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    Home » Dinner

    Misir wot: Ethiopian lentils

    Published: Jun 29, 2015 · Modified: Apr 19, 2022 by Trish Bozeman · This post may contain affiliate links · 14 Comments

    Fantastic misir wot recipe! Spicy stewed Ethiopian lentils made with berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend. Simple and delicious to make at home.

    Misir wot in a skillet with injera

    Well, we have reached the END of the Global Feasts Ethiopia series! Did you catch them all? Not too many this time around eh? Yeah, it was a small one. BUT....... I still have this one to share. THIS MISIR WOT!

    Misir wot is an Ethiopian lentil stew made with berbere and niter kibbeh and served shared with injera. I got a little craaaaaaazy and added some yellow cherry tomatoes to the recipe. I also had to resort to clarified butter because I didn't have niter kibbeh. Ah well..... still freakin delicious guys!

     

    Now that the feast is over, I am dreaming of having another Ethiopian meal. There aren't any Ethiopian restaurants in Olympia, but I am totally on board with making my own dishes now. I'll probably wait until this insane heat wave is over (100 degrees in June WHAT!), since I refuse to turn on my oven this week. But I have quite a bit of berbere left, and am super into using it as my new go to chile powder for curries and stews. It's just so tasty!

    Ethiopian lentils in a skillet

    MISIR WOT: ETHIOPIAN LENTIL STEW
    PREP TIME
    10 mins
    COOK TIME
    1 hour 20 mins
    TOTAL TIME
    1 hour 30 mins
    Misir wot is an Ethiopian lentil stew made with berbere, an Ethiopian chile powder. Simple and delicious to make at home!
    Serves: 4 servings
    INGREDIENTS
    • 6 Tablespoons clarified butter or niter kibbeh, divided
    • 1 red onion, diced
    • 1 yellow onion, diced
    • 4 Tablespoons minced garlic
    • 3 Tablespoons berbere, divided*
    • 1½ cups dried red lentils
    • 2 cups yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
    • 3-5 cups water
    • Salt
    INSTRUCTIONS
    1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the clarified butter or niter kibbeh in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add both onions and cook until brown, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
    2. Add 3 tablespoons of the clarified butter or niter kibbeh, and garlic. Stir to combine and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the berbere. Stir to combine and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
    3. Add the lentils. Stir to combine and toast for about 1 minute.
    4. Add the cherry tomatoes and 3 cups water. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until lentils are soft, about 45 minutes. You may need to add more water if lentils become dry before soft.
    5. When lentils are soft, add the remaining 1 tablespoon clarified butter or niter kibbeh and berbere. Season with salt.
    6. Serve with injera

    *Check out the recipe for homemade berbere.

    Well, what did you think of the Ethiopian feast?

    If you make this recipe, please let me know on social media or in the comments below! Leave a star rating in your comment or tag me on Instagram with #Rhubarbarians.

    Thank you so much for reading and supporting Rhubarbarians and the brands that I recommend. If you’re looking for a group of people cooking vegetarian recipes through the seasons, join us on Facebook in our vegetarian and vegan recipes group!

    Hope you enjoy these spicy Ethiopian lentils! ❤️

    Trish

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    Reader Interactions

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      Recipe Rating




    1. The Gourmet Gourmand

      April 12, 2016 at 3:18 pm

      This is so awesome!! I am so addicted to Ethiopian. I definitely plan to try this one.

      Reply
      • Patricia Bozeman

        April 13, 2016 at 8:00 am

        Thank you! Let me know how it turns out!

        Reply
    2. Clara Meister

      August 19, 2015 at 9:58 pm

      This was the first Ethiopian dish I ever tried to make. It was fantastic!! Super easy and sooo delicious. Do you have an injera recipe that you like to use?

      Reply
      • Patricia Bozeman

        August 20, 2015 at 3:11 pm

        Awesome Clara! So glad you liked it! I actually have never made Injera. You can get it from a local market here in Seattle for about $0.50 a piece. I need to try to make it someday! Did you make your own berbere?

        Reply
        • Clara Meister

          August 25, 2015 at 5:53 pm

          Oh I'm jealous about the injera. I made mine using this recipe: https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/recipe-injera.html but I switched the proportions for teff and regular flour. Came out pretty well but much darker than other injera I've seen. And no, I was too lazy to make my own berbere haha. I've tried a few though and the Frontier brand one is definitely the best!

          Reply
    3. Robyn Gleason

      July 10, 2015 at 3:25 pm

      Ohhh, I love Ethiopian flavours. I will definitely try this dish.

      Reply
      • Patricia Bozeman

        July 11, 2015 at 9:37 am

        Let me know how you like it!

        Reply
    4. Hillary

      July 09, 2015 at 7:52 am

      Do you make your own injera? I've served Ethiopian red lentils with sourdough bread which is really tasty, but sometimes I crave the spongy, thin consistency of injera! 🙂

      Reply
      • Patricia Bozeman

        July 09, 2015 at 9:31 am

        I haven't made my own injera! I would love to someday, but I got the injera for this at a local Ethiopian market. Only $1.00 per piece! A steal!

        Reply
    5. Christine

      July 01, 2015 at 4:48 pm

      I haven't had Ethiopian food since college. I have to try this!

      Reply
      • Patricia Bozeman

        July 02, 2015 at 1:04 pm

        You totally should! Let me know if you do!

        Reply
    6. goodiegodmother

      July 01, 2015 at 3:00 pm

      Pinned! Because I love love Ethiopian and really want to try making it at home <3

      Reply
      • Patricia Bozeman

        July 01, 2015 at 3:48 pm

        Awesome! Let me know what you think!

        Reply
      • Barbara J

        December 01, 2015 at 10:36 am

        I pinned too. I always loved Ethiopian food and recently started cooking it myself. I found lots of recipes online that were really helpful and Ethiopian spices such as berbere and shiro from http://www.fassica.com. It's been a great experience. I'd say my favorite food is now spicy Misir wot

        Reply

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