Move Over Lasagna and Bolognese—This Persian Baked Pasta Is Crispy, Meaty, and Totally Weeknight-Friendly

If you grew up in an Iranian household, chances are mākāroni was on the dinner table more often than not. It’s comfort food through and through: a saucy, beefy pasta dish cooked until crispy on the bottom—like a tomatoey bolognese crossed with tahdig. Though pasta isn’t a primary staple in the Persian culinary landscape, this is one Persian pasta dish that holds a special place in Iranian hearts. In Persian, the dish is simply referred to as “mākāroni” (ماکارونی). It’s typically made with bucatini, which has a narrow hole running through the center of its long strands.

Iranians made it their own with this beloved hybrid, which blends familiar Western noodles with the time-honored steaming techniques used to make Persian rice. The result? A one-pot wonder where every bite is infused with rich, slow-cooked flavor, and the signature crispy bottom is the part everyone fights over.

Persian mākāroni distinguishes itself by its unique preparation. The pasta is cooked twice: first boiled slightly beyond the al dente stage to maximize water absorption. It’s then mixed with a meat-based tomato sauce (most often lamb or beef), and steamed in a tightly covered pot. This method mirrors the preparation of chelow (چلو), the iconic Persian rice dish, where the rice is first parboiled and then steamed. A key feature of Persian mākāroni is its tahdig (ته دیگ), a coveted crust of crispy, buttery pasta that forms at the pot’s bottom. This echoes the prized tahdig of Persian-style steamed rice, often a source of friendly competition among diners.

History of Noodles and Pasta in Iran and Persian Cuisine

Although Western-style pasta made from semolina (coarse flour from durum wheat) is relatively new in Persian cuisine, simple flat noodles made from all-purpose flour, salt, and water have been part of Persian cuisine since at least the seventh century CE. The Persian name for traditional all-purpose flour flat noodles is “reshteh.” Reshteh remains an essential ingredient in many traditional Persian dishes, such as reshteh-polow (rice with noodles) and ash-e reshteh (a popular thick soup of herbs, legumes, and noodles).

Western-style pasta consumption in Iran dates back to the early 20th century. Before the 1930s, small amounts of pasta were imported from Europe, primarily for embassies, consulates, and foreign residents. Iran’s first Western-style pasta production began in 1934, with an initial daily capacity of 20 to 30 kilograms to meet the growing demand from this foreign population. Indeed, before the loanword mākāroni became prevalent in the Persian language, Persians referred to pasta as reshteh-ye-khāreji, which translates to “foreign noodle.”

Starting in the mid-20th century, Iranian home cooks, embracing the newly available Western-style pasta, created a unique Persian-style pasta dish. This dish utilized techniques similar to those used for centuries to prepare traditional steamed rice. Another key difference is that mākāroni uses Western-style semolina pasta as the primary ingredient, whereas traditional Persian noodle dishes do not feature noodles as the main component.

Mākāroni quickly became popular among Iranians of all ages, many of whom consider it a favorite comfort food.

A Celebration of Crispiness 

Often, there is something crunchy at a Persian meal—anywhere from the simple pile of radishes on the ubiquitous plate of fresh herbs to a side bowl of Persian-style crisp cucumber pickles to the iconic tahdig, whether it is from the bottom of the Persian steamed white rice (chelow) or the bottom of the pot of this unique pasta dish.

Many cuisines have independently developed their own versions of crisped or singed rice—like Korean nurungji, Spanish socarrat in paella, Chinese guoba, Dominican concón, Vietnamese cơm cháy, and Indian vagharelo bhaat. Crisped pasta, by contrast, is much rarer, appearing primarily in Persian tahdig and occasionally in Italian dishes like pasta al forno or frittata di pasta. Cantonese-style crispy noodles, which are typically deep-fried, represent a distinct approach altogether.

Spaghetti all’Assassina, a distinctive burnt spaghetti dish from the Southern Italian region of Puglia, is one key example of a heavily crisped (verging on burnt) Italian pasta dish, but it presents some practical challenges. Beyond its inherent messiness, it needs to be prepared in a wide, professional-grade pan to allow the long spaghetti strands to lie completely flat. Furthermore, each batch typically yields only enough for two people, scoring low on the “effort-to-servings ratio” scale. Persian mākāroni, in contrast, is clean and simple; no specialized cookware is needed, and a single recipe readily serves six to eight. Each diner enjoys both a piece of the prized crispy layer and an ample portion of sauced bucatini.

Choosing the Right Pasta for Persian Mākāroni

As mentioned above, Persian home cooks almost always make mākāroni with bucatini, a long, tube-shaped pasta about twice as thick as spaghetti. It’s likely that bucatini was chosen for this dish because it was one of the few types of Western-style semolina pasta available in Iran at the time. Even into the early 1970s, during my late teenage years, I recall limited pasta varieties in Tehran grocery stores. However, according to Dan Pashman, whom I refer to as the “pasta scientist” and the author of Anything’s Pastable, there is a scientific reason why bucatini is well-suited to this dish.

The structure of the bucatini, a relatively narrow tube, creates a unique textural experience. Its small diameter and compact walls produce a firmer, more resilient pasta. Unlike wider pasta tubes such as rigatoni, ziti, and penne, bucatini resists flattening into two thick layers when bitten. Instead, the compact walls spring back, offering a delightful resistance and a satisfyingly chewy texture.

Bucatini, however, is not a uniform product. In preparation for this article, I examined nearly a dozen packages from various countries (including the US, Italy, Greece, and Turkey) and companies, including everyday Teflon-die extruded ones and the fancy, more expensive bronze-die extruded variety. Labeling was inconsistent: some were labeled “bucatini,” while others used numbers ranging from two to 13! Information about manufacturing methods (e.g., “slow-drawn,” “bronze-die”) was also inconsistent. Most importantly, the pasta varied significantly in both noodle girth, ranging from 2.8 to 6.5 millimeters, and hole diameter.

Based on my own decades of experience making this dish and more recent systematic testing of different brands and sizes, the most common variety found in US supermarkets is similar to what many Persian home cooks prefer., with an external diameter of about 3.5 millimeters.

The good news is that the precise size of the bucatini-like pasta isn’t critical for this recipe. Don’t hesitate to make it even if you don’t have the “ideal” bucatini. Also, save your money—there’s no need for expensive bronze-die extruded pasta. Teflon-die extruded bucatini’s smoother surface is better for achieving maximum crispiness.

The Unique Tomato Sauce for Persian Mākāroni

Traditionally, Persian home cooks prepare this dish with a simple, slow-cooked, meat-based tomato sauce similar to bolognese. The recipe below provides a traditional version. However, you can substitute your favorite bolognese-like sauce—whether homemade, store-bought, or even doctoring a store-bought meatless marinara—for example, by adding sautéed ground meat.

A highly viscous, not overly chunky, sauce is the key to a successful dish. A thick sauce adheres better to the pasta, preventing the pooling of liquid at the bottom of the pot that can impede crisping. A smoother sauce, free of large chunks of meat, also ensures a more even and appealing pasta tahdig without overly browned chunks of meat.

Cooking Mākāroni: Tips for Perfect Tahdig

Its two-stage, boil-steam cooking process distinguishes Persian mākāroni from many other pasta dishes. Creating the signature crunchy crust, or tahdig, requires a bit more attention compared to the Persian rice tahdig. The natural sugars in tomato sauce can cause the bottom layer of the pasta to over-brown or burn if cooked too long or at too high a heat. To prevent this, consider using a heat diffuser, a.k.a. a flame tamer.

Alternative means of ensuring even heating include a heavy-bottomed pot, rotating the pot every five minutes, or placing a parchment paper circle on the bottom before adding the sauced pasta. At the same time, however, some Iranians, including myself, love their pasta tahdig very dark, so don’t be too afraid of pushing the boundaries of burning.

How to Serve Persian Mākāroni

Mākāroni is typically served as a main course for lunch or dinner. When cooked in a non-stick pot, all the contents can be inverted onto a serving platter, showcasing the pasta tahdig atop a cake-like mound of sauced pasta. The tahdig may not release cleanly if a non-stick pot is not used. In this case, gently spoon the pasta onto a platter, then use a spatula to remove the tahdig and arrange the shards of pasta tahdig around the pasta.

Serve mākāroni with a fresh green salad, such as the Persian Shirazi salad. Alternatively, it can be served along with some sort of yogurt-based side, such as the Persian mast-o-khiar. Regardless of how it is served, get it out of the pan as quickly as you can before the moisture of the steam emanating from the cooked pasta lessens the crispiness of the pasta tahdig.

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