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✨ Newdinner
Koshari
Egypt's beloved street food — a hearty bowl of rice, lentils, macaroni and chickpeas topped with a spiced tomato sauce, crispy fried onions and a garlicky vinegar dressing.
⏱ 80 min🔥 580 kcalMedium
★4.7(1,042)
8 recipes using lentils — Koshari, ful medames, molokhia — ancient recipes from the Nile valley.
These 8 egyptian lentils recipes are ready in about 154 minutes on average, with 380–620 kcal per serving, and 13% are rated easy enough for a weeknight. Every recipe includes exact ingredient quantities, step-by-step instructions and full nutrition per serving.
Egyptian cuisine — Koshari, ful medames, molokhia — ancient recipes from the Nile valley — brings its own distinctive techniques and seasonings to every ingredient it touches. When Egyptian cooks work with lentils, they reach for its own regional aromatics, fats and signature spice blends, and the techniques that come up most across these recipes are simmering, frying and boiling.
Quick-cooking pulses that bring earthy heartiness and plant protein to soups, dals, stews and salads. In this collection it's most often cooked with ground cumin, ground coriander, onions, garlic, red wine vinegar and white vinegar. The dishes here span egyptian classics ready in as little as 80 minutes to slower, more involved cooking that rewards a relaxed afternoon.
Reader favourite: Koshary — Egyptian Street Food is the highest-rated dish in this collection at 4.9★ from 4,321 ratings.
Egypt's beloved street food — a hearty bowl of rice, lentils, macaroni and chickpeas topped with a spiced tomato sauce, crispy fried onions and a garlicky vinegar dressing.
Egypt's ultimate street food: layers of rice, lentils, macaroni and chickpeas topped with spiced tomato sauce, crispy onions and a garlic-vinegar daqqa — the country's most beloved dish.
Egypt's beloved street food national dish — a hearty bowl of rice, lentils, and pasta topped with spiced tomato sauce, crispy fried onions, and a garlicky vinegar drizzle.
Egypt's most popular street dish — a layered bowl of rice, lentils, macaroni, chickpeas, crispy onions and two sauces: spicy tomato and tangy vinegar. Cairo on a plate.
Egypt's ultimate street food — a layered bowl of rice, lentils, pasta and chickpeas with spiced tomato sauce and crispy fried onions.
Egypt's national breakfast — slow-simmered fava beans crushed at the bowl with lemon, garlic, cumin, and olive oil.
Cairo's beloved national street food — layered rice, brown lentils, macaroni and chickpeas under a garlicky tomato sauce, crisp fried onions, and a fiery vinegar-chilli daqqa.
Egypt's national dish — layered rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas with tomato sauce and crispy onions.
Choose by type: red/yellow lentils break down into creamy dals and soups; green and Puy lentils hold their shape for salads and sides. Look for whole, unbroken, uniform pulses.
No soaking needed — just rinse and pick out any stones. Add salt and acid towards the end, since early acidity can keep them firm; aromatics in the cooking water build flavour from the start.
An excellent source of plant protein, fibre, iron and folate, with a low glycaemic impact that keeps you full.
Most of these 8 Egyptian lentils recipes are ready in around 154 minutes from start to finish. The quickest, Koshari, takes about 80 minutes, while the slower-cooked dishes run up to 660 minutes.
Across this collection they range from about 380 to 620 kcal per serving, averaging 538 kcal — Ful Medames is the lightest option at 380 kcal.
Ful Medames is a great place to start — it's rated easy and comes together in about 660 minutes. 13% of the recipes here are beginner-friendly.
In these recipes, lentils is most often paired with ground cumin, ground coriander, onions, garlic, red wine vinegar and white vinegar. Egyptian kitchens also lean on its own regional aromatics, fats and signature spice blends.