Ethiopia | Stew

Misir Wat

Name: Misir Wat
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Ethiopia, East Africa
Ingredients: 2 cups red lentils, rinsed; 2 large onions, finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated; 3 tbsp berbere spice; 3 tbsp oil or niter kibbeh; 5 cups water or vegetable stock; salt, to taste

Ethiopian red lentil stew cooked with onion, garlic, ginger, berbere, and spiced oil until soft and fiery.

Country

Ethiopia

Region

East Africa

Time

55 min

Serves

Level

easy

Start cooking Explore Ethiopia recipes

01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 6 bowls

Stew

Lentils

2 cups red lentils, rinsed

Base

2 large onions, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

Spices

3 tbsp berbere spice

Fat

3 tbsp oil or niter kibbeh

Liquid

5 cups water or vegetable stock

Pantry

salt, to taste

A few kitchen essentials

Suggested from the recipe method. Use equivalent equipment you have.

Lidded pot

Wooden spoon

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Ethiopia

4 steps 10 min prep 45 min cook (check method) 55 min total easy

Cook onions

Cook onions in oil until soft and sweet, then add garlic, ginger, and berbere.

onion base 15:00

Add lentils

Stir in rinsed lentils and coat them in the spiced onion mixture.

coat lentils 03:00

Simmer

Add water or stock and simmer until the lentils collapse into a thick stew.

lentil simmer 30:00

Finish

Season with salt and loosen with hot water if needed before serving.

finish 03:00

Some cooks use niter kibbeh for richness, while fasting versions use oil and remain vegan.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas

Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for vegetarian platters, fasting meals, and make-ahead cooking.. Plan on a easy cook. Allow about 55 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Injera, shiro wat, gomen, and mild vegetable sides.

Regional lane

Injera and wot table. Stews, sauces, and flatbread built for communal injera service.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Rushing the rest or fermentation period.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
The bread or batter should smell pleasantly fermented, toasted, or nutty rather than floury.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.

Pantry lane

teff, berbere, mitmita, niter kibbeh, split peas

Recipe photos

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

Misir Wat recipe from Ethiopia — Misir Wat finished dish

Chef board

Build the table around Misir Wat

Injera, shiro wat, gomen, and mild vegetable sides.

Best route from here

Injera and wot table

Collections to keep cooking

Ethiopian Fasting Table

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