Home » Vegetarian » Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Red Lentils)

Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Red Lentils)

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.

One of Ethiopia’s most popular vegetarian dishes, this Misir Wat recipe showcases lentils in a way that’s unlike any you’ve had before.  The flavor is simply out of this world!  Vegetarian-friendly and so delicious that even devout carnivores won’t miss the meat!

For more delicious and authentic Ethiopian dishes be sure to try my Doro Wat, Sega Wat, Gomen, Injera, and homemade Niter Kibbeh!

misir wat recipe ethiopian wot authentic red lentils niter kibbeh berbere

It’s been said that the best vegetarian cuisines in the world are Indian and Ethiopian and I can’t disagree.  The flavor profiles of both cuisines bring even the blandest ingredients to life with their rich combinations of spices and herbs.

Misir Wat (also Misir Wot) is one such example of a dish that truly excels in the vegetarian realm.  A dish featuring red lentils, an abundantly available crop, Misir Wat is a staple dish throughout Ethiopia and one of the most popular vegetarian dishes in Ethiopian restaurants.  If you order a mixed combination platter at an Ethiopian restaurant or order vegetarian, misir wat is almost always among the selections.

ethiopian dinner platter

Misir wat starts with onions that are slowly caramelized in niter kibbeh, Ethiopia’s popluar and incredibly flavorful spiced clarified butter.  Garlic and tomato paste are added.  The comes a generous dose of berbere, Ethiopia’s famous chili seasoning blend.  It’s normally fiery-hot (and what you get in Ethiopia is even hotter than what you typically find outside of the country), but our blend tones down the heat and gives you the option of adding it according to your preference.

The lentils are then slow-simmered with these highly aromatic and flavorful ingredients until they’re soft.  Another spoonful of niter kibbeh and berbere are added in at the end for an added boost of flavor.

Misir wat is typically served with injera, Ethiopia’s staple fermented flatbread that’s also used as an eating instrument to scoop up the lentils.

misir wat wot recipe ethiopian authentic red lentils niter kibbeh berbere

Misir Wat Recipe

Let’s get started!

Melt 3 tablespoons of the niter kibbeh in a medium stock pot.  Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

cooking onions

Add the garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon of the berbere and cook for 5-7 minutes.  Reduce the heat if needed to prevent burning.

adding ingredients to pot

Next we’re adding the broth.  As with everything I recommend using the best ingredients you can find and the broth we love and recommend with enthusiasm is Aneto.  We visited their factory in Barcelona Spain a year ago and watched the entire broth-making process from start to finish.  It was so inspiring!  Check out our post about it and take a virtual tour.

Aneto selects fresh, free-range chicken and the freshest vegetables and slow-simmer it in gigantic pots for several hours to produce the highest quality broths on the market. No concentrates, powders, artificial ingredients, “natural flavors”, GMO’s, fillers or flavor enhancers of any kind.  Just pure, whole, real ingredients.  We love and highly recommend Aneto.

aneto broth

For misir wat you can use either chicken broth or if you’re vegetarian, vegetable broth.

Aneto’s broths are sold in store locations throughout the U.S.. Alternatively you can also find them on Amazon, though the prices are higher there.  The best value is the 6-pack chicken broth.  See also the vegetable broth.

aneto broth
Once you’ve added the broth, salt and lentils, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer the lentils, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes (adding more broth if needed) or until the lentils are soft.

Stir in the remaining tablespoon of niter kibbeh and berbere.  Simmer for a couple more minutes.  Add salt to taste.

misir wat wot recipe ethiopian authentic red lentils niter kibbeh berbere

Enjoy!

misir wat wot recipe ethiopian authentic red lentils niter kibbeh berbere

Save This Recipe

Enter your email address and we'll send it straight to your inbox!

misir wat recipe authentic Ethiopian traditional

Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Red Lentils)

One of Ethiopia's most popular vegetarian dishes, you'll be blown away by the incredible flavor!
4.97 from 84 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Melt 3 tablespoons of the niter kibbeh in a medium stock pot.  Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.  
  • Add the garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon of the berbere and cook for 5-7 minutes. Reduce the heat if needed to prevent burning.
  • Add the lentils, broth and salt, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer the lentils, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes (adding more broth if needed) or until the lentils are soft.
  • Stir in the remaining tablespoon of niter kibbeh and berbere. Simmer for a couple more minutes. Add salt to taste.
  • Serve with Ethiopian injera

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 227kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 10gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 483mgPotassium: 509mgFiber: 9gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 220IUVitamin C: 6.4mgCalcium: 31mgIron: 2.8mg
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine ethiopian
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
kimberly killebrew the daring gourmet

Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!

Read more about me...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




4.97 from 84 votes (31 ratings without comment)

142 Comments

  1. Excellent!

    For those of us not familiar with Ethiopian Foods, what are the names of the other foods in the picture and do you have any recipes or recommended links/recipes for those?

    Thank you.

  2. Layers flavors and delicious!
    I substituted a can of diced tomatoes and instead of ghee, I used some previously made Ye’gimen Zeyet!

  3. Sounds wonderful and I can’t wait to try this. Does anyone know if it stores well in the fridge and reheats without the lentils falling apart to mush?

  4. Incredible! Misir wat has always been my favorite Ethiopian dish, however this is my first attempt trying to make anything Ethiopian. It turned out so well – spicy and bursting with flavor. In the words of my sig other “I can’t get this in my face fast enough”. I used your recipe for niter kebbeh as well, which was incredibly easy to make (made me question why I’d never made homemade ghee!). I followed your recipe for gomen as well, and served them each with a teff/wheat flour injera recipe that I found elsewhere. Can’t wait to try more Ethiopian recipes.

      1. Oh gosh. I was skeptical because my clarified butter was very old and my tomato situation was less than ideal (I had to use salsa for all of it!) but it turned out amazing. I’m so excited for my boyfriend to try it!

    1. Hi Kimberly, just wanted to thank you for this amazing recipe. I tried to make misir wat along with berbere and the clarified butter, all of which came out very very well. A very satisfying meal to conclude 2020. Thank you for your work and happy new year to you and loved ones!

      Best,
      Di

    1. Hi Casey, you can definitely double this. So glad your family enjoyed it!

  5. Please note, chicken broth is not vegetarian.

    Yes I saw you link to the veg broth too, but chicken broth is not vegetarian and that is not as clear as it need be for some. I have gone hungry at gathering when the host said they were making vegetarian food, and no I didn’t need to bring anything, to find chicken or beef broth was used.

    1. Hi, in the ingredients list under the chicken broth I note, “vegetarians: use vegetable broth”. I’m not sure how I could have been any clearer.

  6. Absolutely awesome! Made your berebere and spiced butter and then added to the lentils. Really happy with the outcome. As a sidenote, I used Tulsi (Indian holy basil) in the spiced butter. I think it may be the same thing as the Ethiopian holy basil. I had tulsi tea and it worked great. Thanks for this recipe!

    1. That’s fantastic, Annie! So glad you took the time to make your own berbere and niter kibbeh, it makes all the difference. I’m happy you enjoyed it, thanks so much for the feedback!

  7. This was amazing! Was surprised to find the butter (home-made) at a market near my house. Added some chopped ginger and red bell pepper since I had them on hand. Thanks so much for posting this.

  8. Thanks for the advice to others on the berbere spice blend. I might try making my own someday. But for now, I have a container of commercial berbere, which I intend to use. If I wanted to use less but still get good flavor, which of the spices would you suppliment?

  9. This was outstanding! I was agog at how much flavor this dish had. I already love red lentils but this was SO much better than my usual lentil dish. We ate it over rice and with a little sour cream (lacking yoghurt) and it was SUPERB. We gobbled this delicious dish up!

  10. This was wickedly delicious, I never thought lentils could taste so incredible! I made and used your homemade niter kibbeh (wow!) and homemade berbere and the results were outstanding. Thank you!

  11. This was AMAZING!! I never thought lentils could taste this good, everyone LOVED this dish, thank you for sharing this and all of your other wonderful recipes!