Loobia (also spelled Lubia) in Farsi means green beans.  Polo means rice.  Loobia Polo is a layered green bean and rice dish.  It is quite common in Persian cuisine and is considered to be a cozy, comfort food.  Morgh is the Farsi word for chicken.  In my modern, easy version of loobia polo, we use morgh, or chicken for the meat in this dish.

Persian dishes are very challenging to re-create.  Every family has its own versions, spices, and methods.  Following a recipe is not a customary practice among Iranian home cooks – it’s a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.  The spices used vary as well as the type of meat used. I use a combination of what Bob’s mom likes to include as well as tips from my own mom. 

It was Bob’s late grandmother who originally got us accustomed to having this dish with chicken instead of red meat.  Bob’s grandpa was a doctor as was my own dad.  The desire to ‘healthify’ dishes runs deep in our families on both sides.  With my background as a health coach, it is my practice to take traditional recipes and make them healthier and easier! That is exactly what I’ve done with this Loobia Polo recipe today.  It is so much easier and healthier.

If I can make it, believe me, you can too!

Loobia Polo is a good dish to make for first-time Persian food samplers.  I know from experience that American friends tend to like this dish perhaps it’s because chicken and green beans are familiar ingredients. 

Time Saving Techniques:

Preparing Loobia Polo in the traditional method of our grandmother’s would take a Persian cooking pro around 2 hours start to finish.  For me, it would take me half a day – all that chopping veggies, frying onions, cooking meat, and simmering – I don’t have time for that!  I choose to take shortcuts without sacrificing flavor by re-creating this classic rice and green bean dish in a fraction of the time – start to finish in 30 minutes or less if you have leftover cooked rice and pre-cooked chicken on hand.

• canned green beans
• pre-cooked chicken
• leftover rice

Strategies for Reducing Fat and Carbs in Loobia Polo:

As a health coach and family nutritionist, I’m always looking for ways to convert delicious, oily dishes into lower-fat versions.  Traditional loobia polo is often made with fatty ground beef or lamb (some recipes call for stewed red meat) and a heavy pouring of oil and/or butter. With my healthy twists, I swap in chicken for the meat and use minimal amounts of olive oil. We don’t skimp on the spices so the flavors are still familiar and comforting.

– using chicken instead of ground meat (beef or lamb):
– cut out butter and use less oil
– increase the ratio of green beans to rice 

Steps for making Modern Loobia Polo | Persian Chicken and Green Bean Rice:

• Cook rice (see recipe post: How to Make Persian Rice in a Rice Cooker) and measure out 2 cups; set aside
• Cook chicken and cut into cubes
• Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a large skillet on medium heat setting
• Add chopped onions and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until soft and translucent
• Stir in spices, tomato paste, and water
• Drain the water from the canned green beans
• Add the green beans and mix them until the beans are covered with sauce
• Simmer, cover, and cook beans in the sauce for about 10 minutes
• Add cooked chicken meat and cooked rice; stir, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes on medium-low heat
• Serve!

Serve Loobia Polo Morgh with Mast o Khiar Persian Yogurt and Cucumber dip and Salad Shirazi.

Although I share a very modern and simplified version of Lubia polo, this recipe share would not be complete without honoring my mom (we call her Maman Minoo) and her original spice blend for making her Persian Green Bean and Rice.

Maman’s spice mix for making Lubia Polo:

• cinnamon
• cumin
• saffron
• dried rose petals
• or a dash of store-bought ‘advieh polo | rice seasoning’ (a blend of cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and dried rosebud flowers)

Another little secret ‘cheat’ from my sweet Maman Minoo is to add a healthy squirt of tomato ketchup!  Ketchup is essentially tomato paste with a bit of added sugar.  Ketchup (also known as catsup) is an acceptable substitute for tomato paste in this recipe.  We like the added sweet flavor notes and add some in even when we have tomato paste in the pantry.

Important to note, if I am making this recipe from scratch, start cooking the chicken, I switch up the order a bit.  I start with sauteing the onions (when cooking, always start with frying onions!), add the spices to the onions, then add the raw chicken pieces to continue cooking with the spiced onions. Add the tomato paste and ketchup, more water as needed (should have a little sauciness to it), and finally, add the canned beans last. Simmer and cook until all the beans are incorporated and heated up.  Definitely increase the simmer and cook time when using fresh vs. canned green beans.  The beans should be tender to bite into.

If you try this recipe and love it as much as we do, please leave a star rating here on the recipe card!

Yield: 6

Loobia Polo Morgh | Persian Chicken and Green Bean Rice

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Loobia (also spelled Lubia) in Farsi means green beans.  Polo means rice.  Loobia Polo is a layered green bean and rice dish.  It is quite common in Persian cuisine and is considered to be a cozy, comfort food.  Morgh is the Farsi word for chicken.  In my modern, easy version of loobia polo, we use morgh, or chicken for the meat in this dish.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked chicken, about 8 ounces or 2 chicken breasts
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 medium-sized onion, chopped

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 heaping tablespoons tomato paste (and or tomato ketchup!)

• 1 to 2 Tablespoons of water
• 1 pound (16 ounces) cut, canned green beans

• 1/2 Tablespoon of Pure Saffron Spray (or the equivalent in dissolved saffron, about 1/2 teaspoon ground Persian saffron dissolved in 1 Tablespoon of water)
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 
½ teaspoon salt
• 
¼  teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook rice (see Oven Hug post, "How to Make Persian Rice in a Rice Cooker") and measure out 2 cups; set aside
2. Cook chicken and cut into cubes
3. Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a large skillet on medium heat setting
4. Add chopped onions and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until soft and translucent
5. Stir in the spices, the tomato paste, and water and cook down for a couple more minutes until the tomato paste starts to darken but be careful it does not brown
6. Drain the water from the canned green beans
7. Add the green beans and mix then until covered with sauce
8. Simmer, cover, and cook beans in the sauce for about 10 minutes
9. Add cooked chicken meat and cooked rice; stir, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes on medium-low heat
10. Adjust/add salt as needed. Add ground pepper.
11. Serve!

Notes

At the time the tomato paste is added, it may be necessary to add one to two tablespoons of water to get a good sauce that will mix with all of the ingredients.

Add extra salt as needed at the final stages. Add ground pepper as desired.

Additional spices to consider include the more traditional spice blend my Maman uses:

• cinnamon
• cumin
• saffron
• dried rose petals
• or a dash of store-bought 'advieh polo | rice seasoning' (a blend of cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and dried rosebud flowers)

Another little secret 'cheat' from my sweet Maman Minoo is to add a healthy squirt of tomato ketchup!  Ketchup is essentially tomato paste with a bit of added sugar.  Ketchup (also known as catsup) is a fine substitute for tomato paste in this recipe.  We like the added sweet flavor notes and add some in even when we have tomato paste.

Important to note, if I am making this recipe from scratch, start cooking the chicken, I switch up the order a bit.  I start with sauteing the onions (when cooking, always start with frying onions!), add the spices to the onions, then add the raw chicken pieces to continue cooking with the spiced onions. Add the tomato paste and ketchup, more water as needed (should have a little sauciness to it), and finally, add the canned beans last. Simmer and cook until all the beans are incorporated and heated up.  Definitely increase the simmer and cook time when using fresh vs. canned green beans.  The beans should be tender to bite into.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 302Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 306mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 31g