but really like how you organized the instructions. My family is from Uzbekistan so have been taught by them with their techniques. I couldn't even get ingredient amounts. It's all by their "eye" LOL. The beauty with this dish is that every family (and cooks within) have their own unique touch and twists/tips in cooking. Some add chickpeas, or fruit, specific spice, etc. I've always been curious about the nutrition, how did you obtain that and what is the serving size?
Hi Gary! Thank you very much for the kind words. I love the passed down recipes that don't have specific instructions, that's probably why everyone has their own twist on them, haha! Because no one remembers exactly how it was supposed to be made! We have a nutrition calculator that calculates all of that for us. This recipe serves 8 people. Hope this helps!
This was so super yummy. Reminded me of my childhood. I think to the people writing the rice came out mushy or had too much water, it's very important to first rinse the rice. I rinsed mine with cold water about 7-8 times, until water was closer to being clear (less starch). Then I soaked it overnight. And while cooking added slightly less water. Like 1/4 cup less. The dish came out perfect.
Hi Kylie, this is such a great recommendation. We always rinse the rice but never let it soak. I need to try your recommendation! Thanks for sharing, happy Holidays to you!
Is a good recipe. I've done it 3 times now.
However I altered it a bit. I used 2 lb lamb shoulder. If you use leg of lamb be careful can come up dry.
1 shy table spoon of turmeric and
1 proud table spoon of paprika.
4 garlic bulb since my garlic was small, own crop.
Since lamb shoulder is quiet fat, cut some fat bits and add them first in your pan on low heat and let the melt- you'll have enough fat to brown the meat and follow the other phases of cooking, I really don't see the the point of 1/2 oil cup.
Invest in good carrots it counts a lot.
I added 2 pointy peppers, adds a very good flavor.
Note:
Always use 2 big onions or 3 - are healthy veg and adds flavor.
Don't use too much water is a grave mistake.
I replace water with lamb or vegetable stock. 500ml for 2lbs lamb and 2 cups rice.
Lamb stock has to be done on bones mostly.
If you use vegetable stock that is good to.
Good luck and enjoy
all amazing suggestions....I will use lamb stock next time. I have a feeling this will elevate the dish tremendously
Hi Pete, I love all of these super helpful tips! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave feedback. Sounds like you make an amazing Plov! Thank you for sharing. Happy holidays!
This was a bust for me. Rice was soggy and more like oatmeal by the 30 minute mark, and the meal was generally bland (which wasn't much a surprise given the minimal seasoning). Wondering if I did something wrong, but the recipe is so simple is hard to understand what that might be.
Hi Paul, Not sure what could have gone wrong, The only thing I can think of is that maybe you used too much water?
I’m a little confused on how to prep the garlic bulb. Should I take a whole clove and remove the outer papery-layers? Is that what you’re referring to as the “top layers?” My fear is that the papery layers will flake into the rice. I’m wondering if I should just put the bulb into a small spice sachet or wrap in cheese cloth to prevent that from happening.
Hi Ed, What I always do is just take the few top layers of the garlic off and leave the rest on. They dont flake into the rice at all. Good luck and enjoy!
Ya rodom iz Uzbekistana😍🥰 mi dobavlyaem kishmish mmm❤️👌
Hi Svetlana! That sounds so delicious!
In what parallel universe is Uzbekistan a tiny country?! It’s larger than Germany, Italy, Japan, Vietnam, just to name a few…
Hey Vasco- that's a good point. Size is relative- it's smaller than some of the other countries near it. That being said, it's not "tiny" like you point out, and it's one of the bigger countries when you compare it to all countries, so we will make an update to our post. Thank you for commenting!
Hello,
Could I use a regular pot instead of a Dutch Oven? Will it give off a different taste?
You'll want to use an oven-safe pot with a lid, Jen. You should be golden so long as it's safe to bake in!
This looks absolutely delicious. Have you ever tried cooking this in an instant pot?
No I haven't! I'm pretty sure there's some way to make that work, I'm just not sure. If you try it, let me know. 🙂
I have had this dish a couple of times and love it, I have not yet made it myself. I was wondering though since my kids do not eat red meat, would chicken thighs work well, or ok in its place?
Thanks,
Jon Ziska
Hey dear, yes, you can use chicken thighs. You will need to shorten the cooking time because chicken does cook much quicker. Come back to let us know how it goes!
I used chicken because that's what I had on hand and it was absolutely delicious!
Tasty Recipe Easy to make. Thank you for the good content.
Thank you, Emily! We love plov around here and glad you enjoyed it, too!
What a damn simple recipe! The taste was just incredible! Thankyou soooo much.❤
Hi Rachana- thank you for your feedback, I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it so much! Next time pair it with a marinated cucumber or tomato (on my blog), you'll love the whole meal even more, promise!
Ok I rarely leave reviews but oh my goodness! This is the only plov recipe I will ever use! It was phenomenal! My picky eater 5 year old had 5 servings of it, no lie! Husband was a huge fan too and wouldn’t stop raving about it. Thank you Natalya for such a wonderful recipe!
Wow, I love that! So glad your entire family enjoyed it, especially your 5 year old. 😊 Thank you for the feedback!
When you say long grain rice, which type is preferable? When I look it up it says there are 7. I’ve seen people comment who used Basmati and said it didn’t work, so am wondering what exactly I should get if I want to make this recipe
Hi Salk - Hope you're well and thanks for reaching out. Not sure what happened with the basmati - my guess is that it was a quick cook variety? We always use basmati or jasmine rice for this recipe and haven't faced that issue. Hope this helps!
Looking forward to making this since the plov we had in Uzbekistan was outstanding! But need to know what size Dutch oven should I purchase? Thanks!
Hi Kat! Plov is soooo good. Hope you love this recipe as much as the plov you had abroad. This is the Dutch oven we use: https://amzn.to/3vO2cgZ.
I had Uzbek Plov for the first time at a Turkish food festival north of Atlanta today. This is worth trying.
I hope you love the recipe, let me know how it goes, I would love to hear back!
This is exactly how my grandma used to make it! Great clear classic recipe. Just picked up some lamb, making it tonight!
So good to hear! Enjoy!!
I am a little confused. You suggest bone-in lamb because the marrow gives the dish a nice fatty flavor, but then instruct to trim the meat off the bone. Do I put the bones in the dish, and dig them out after cooking? Thanks!
The part of the meat next to the bone has the most flavor. You can use the bone for a broth or soup.
I am Uzbek, plov is very good food and nutritious, I love Uzbekistan
It is a delicious dish!
I loved it! Very good! At first I was scared that there were a lot of onions and carrots but it turned out very good. It tastes really good and really easy to make. Amazing!
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback!
Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing recipe! It's super easy to make and tasted perfectly! Will have this again for sure, Well done! Highly recommended!
Thank you for your feedback, I am so glad you loved the recipe!
This is really amazing! Perfect for any night of the week!
So glad to hear that!
Yummy! This was such a delicious and very tasty recipe. My family and I enjoyed this the other night, and it was a huge hit! Can't wait to make this again!
So glad you loved the recipe, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback!
Such an easy and delicious plov recipe. Will definitely be making it again. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed the plov!