Oozi Is My New Favorite Low-Mess Dinner
It’s rare to find a recipe that checks all the boxes: quick, easy, low-mess, and complete (meaning no sides required). When I spotted Mariam Daud’s oozi recipe in her new cookbook, I Sleep In My Kitchen, I knew immediately that I’d found one such gem.
“Oozi is my lazy-girl meal, for those I-don’t-know-what-to-make-and-it’s-already-six-p.m. nights,” says Mariam. “The foundation is rice, ground beef, frozen peas and carrots — ingredients I usually have on-hand. It comes together in 30 minutes, and when you remove the lid of the pot, a plume of spice-fragrant steam wafts into the kitchen, and you’re greeted with plump, colorful rice, dotted with pretty veggies.”
Mariam notes that this traditional dish is often served with chicken legs, but makes for a great, simple dinner on its own. “Don’t overthink it!” she urges. “The whole point of this recipe that it doesn’t take up too much brain power. The main thing to focus on is seasoning it well — let the spices cook in the fat for a few minutes, so the flavors bloom. That’s what really makes the dish. Other than that, don’t worry.”
Oozi (Spiced Rice with Beef, Peas and Carrots)
From I Sleep In My Kitchen, by Mariam Daud
Serves 4-6
for the beef, peas, and carrots:
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 1/4 lbs. ground beef (80%/20%)
1 16-oz bag frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp seven spice/baharat*
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
*Note: For the seven spice/baharat, Mariam says: “Don’t worry about specific brands. I grab whatever’s available at my local Middle Eastern store. If you don’t have one near you, you can easily make it at home. A simple batch is just a tablespoon of these seven spices: black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, and cardamom.
for the spiced rice:
2 cups basmati rice
3 tbsp ghee or olive oil
1 tbsp ground allspice
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp seven spice
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp Vegeta seasoning or chicken bouillon powder
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
for serving:
Chopped fresh parsley
Toasted pine nuts
In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened and translucent (3-4 minutes). Stir in the beef, breaking it apart with a spoon, and cook until evenly browned (5-7 minutes). Add the peas and carrots, salt, curry powder, allspice, black pepper, seven spice, cinnamon, and turmeric. Stir to coat the beef and vegetables in the fragrant spices. Let the mixture cook for 5-7 minutes to meld the flavors. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Make the spiced rice: Rinse the rice under cold water until it runs clear. This helps remove excess starch, so you get separate, fluffy grains instead of a gummy texture. In a large pot, melt the ghee over medium heat. Stir in the rice, coating each grain with ghee, and toast for 3 minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. Add the allspice, curry powder, seven spice, salt, Vegeta/bouillon, black pepper, turmeric, and cinnamon. Stir well to evenly distribute the spices. Add 4 cups water and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer — undisturbed — until the rice is fully cooked and tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes to allow the rice to absorb any remaining moisture and become fluffy. “Always let your rice rest for at least ten minutes before jumping in,” says Mariam. “It makes a big difference in the texture.”
To serve: Fluff the rice gently with a fork and transfer to a serving platter. Layer the spiced beef mixture over the rice. Garnish with parsley and pine nuts.
Thank you so much for sharing this dish with us, Mariam, and congratulations on your new book.
P.S. More quick dinners we love, including one broccoli soup with six variations, and my best friends mom’s mushroom paprikash.
(Photos by Jim Henkens. Excerpted from I Sleep in My Kitchen, on sale now from Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. by Mariam Daud. Copyright © 2026 by Mariam Daud.)
Comments
52 commentsI tried this last night and absolutely love it! It was so simple and flavorful that I know it will be a repeat dinner in the future. I will say that for just me, 2 cups of rice was a lot so I’ll probably halve that when I cook for myself unless I have friends over :)
I came here to say the same thing! It’s delicious, love the spices, am definitely going to be eating the rice for the rest of the week.
Since reading this post, I’ve made this dish at least 3 times in the span of 3 days and it’s one of those rare meals where EVERYONE in my family loves it. Thank you!
Looks delicious and so happy to see Mariam and her work featured here!
Oohhhh I’m definitely getting this Palestinian American cookbook as a surprise for my sister ☺️
apparently I have a much different definition of “lazy” — 2 separate processes and chopping and 8 spices per process? I’m out— but this does sound good for a weekend dish!
The only chopping is the onion, and I measured all my spices out into a small bowl and dumped, for both the beef and the rice. We’ll be eating multiple meals from it, it really was so simple!
Well, I decided to make this tonight and am VERY happy to report that it was SPECTACULAR! So delicious! The only change I made was to add a small handful of chopped raisins to the rice to add a sweet note – it was lovely, imo. Thank you so much for the recipe and the introduction to the next cookbook to add to my library!
As a child of the 80s/90s, I ate a lot of “Rice-a-Roni,” which was a popular “easy” semi-prepared meal at the time. This recipe reminded me of it a little, and made me wonder about the origins of that product… found an interesting story here, if anyone’s interested. It had its roots in Armenia. https://www.npr.org/2008/07/31/93067862/birth-of-rice-a-roni-the-armenian-italian-treat
First of all, I knew this reminded me of something from childhood — thank you. Secondly, thank you for sharing this story! I forwarded it to my (Armenian) husband immediately. :)
That was such a fun article!!! Thank you for the link! I also saw the picture and assumed it was Rice-a-Roni and it was going to be an article about rediscovering nostalgic foods from out childhoods or something. Who knew we were eating something so wonderfully ethnic back then and that it was actually authentic enough to recognize it again in a recipe book made from scratch all these years later.
I never know how to make ground beef into a dinner — this looks easy and delicious! Thank you!
Thank you for featuring a Palestinian author and recipe!
Thank you for sharing, I cannot wait to make this!
Read this post yesterday afternoon and made it for dinner last night! We loved it! I didn’t have every spice, and it was really delicious. Definitely tasted like something I’d order at a restaurant and it was fun to make at home! It’s adaptable which I love- instead of cooking with peas & carrots I had roasted veggies on the side. The rice was to die for, smelled amazing. I’ll make again!
Hot damn, I’ve been overworking my rice! Thank you for this recipe and these helpful instructions.
Yesssss I make this weekly! And my kids love it. It’s so easy it almost feels like cheating. They also like beans and rice and broccoli with Bachan’s sauce. I save the fancy recipes for when I cook for one :)
Ooh, this is making me so very hungry! Beautiful cookbook, thanks for sharing.
This reminds me of my Chinese mom’s “Friday Night Dinner” which was ground meat, frozen or canned veggies stir fried in an oyster sauce and then mixed inside the rice cooker with fresh steamed rice. This spiced rice recipe sounds tasty!!
Ok, that sounds delicious!
My cousin hosted a family iftar dinner this past weekend with a beautiful spread of Palestinian dishes. If you didn’t pay close attention, you could easily miss a small glass tubberware container with this worthy to feature, but homey dish that my cousin’s mother brought to the feast. It was my favorite bite of the night, proving that it’s a shared experience to pine for the comfort food amidst the glamor of holiday cooking. Ramadan Kareem to one and all! I know our load is heavy due to the state sanctioned violence targeting our communities.
Totally agree- showstopping dishes make a meal exciting, but nothing beats the taste of comfort food. Sending comfort in these trying times.
I cannot wait to make this for iftaar!
This is a “lazy-girl meal”? Hmmm, there must be some other word for what I am then… can we get some sloth-girl meals?
I agree 1000000% haha!
A block of cheese unwrapped and bitten into like a candy bar. If you have crackers near by, eating a cracker after you take a bite of cheese.
Haha, I agree. Maybe it’s a lazy-girl meal because when you read the list of spices and think of measuring them all out, you realise how lazy you really are? Because I BALKED at that!
They have to have measurements for spices, but I never actually measure them myself. I measure with the heart
Haha yes, I thought this was going to be one-pot (and actually I kinda suspect it could be)
Haha to each their own! I am happy with any recipe that doesn’t require a lot of chopping – frozen veggies for the win!
Haha I made this last night and thought the same thing! I was like “I’ve been tricked!” Lazy for me is one pot or less. Nonetheless, this was a very delicious slight step up from lazy girl meal! It would be quick if I pre-measured my spices earlier in the day.
Salivating over this cookbook and wishing I had the patience to make the recipes:)
Looks delicious!! Last night I made “hangover pasta” even though I wasn’t, lol. Boil some spaghetti , save a little pasta water. Medium saucepan, heat up a glug or 2 of olive oil, sauté 2-3 cloves minced garlic with some red chili flakes. Drain pasta, add to oil, toss with parley and Parmesan, stir in a little pasta water to make “saucy.”Soooo easy and good!
Oh this looks delicious! I usually make something similar for stuffed pepper filling. We do it with taco seasoning and corn for a Mexican twist, or I keep these same veggies and add garlic and tomato paste for a lot of umami. I love the Persian spices and will be excited to try something new!
Yum! I use Garam masala and it seems like it could work as a sub for the baharat? I can usually find it in the spice section at the grocery store.
I don’t think this would taste bad by any means but I have both of these blends in my cupboard and the different ratios in each yield different profiles in my opinion. Would probably work in a pinch though!
One of my favorite spice blends! I’ve been preparing this dish subbing rice for premade farro or wheat berry instead of rice. Kamut works nicely too. Yogurt and roasted red peppers along too. Comfort food!
This warms my Palestinian American heart! This looks similar to dishes my mom has made in the past, sometimes stuffed into roasted peppers or grape leaves. I can practically smell those delicious spices!
Book looks BOMB! Great feature. Thanks!
This looks great! I might try to do this all in one pan à la Sohla El-Waylly’s recent instagram recipe. Recently discovered the NYT burrito bowl recipe from Ali Slagle. It sounds so simple, but it is somehow SO GOOD. Both my kids love it, which is …. rare. They do not like spice, but I keep the jalapeño- deseeded, the bite softens in the heat/lime juice. The corn I had for the salsa was bad, so I subbed in what I had (a small cucumber and half a mango) and it was amazing. Served with chips or tortillas on the side. Truly 1 pan, low effort, kids and adults satisfied, and vegetarian! Wish I had a gift link to share…
Thanks for the rec! I gotchu. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/758128148-burrito-bowls?unlocked_article_code=1.QlA.NddH.09OTxL_cnsOh
Classic dorm food!
Oh this looks great, added to my spring cooking bucket list! I’m vegetarian but I’ll try this with Beyond beef, or maybe a mix of Beyond beef and lentils. I’m excited to try making my own seven spice mix/baharat. Cookbook looks great, too, glad to know about it!
I bet lentils would be great as well.
Textured vegetable protein (TVP) would be a great ground beef substitute too! Since switching to primarily plant-based eating, I recently used TVP to replace the ground beef in my much loved and often made beef empanadas recipe, and my boyfriend told me that if I hadn’t told him I’d used TVP, he would have though it was the “usual beef” filling! So good.
Update! Made this last night with Beyond beef and it was delicious!! I can’t wait for leftovers tonight. Thanks for the reminder about TVP…I bet that would be great too.
Yummm going to try making this tonight with some Impossible ground beef!
Update! Made it last night and it was a hit. I saw someone in the comments suggest serving it with a scoop of plain yogurt which was delicious. Will definitely be a regular in my rotation, thank you for sharing!
Yum! I make a similar comfort meal at my home, just like my Mom and my Teta (grandmother in Arabic) made for me. I like to add a lemony salad or plain yogurt as a side:-) I will run to order Mariam’s book from my local booksmith. Thank you, Cup of Jo, for featuring Mariam’s meal and book during Ramadan and this terrible time when so many Muslims are fasting amidst war.
I have made something similar already before and thank you for reminding me, it will definitely come back to the menu of family dinners!
Thank you for featuring this lovely recipe from a lovely human being.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! It’s very similar to dish we grew up eating called Kima.