Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

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This buckwheat and beef pilaf is a play on traditional rice plov, but I think I like it even more! The meat is fall-apart tender and you’ll be running to refill your plate.

This dish is hearty, flavorful, and a must try. Using toasted buckwheat is nutritious and adds a completely different flavor profile. Buckwheat plov was my husband’s creative genius. Vadim, I just wish you had thought of it sooner! 😉 Also, it pairs well with pickles; #sold.

You may use a variety of beef for this recipe, but you do want some marbeling/fat in the meat for best results. The meat in the photograph below is a chuck roast that I purchased at Costco – I trimmed quite a bit of the fat off.

Ingredients for Buckwheat Plov:

1/3 cup olive oil
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 large onion, diced
1 to 1 1/4 lbs beef (chuck, sirloin or good quality stew meat), trimmed of extra fat and cut into 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick pieces
3 large carrots, julienned
2.5 cups buckwheat groats (aka grechka)
4 1/4 cups cold filtered water + 1 cup hot water
2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste (I use sea salt)
1 tsp cumin spice to taste
1 full head of unpeeled garlic

Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

How to make Buckwheat and Beef Pilaf:

1. Set a large heavy-bottomed stock pot or dutch oven (ours is 5 1/2 Qt) over medium/high heat and add 1/3 cup olive oil and 4 Tbsp butter. Add onion and sauté, stirring occasionally until softened (about 5 min).

Buckwheat and Beef Pilaf-8

2. Add cubed beef and sauté 5 min, turning once (beef will not be fully cooked). Add julienned (click here to see the handy slicer we use) carrots and stir another minute.

Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

3. Add 4 1/4 cups cold water and season with 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook 1 hour (you should hear the faint simmer when your lid is on).

Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

4. Meanwhile (about 10 min before your timer is up), heat a large non-stick skillet over medium/high heat and melt in 4 Tbsp butter. Add 2 1/2 cups buckwheat and toast until golden, stirring often (3-5 min). Pour buckwheat into the pot in an even layer and gently pour enough hot water to cover buckwheat 1/2″ above the level of the buckwheat (I added 1 cup hot water).

Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

5. Cut (using a sharp knife) garlic head in half and place over the top of buckwheat, cut-side-down, pushing down into the buckwheat slightly. Cook uncovered over medium heat until most of the liquid boils out (10 min).

Buckwheat and Beef Pilaf-12

6. Poke 8-10 holes through the buckwheat to allow steam to escape to the surface, then cover with lid, reduce heat to the lowest setting and let pot sit another 30 minutes. Remove garlic and stir everything gently to combine. P.S. The garlic cloves are perfectly edible – you can squeeze them easily out of their skins and serve them in the pilaf if you wish.

Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

Did I mention the meat is T-E-N-D-E-R?

Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

Buckwheat and Beef Pilaf (Plov)

4.96 from 42 votes
Author: Natasha Kravchuk
This buckwheat and beef pilaf is a play on traditional rice plov.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients 

Servings: 8
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 to 1 1/4 lbs beef, chuck, sirloin or good quality stew meat, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/2" to 3/4" thick pieces
  • 3 large carrots, julienned
  • 2.5 cups buckwheat groats, aka grechka
  • 4 1/4 cups cold filtered water + 1 cup hot water
  • 2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste (I use sea salt)
  • 1 tsp cumin spice to taste
  • 1 full head of unpeeled garlic

Instructions

  • Set a large heavy-bottomed stock pot or dutch oven over medium/high heat and add 1/3 cup olive oil and 4 Tbsp butter. Add onion and sauté, stirring occasionally until softened (about 5 min).
  • Add cubed beef and sauté 5 min, turning once (beef will not be fully cooked). Add julienned carrots and stir another minute.
  • Add 4 1/4 cups cold water and season with 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook 1 hour.
  • Meanwhile (about 10 min before your timer is up), heat a large non-stick skillet over medium/high heat and melt in 4 Tbsp butter. Add 2 1/2 cups buckwheat and toast until golden, stirring often (3-5 min). Pour buckwheat into the pot in an even layer and gently pour enough hot water to cover buckwheat 1/2" above the level of the buckwheat (I added 1 cup hot water).
  • Cut garlic head in half parallel to the base to expose cloves and place over the top of buckwheat, cut-sides-down, pushing into the buckwheat slightly. Cook uncovered over med heat until most of the surface liquid boils out (10 min).
  • Poke 8-10 holes through the buckwheat to allow steam to escape to the surface, then cover with lid, reduce heat to the lowest setting and let pot sit another 30 minutes. Remove garlic and stir everything gently to combine. P.S. you can squeeze garlic cloves out of their skins and serve them in the pilaf if you wish.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Russian
Keyword: buckwheat, buckwheat pilaf
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $$

If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen

Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

I hope you put this on your menu for the week!

Buckwheat Pilaf with fall-apart tender beef - simple and excellent dish. You'll be running back for refills! | natashaskitchen.com

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.

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Comments

  • Alena
    October 11, 2015

    I cooked this for my family. It was good, meat was tender, however, I think that a stick of butter kind of cancels out the healthiness in this dish. I will definitely cut back on butter next time. Also, I want to try searing the meat first without onions, because I think the onions get in the way of meat getting a good sear. Unless I did something wrong:) Anyway, thanx for recipe.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 12, 2015

      Hi Alena, Plov is traditionally made with even more oil and butter. I actually used less than normal, but I’m also a butter lovin’ kinda gal ;). The searing isn’t as important (it doesn’t have to be a perfect “sear”) because the meat becomes tender with the long cooking time. I’ve used a little more meat in the past and it became juicy instead of searing and it still turned out great and very tender.

      Reply

  • Natasha
    October 11, 2015

    Just WOW!!! This is the best plov I’ve ever made😇😋 Even the garlic is amazingly delicious 😉 Thank you so much for the recipe!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 11, 2015

      Yay!! That’s quite a compliment. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review 🙂

      Reply

  • Tanya
    October 9, 2015

    Girl……I made this just now and was BOMB!!!! great way to incorporate something healthy.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 9, 2015

      Isn’t it great? I’m so happy my hubby came up with this – it was his idea! He’s so smart 🙂

      Reply

  • lily
    September 30, 2015

    Natash You always make something so good looking i drool looking over it then decided cooking isn’t so bad. lol. malodets, and your photos are immaculate.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 1, 2015

      Thank you so much Lily 🙂

      Reply

  • Irina
    September 30, 2015

    Hey Natasha do you think it would be okay if the carrots were grated instead of julienned?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 30, 2015

      Irina, grated carrots are fine, you can also thinly slice them. Let me know how it turns out :).

      Reply

  • Vitaliya
    September 30, 2015

    Hi! This sounds delicious! Do you think I can use chicken thighs instead of beef? How do you think that will taste?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 30, 2015

      Vitaliya, that should work fine. It should still taste good :).

      Reply

  • Lena
    September 29, 2015

    Made this yesterday, tastes amazing!! Thank you so much for the recipe and the idea! Its like grechka with the podliva in one pot:)) thanks again, will definitely be making this again!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 29, 2015

      I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 🙂 Thanks Lena!

      Reply

  • Yelena
    September 29, 2015

    I made this for dinner last night, and we loved it!! Thank You for another great recepie!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 29, 2015

      That’s fantastic! Thank you for sharing your great review 🙂

      Reply

  • Emily
    September 29, 2015

    This looks really good and autumn appropriate. I guess I need to buy the garlic, though. I grow it in my garden but it will be mission impossible to make it that clean.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 29, 2015

      I hope you love it! 🙂 It really is a hearty, homey meal.

      Reply

  • Sophie
    September 29, 2015

    Yum. I make a similar thing but with a few diced tomatoes through it. Love your website. Great to find reliable Russian recipes. (I’ve got a Russian husband) I’ve tried a few from Russian websites but the recipes always seem to be off and quite end in disaster!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 29, 2015

      That is a wonderful compliment and thank you so much Sophie! We do try very hard to be clear and precise with our instructions, ingredients and photos. It’s a painstaking process but it’s how we would want to find recipes so that is how we provide them. I know exactly what you’re talking about! 😉

      Reply

  • Lindsey
    September 28, 2015

    Hey Natasha! Do you have any video tutorials showing how you use the mandolin slicer?? Seems like I’ve seen it on here before? I bought one (different brand than yours) and I tried to use it when making borsch and almost hurt myself bad lol! Don’t know if I just bought a bad one or if my technique is wrong?! The carrots are so hard- I had very difficult time trying to push it down to shred it..!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      Hi Lindsey :). Always use gloves – we purchased these no No Cry brand gloves on Amazon and they absolutely save your hands. They are great for mandolin slicing, grating, and using the matchstick slicer.

      Reply

  • Diana Klakotskaia
    September 28, 2015

    Last night I made a plan to make your buckwheat and ground pork one pot recipe tonight but then I saw your newest post just in time to get a nice piece of beef at the store instead! I love plov but don’t enjoy eating rice very often so this is a perfect take on it, especially because I love buckwheat even more!! Plus it’s so easy to make! It’s simmering now and smells fantastic…can’t wait until it’s ready! Thanks Natasha!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      Oh do let me know how you liked it! Enjoy! 🙂

      Reply

  • Valya @ Valya' s Taste of Home
    September 28, 2015

    Love this idea! I have to try making this. Good thinking Vadim. Way to go!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      Thanks Valya 🙂

      Reply

  • Lilianna Juhasz
    September 28, 2015

    can you use ‘instant’ kasha ( the one that comes in perforated boil bags for this? It may save some time. I love kasha and I love Plov. can’t wait to make this, but I will probably try it with lamb instead of beef. like the idea of using a whole garlic cut in half too.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      I don’t really have any experience with instant kasha – I usually just buy the regular buckwheat so I’m not sure how it converts as far as how much water you need for the amount of buckwheat. I imagine you wouldn’t want to cook it as long with instant buckwheat or it would probably get mushy.

      Reply

      • Lilianna Juhasz
        September 28, 2015

        ‘instant’ kasha cooks fairly quickly (less than 10 minutes if even that) and just absorbs the cooking water. You can tell it’s done when it’s fat and soft. Because the plov has so much liquid already, just tossing it in dry should absorb the liquid and you can also skip sauteeing the kasha before you add it to the pot.

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          September 28, 2015

          Thanks for sharing that! I hope it works out. If you try it, let me know how it goes 🙂

          Reply

  • Tanya
    September 28, 2015

    Thanks so much for this recipe! I have a friend who can’t have any carbs at all and this is perfect!!!! If u could maybe come up w some other recipes that are carb free.. It would be awesome! Thanks:)))))

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      Hi Tanya, did you mean gluten? Because this is gluten free, but it does have carbohydrates. 🙂

      Reply

  • Larissa
    September 28, 2015

    I JUST made buckwheat last night and am almost out! I will HAVE to get more for my birthday in a few weeks so I can make this!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      I hope you and all of your party guests love it! Happy birthday! 🙂

      Reply

  • Lena
    September 28, 2015

    Yayyyyyyyyyy!!!!!! I’ve been silently hoping for this EXACT RECIPE!!!! (Unlike white rice buckwheat is a complex carb full of protein). You rock, the end.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      Ha ha. Thanks Lena. 😉

      Reply

  • alena
    September 28, 2015

    Yyuumm, this looks very delicious, definitely going on my to do list 🙂 but i’ll probably use tri-tip beef, I always use that for my plov, and love it:) thank you again for the recipe:)

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      You are welcome Alena :), I will use tri-tip beef next time as well :).

      Reply

  • Julia@Vikalinka
    September 28, 2015

    What a brilliant idea! Kudos to Vadim for thinking it up. 🙂 I don’t think I can ever get tired of buckwheat and the more ways to eat it the better. I’ve been sitting on a buckwheat recipe idea for a while myself but still haven’t managed to flesh it out. I am now inspired!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      I know, I could just kiss him for it. I think I will! 😉 Ha ha. I’m happy you’re inspired to cook some buckwheat too 🙂

      Reply

  • Coco in the Kitchen
    September 28, 2015

    This looks so delicious and healthy!
    Found out today that my li’l sweetheart’s preschool will be serving this for lunch. Am very pleased she’ll be getting a hearty, nourishing meal.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 28, 2015

      That’s so neat!! That makes me happy. Buckwheat is so amazingly healthy!

      Reply

      • Coco
        September 30, 2015

        Natasha, she loved it. Ran home to tell me lunch was amazing. Now, thanks to you, I have the recipe and can make it for her at home! xo

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          September 30, 2015

          Coco, that makes me so happy, thank you for sharing that with me :D.

          Reply

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