Tender beef slowly cooks with green beans, tomatoes, and cinnamon to create a delicious Middle Eastern dish served traditionally over rice pilaf.
As anyone with a newborn can attest, slow cookers can be a real lifesaver for putting dinner on the table! My little one is 3 weeks old now and I am slowly but surely adjusting to my new life as a working mother. With a little advance planning, I’ve managed to put dinner on the table most nights of the week including today’s dish which pays homage to one of my favorite Lebanese specialties: Stewed Greens Beans and Beef (“Lubia”).
This dish can also be made on the stovetop if you don’t have a slow cooker. Not counting calories? Brown the onion, beef and beans in a little clarified butter. You won’t regret it.
Traditionally this dish is served over Syrian rice which is rice pilaf made with rendered, clarified butter. It is a delicious special treat but also just as good with brown rice which we lovemaking in our rice cooker.
To serve, we love dolloping a little laban on top, a Lebanese cucumber yogurt garlic sauce.
Your slow cooker is waiting.
Yes. If you want the instant pot version of green beans and beef go here.
Slow Cooked Lebanese Green Beans and Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pound beef stew meat cut in cubes
- 1 pound green beans trimmed and cut in 2 in. pieces
- 1 medium onion diced
- 32 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup parsley chopped
- rice pilaf and plain yogurt to serve optional
Instructions
- Place beef, green beans, onion and tomatoes in slow cooker.
- Stir in cinnamon, salt and pepper.
- Cook on High Heat for 4 hours or Low Heat for 8 hours.
- Serve over rice pilaf and a dollop of plain yogurt. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Video
Chef’s Notes
Nutrition
Take a look at my Pinterest board for more Lebanese recipes!
Anonymous
Do you have an idea of how long this would need to cook in an Instant Pot/pressure cooker (not including the time needed for the pot to come up to pressure – I’m asking about the number of minutes I should input).
Liz DellaCroce
Yes here’s the Instant Pot recipe! https://thelemonbowl.com/instant-pot-lebanese-green-beans-and-beef/
Nada
Can you please confirm it is tablespoon cinnamon and not teaspoon? I doubled the green beans and still felt that the cinnamon overpowered the dish. Have you tried using the 7 spice in lieu of cinnamon? Thank you
Liz DellaCroce
Yes it’s a tablespoon. We grew up with it being pretty well spiced but you’re welcome to dial it down!
Kristen
I have been eating Lubieh for my entire life and never thought to prepare it in the slow cooker. I think my Sitto would approve! Thanks for the recipe!
Liz DellaCroce
YES!! Makes it so easy!!!! Enjoy!
Kelly Olson
My grandfather emigrated from Lebanon in 1908, so my mother grew upon these recipes. They called this recipe Ruz Loubieh. Unfortunately my mom had all her recipes in her head and took them with her when she passed away in 1998. I am so thrilled have found your site!! I am making this one tonight!! Thank you so much!!
Liz DellaCroce
Oh wow that makes me so happy Kelly!! Are you familiar with the cookbook I just wrote? It’s called Food From Our Ancestors: The Ultimate Syrian Dinner. A self-funded passion project, my goal was to simply get in the kitchen with my aunts and mom and watch them cook while testing and writing down the specific measurements. It’s only $3.99 if you’re interested: https://gumroad.com/l/cahid
Michelle
I am going to be making this dish tomorrow. I haven’t had it in 10 yrs. My nana passed and she took the recipe with her. Then I met a guy while I was disc golfing and his family is from Lebanon. We got to talking and made a date to cook. Can’t wait to smell the memories
Liz DellaCroce
Oh I hope you love it!!!
Julie N
My Armenian mother in law taught me this dish but she made it even quicker using a pressure cooker! She also substituted butternut squash for the green beans in the winter time. I make it now and it’s SO good on a cold winter night.
Liz DellaCroce
Oh that sounds incredible Julie!
Frank Sanders
How much water do u add
Liz DellaCroce
No water at all! No need. :)
Joe Orr
My mother made this for dinner. Thank you for your receipt and stirring memories of a dish I will cook as soon as I return from the store to get the ingredients.
Liz DellaCroce
Oh I’m so glad Joe!! I hope you enjoy it!
A.J. La Course
Liz, I’ve made a variation of this dish with either lamb, beef chuck or, as I’m currently doing, diced up raw chicken thighs. Also, my spicing may not be authentic but includes a bay leaf, fresh lemon zest & juice as well as typical garlic,cumin and cinnamon. I think the dish is best with fresh green beans added late in the stove top simmer. I’ll admit this version is fussier but worth it if you have the time.As with most slow braises, it’s even better next day.
Liz DellaCroce
That sounds so incredible!!! I love the bay leaf idea. We do use fresh beans a lot in the summer but this is a nice short cut so that we can get our fix on a more regular basis.
Carol
How much lemon, garlic, cumin and cinnamon do you put for 1Lb beef and 1Lb green beans?
Liz DellaCroce
Do you see the recipe at the bottom Carol? It’s 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. No lemon or cumin. Enjoy!
Wadih
Being of Middle eastern ancestry, I remember my Mother taking almost the whole day to make this dish. I started to use the slow cooker to do this many years ago. I used to make my own combo of Cinnamon, Allspice, etc but now I just but the prepared Baharat or 7 spice mixes that are readily available at most Lebanese grocery store. I also marinate, and then bake the lamb in the oven until browned before putting it in the crock pot. I use a mixture of butter and olive oil to saute the onions, garlic and fresh chopped tomatoes ( I don’t use canned anymore because of the health warnings), then put everything in the slow cooker (except the beans) for about 4-6 hours. I add the beans towards the end. Because my parents migrated from the Middle East to the Caribbean, we also add a whole Habanero Chili pepper to give it that added flavor!wadesglobalkitchen.blogspot.com
Liz DellaCroce
Oh my goodness Wadih your version sounds absolutely incredible!! We made this dish last night for 30 for my sons 2nd birthday party but I’m wishing I had made your version! Thanks for writing in!
Fredrick
I wanted to drop you a note to say how wonderful it is to see other people such as yourself making these wonderful dishes. This is a great dish…one I have eaten my entire life. Your cooking this dish in a crock pot is a new twist for me….I have never seen it made that way, however it seems very logical to do so. I will have to try it….
This is one of the products we hope to be in production with soon.
Liz DellaCroce
I hope you try it! We didn’t grow up making it in the slow cooker but we love it.
Anne
HI I HAVE TRIED MANY PITA RECEPIES
THEY LOOK SO GOOD ON YOU TUBE BUT I THINK THE DIFERENCE IS IN THE FLOUR OF EACH COUNTRY
HAVE YOU ANY RECEPIES FOR PITA BREAD
crystal
This dish is something my great grandma used to make when I was a little girl.
Liz DellaCroce
AWw I’m glad!
lindsay
I’m cooking thus now and all I smell is cinnamon is that what it will taste like
Liz DellaCroce
How did you like it Lindsay??
jennifer
Awesome recipe! My mom and I have been trying to remember how she used to make this staple when I was a child, this was very close to how she made it. I did double the green beans (about 2 lbs fresh beans to 1 lb meat), and a tad more seasoning since there were more beans. I also added 1 tsp allspice, and juice of 1 whole lemon. I added the lemon in the last 2 hours of cooking. This taste about how I remember as a child, my mom thinks so too!
SO good!
Thanks so much!
Liz DellaCroce
Oh I’m so thrilled to hear this!! Thanks for letting me know!!
karen
I have made this dish using oxtail, it is a richer flavored beef . Delicious!
Liz DellaCroce
Good idea!! Glad you enjoyed!
Gary B
Hi. Thanks for this. This is also very good for Christmas leftovers. I am a British man living in England with my American wife. We had a leftover beef silver side joint and a green bean casserole and we were searching for recipes that could make use of both of them. By using cooked meat and the casserole and following your recipe we created a lovely meal. We cooked it for 4 hours on low and it came out perfect. Thanks. :)
Liz DellaCroce
I love that you used leftovers to make this dish! Such a smart idea!! Happy Holidays!
christine davis
My mother is italian, my father is middle eastern (Assyrian). We grew up eating a version of this without the spices you put in. My mom actually puts in a package of lipton onion soup mix. My husband doesn’t like any of these spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, all spice) so I used cumin instead which he tolerates. I leave out the onion soup mix because of the high sodium that’s in it. My mother makes Assyrian rice which is just steamed rice with melted butter. It’s fantastic! We have it at every holiday instead of mashed potatoes. I used brown rice. I try to cut down the fat wherever possible! Thanks for sharing and getting out some middle eastern recipes for people to try! let me know if you want some of my mom’s recipes….Christine
Liz DellaCroce
That is so cool Christine!! I have tons of Middle Eastern recipes – I hope you enjoy them! You can see them all here: https://thelemonbowl.com/category/middle-eastern Also I’m cracking up because my husband hates cumin but loves cinnamon/nutmeg, etc. :) Men are so finicky!!
Audrey
Hi
Just got a slow cooker so loving reading your recipes! I was wondering if I could use half and half Cinnamon & Cumin?
You are doing a great job. we all want to eat really great clean tasty healthy food.. thanks for all the effort.
Audrey in Ireland!!
ps. LOVE Lebanese food!
Liz DellaCroce
Hi Audrey – Thank you so much for your sweet words! You can DEFINITELY do half cumin half cinnamon! Such an awesome idea! Let me know how it turns out ok?
Rhian
I just made this tonight and it was a big hit! I can not believe how tasty this came out. I used to make a very similar stove-top version of this dish back home when I was in Baghdad (I am Iraqi). It is a very popular Iraqi dish too. But I never thought it would be that good in slow cooker without having to saute the vegetable first. Well I did not saute anything and followed your directions and the outcome is even better than the one I used to make with 1/4 amount of the work/time. It only took 10 mins to put the ingredients together in the slow cooker. Even my picky Icelandic in-laws loved it! Thank you for sharing this, your site is now one of my favorites :)
Liz DellaCroce
Oh I’m so happy to hear this!! Thank you so much for letting me know – I’m so glad your family enjoyed it. My husband requests this dish all the time!!
Debbie
I love this dish, but in place of beef I use Lamb. It is delish. This is a Syrian dish my mom used to make.
Liz DellaCroce
I love lamb too Debbie although I can’t always find it as easily as beef. I’m also Syrian. :-) Small world!
Liz
Thank you, Liz. I like this slow cooker recipe.
Liz DellaCroce
I hope you enjoy it Liz!
EA-The Spicy RD
I’ve never tried cooking any Lebanese dishes, but this looks delicious! I am not a lamb eater, but the best lamb chops I’ve ever eaten were made by a Lebanese friend with just the perfect spices on top!
Liz DellaCroce
I love lamb chops – one of my favorites!!! Let me know if you try this – ridiculously easy!!