How To Make Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Lentils)

Misir Wat is a stew of Ethiopian Spiced Lentils. With Niter Kibbeh and Berbere for flavor this lentil stew is very flavorful and can be quite spicy if you want. Recipes for both the Niter Kibbeh and Berbere can be found by clicking on the links.

This recipe is naturally gluten free.

Watch a Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Misir Wat.

Cook Onions In Spiced Butter

We begin this recipe by heating our niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter) in a large stockpot over medium heat. Once the butter is melted we will add our onions. We want to cook these for about 10 minutes and get them good and softened. They look so good with a golden glow after cooking n the spiced butter!

Tomatoes and Berbere

Next we will add our garlic, tomato paste, chopped tomato and berbere. We are using 1 tablespoon of the berbere here but you can use more if you want it spicier.

Lentils and Broth

We’ll cook this together for about five minutes and let these flavors mellow and marry before we add the lentils, broth and salt. We are using chicken broth but if you want to make a vegetarian version of Misir Wat you can substitute vegetable broth.

Now we will bring this to a boil, reduce the heat and cook it on low for 40 minutes. That’s all there is to this dish.

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Explore our Ethiopian Recipe Collection for a complete meal:

• Injera (Ethiopian Fermented Flatbread)
• Niter Kibbeh (Ethiopian Spiced Butter)
• Berbere (Ethiopian Spice Paste)
• Zigni (Ethiopian Goat and Carmelized Onion Stew)
• Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spicy Lentil Stew)

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