Flavorful & Communal
Ethiopian food is unique, richly flavored, and a deeply important part of the national identity. Meals are communal and meant to be shared. Injera, a tangy flatbread made from teff flour, forms the basis of Ethiopian meals. It functions as both a fork and a plate and has a texture that’s perfect for soaking up flavorful drippings! Ethiopian meals are a colorful combination of many different dishes, including flavorful stews, plenty of sauces, and delicious sautéed vegetables. Salads and legumes also play a significant role. Notably, Ethiopian cuisine is well-known for offering a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes. However, there are plenty of options to please meat-eaters as well. There are grilled meats, meat curries, and some meat dishes are even served raw! Ethiopian recipes make use of plenty of spices and flavorful ingredients, including berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend with plenty of heat, and niter kibbeh, a spiced clarified butter. But if you can’t travel to Ethiopia to try all the delicious food just yet, don’t fret! We’ve got you covered with this roundup of the five best Ethiopian recipes to try at home. Let’s get started!
#1 Injera
Injera is a fermented flatbread that forms the basis (literally) of most Ethiopian meals. Traditionally, large dollops of each dish are arranged on a large piece of injera. Diners will gather around this communal platter. Each person gets their own injera and tears off small pieces to dip into the food in place of a fork or spoon. This makes for an intimate, communal dining experience that’s just as much a part of Ethiopian cuisine as the recipes themselves! Injera is spongy, porous, and slightly sour in taste. The recipe calls for teff flour; if you’re unfamiliar, teff is a small grain native to the area. Since it can be quite expensive, you can sub in a little bit of rice flour to keep costs down while retaining the gluten-free aspect of the recipe. Making injera is a time-consuming process, but trust us when we say that it’s worth it! Ready to make your own injera?
#2 Misir Wat
Misir wat, sometimes spelled as misir wot, is a thick, richly spiced red lentil stew. This Ethiopian recipe is vegetarian-friendly and perfect for plant-based eaters who want to try Ethiopian cuisine. To make the dish, onions are first caramelized in niter kibbeh, a spiced clarified butter, then combined with garlic, tomato, and berbere, a spicy Ethiopian seasoning blend. (Note that if you want to make the dish vegan, you can simply sub olive oil for the clarified butter.) Next, lentils are added to the mixture and slowly cooked to perfection. The result? An intensely flavorful meatless dish that’s packed with protein and plenty of irresistible aromatics. We highly recommend trying this classic Ethiopian recipe at home!
#3 Doro Wat
We couldn’t make a list of the best Ethiopian recipes without including doro wat! Doro wat, sometimes spelled doro wot, is a chicken and egg stew that’s spiced with berbere, a hot and flavorful spice blend that's ubiquitous in Ethiopian recipes. Doro wat is often reserved for special occasions and holidays since it is time-consuming to make, but trust us – you will not regret putting in the time and effort to make this recipe! To start things off, onions, garlic, and ginger are combined with niter kibbeh, a spiced clarified butter. Then berbere is stirred in for a massive flavor boost. The chicken is added to this richly spiced sauce and then simmered until nearly done. At the end of the cooking process, boiled eggs are added in along with extra seasonings. The end result is a flavor-packed, stew-like dish that pairs perfectly with injera. Ready to try this beloved Ethiopian recipe at home?
#4 Shiro Wat
Shiro wat, sometimes spelled shiro wot, is one of the tastiest Ethiopian recipes. It also happens to be vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free! Shiro – sometimes referred to as shiro flour – forms the basis of this dish. It is high in protein and made from ground dried chickpeas, fava beans, round peas, or all three. It’s the key ingredient that gives this stew its nutty flavor and robust texture. A delicious combination of berbere, niter kibbeh, onions, tomatoes, and garlic give this stew its irresistible taste. As a bonus, this Ethiopian recipe comes together in around 30 minutes, making it ideal for weeknight dinners. We recommend pairing it with injera and a salad. Ready to make your own shiro wat?
#5 Salata
Ethiopian green salad, or salata, is a simple but indispensable element of any Ethiopian feast. It adds crunch and freshness to the meal and is perfectly refreshing and light. This Ethiopian recipe is simple but precise, so be sure to measure the quantities of each ingredient carefully to get the perfect tangy dressing. You’ll also want to make sure to choose fresh, vibrant romaine lettuce and plush tomatoes for a crisp, refreshing salata. We recommend serving this dish on a large injera alongside portions of all the other recipes listed here. However, if you aren’t ready to cook up a full Ethiopian feast, this salad makes a great lunch and is perfect for new cooks who want to dip their toes into Ethiopian cuisine!
Bonus!
#6 Yetsom Beyaynetu
Yetsom beyaynetu is a combination platter offered in many Ethiopian restaurants. Appropriate for both vegetarians and vegans, its popularity stems from Ethiopia’s dominant religion. Many Ethiopians are Orthodox Christian and the religion has many fasting days, including every Wednesday and Friday as well as Lent. Fasting days involve eating no meat or dairy products, so yetsom beyaynetu, which translates to “fasting combination platter,” is a popular choice on these days. (On non-fasting days, mahaberawi, a combination platter that includes meat dishes, is often ordered instead.) If you’d like to make your own yetsom beyaynetu at home, simply combine any number of vegan Ethiopian recipes on a large piece of injera. Many of the dishes we’ve included in this list – such as shiro wat, misir wat, and salata – are commonly used in yetsom beyaynetu. Feel free to get creative! However, if you want to follow a more formal process when putting your platter together, don’t worry – we’ve included a link to a step-by-step recipe guide below.