Ethiopian Doro Wat — Spiced Chicken Stew
Ethiopia's national dish — slow-cooked chicken in a rich, deeply red berbere spiced onion sauce with hard-boiled eggs, served on injera sourdough flatbread.
53 recipes using garlic — Injera, doro wat, misir — ancient spiced stews of the Horn of Africa.
These 53 ethiopian garlic recipes are ready in about 58 minutes on average, with 140–590 kcal per serving, and 53% are rated easy enough for a weeknight. Every recipe includes exact ingredient quantities, step-by-step instructions and full nutrition per serving.
Ethiopian cooking is ancient and intensely spiced — slow-simmered stews built on berbere and aromatic spiced butter, scooped up with sour injera. When Ethiopian cooks work with garlic, they reach for berbere, niter kibbeh (spiced butter), garlic, ginger and fenugreek, and the techniques that come up most across these recipes are simmering, boiling, sautéing and frying.
The aromatic foundation of savoury cooking almost everywhere — pungent raw, sweet and mellow when cooked. In this collection it's most often cooked with berbere spice blend, fresh ginger, onion, niter kibbeh, tomato paste and fresh ginger grated. The dishes here span ethiopian classics ready in as little as 25 minutes to slower, more involved cooking that rewards a relaxed afternoon.
Ethiopia's national dish — slow-cooked chicken in a rich, deeply red berbere spiced onion sauce with hard-boiled eggs, served on injera sourdough flatbread.
Slow-cooked chicken in rich berbere spice sauce, served on spongy sourdough injera flatbread — Ethiopia's national dish.
A flavorful Ethiopian lentil stew infused with spices.
A savory Ethiopian stir-fry with tender beef and spices.
A creamy Ethiopian chickpea stew with earthy flavors.
Ethiopia's iconic spiced chicken stew with hard-boiled eggs, served on spongy injera flatbread for a communal feast.
Tender beef cubes quickly sautéed with onion, jalapeño, rosemary and niter kibbeh spiced butter — Ethiopia's most popular restaurant dish, served on injera.
Tender collard greens slowly cooked with onion, garlic, ginger and niter kibbeh until deeply flavoured and silky — an essential component of the Ethiopian spread.
Ethiopian braised collard greens with garlic, ginger and niter kibbeh — the essential vegetable dish of any injera spread.
Ethiopian ground chickpea and spiced flour dip — velvety and addictive.
Ethiopian sautéed chicken with spiced butter, vegetables, and lime — a quick, bright dinner.
Ethiopian roasted lentil snack with spiced butter and garlic — crunchy, addictive finger food.
Ethiopian vegan red lentil stew with chili and spiced oil — comfort during fasting periods.
Ethiopian spiced clarified butter — the soul of Ethiopian cooking.
Ethiopian mild split pea stew with turmeric and butter — comfort in a bowl.
Ethiopian sautéed beets with onions and spiced butter — sweet, earthy, vibrant.
Ethiopian pan-seared lamb with vegetables and spiced butter — a quick, tender celebration.
Ethiopian chickpea paste with spiced butter and herbs — hearty, savory, luxurious.
Ethiopian vegan lentil and vegetable stew with spices — the fasting classic.
Ethiopian chicken and red lentil stew — rich, spiced, deeply warming.
Ethiopian mixed legume paste — extra protein, extra flavor.
Ethiopian sautéed red lentils with spices and vegetables — quick and deeply flavored.
Ethiopian spiced vegetable and potato stew — hearty, warming, vegan-friendly.
Ethiopia's everyday comfort food — chickpea or fava flour whisked into berbere-spiced onion oil to make a deeply flavored, silky vegan stew eaten with injera.
Cubes of beef seared hard with onion, garlic and the fiery red berbere spice blend, finished with niter kibbeh spiced butter — Ethiopia's beloved celebration dish for guests and Sundays.
Addis Berbere Lentil Rice Bowl brings ethiopian flavor into a practical home recipe with chicken thighs, berbere, niter kibbeh, lentils and ginger, and a finish of cilantro.
Harar Ginger Chicken Soup brings ethiopian flavor into a practical home recipe with white fish, berbere, niter kibbeh, lentils and ginger, and a finish of cilantro.
Tigray Chickpea Tomato Skillet Dinner brings ethiopian flavor into a practical home recipe with lamb mince, berbere, niter kibbeh, lentils and ginger, and a finish of cilantro.
Bahir Dar Spiced Fish Salad brings ethiopian flavor into a practical home recipe with roasted carrots, berbere, niter kibbeh, lentils and ginger, and a finish of cilantro.
Turmeric-spiced rice topped with berbere-spiced red lentils, a quick weekday adaptation of Ethiopian misir wot flavors.
A smooth, deeply spiced Ethiopian stew made from roasted chickpea flour, simmered with berbere until thick and richly flavored.
Collard greens sauteed with onion, garlic and ginger until tender, a simple, fresh-tasting Ethiopian side served warm or at room temperature.
Crisp fried pastry triangles filled with spiced ground beef or lentils, an Ethiopian snack with roots tracing back along ancient trade routes.
Torn pieces of injera tossed with berbere sauce, onion and clarified butter, a satisfying way to use up day-old bread for breakfast.
Sauteed spiced beef strips rolled in injera with fresh vegetables, a portable take on Ethiopia's popular tibs dish for a quick lunch.
Thin strips of beef marinated in berbere and grilled until charred, served with sauteed rosemary and jalapeno, a beloved Ethiopian grill dish.
Bell peppers stuffed with berbere-spiced lentils and rice, baked until tender, a vegetarian Ethiopian-inspired dinner.
Lamb slow-braised in a rich berbere sauce with a long-cooked onion base, a warming Ethiopian stew traditionally served over injera.
Cabbage, carrots and potato simmered with turmeric and gentle spices, a mild vegetable dish that balances Ethiopia's spicier fare.
Turmeric-spiced rice cooked with carrots, green beans and a mild alicha-style seasoning, a gentle, aromatic Ethiopian one-pot dinner.
Crisp spiced lentil sambusas tucked into injera or flatbread with fresh vegetables, a portable take on Ethiopia's beloved fried pastry.
Soft scrambled eggs cooked with tomato, onion, jalapeno, and Ethiopian spices, a warmly seasoned breakfast dish served with injera.
White fish simmered in a deeply spiced berbere and onion sauce, a hearty Ethiopian stew often eaten during fasting periods.
Chicken slow-simmered in a deeply spiced berbere sauce with hard-boiled eggs, Ethiopia's most iconic and celebrated national dish.
A colorful Ethiopian vegetable stew of carrots, potatoes, green beans, and cabbage, gently sauteed with garlic and ginger, mildly spiced.
Torn spiced flatbread pieces tossed in berbere-infused niter kibbeh, an Ethiopian breakfast classic.
A hearty bowl of nutty teff grain topped with spiced red lentil stew and crispy fried herbs.
Firm white fish simmered in a berbere-spiced onion sauce, served over rice with fresh herbs.
Deeply spiced Ethiopian red lentil stew served over rice, brightened with a scatter of fresh mint.
Bell peppers filled with berbere-spiced ground beef and onions, baked until tender and fragrant.
Bone-in chicken baked in a rich berbere and onion sauce, finished with hard-boiled eggs and herbs.
A juicy beef burger seasoned with berbere and mitmita, topped with spiced butter and fresh mint.
A festive Ethiopian platter of spiced chicken stew, sauteed collard greens and injera flatbread.
Pick firm, heavy heads with tight, papery skin and no green shoots or soft spots. Fresh garlic far outperforms jarred pre-minced, which tastes flat and slightly sour.
Crush to release more of its pungent compounds, slice for a milder bite, or roast whole until jammy and sweet. Add minced garlic late and keep it moving — it burns and turns bitter in seconds.
Eaten in small amounts, but a source of allicin and other sulphur compounds linked to heart and immune benefits.
Most of these 53 Ethiopian garlic recipes are ready in around 58 minutes from start to finish. The quickest, Enkulal Tibs (Ethiopian Spiced Scrambled Eggs), takes about 25 minutes, while the slower-cooked dishes run up to 150 minutes.
Across this collection they range from about 140 to 590 kcal per serving, averaging 364 kcal — Ethiopian Gomen (Collard Greens Salad-Style Side) is the lightest option at 140 kcal.
Misir Wat is a great place to start — it's rated easy and comes together in about 60 minutes. 53% of the recipes here are beginner-friendly.
In these recipes, garlic is most often paired with berbere spice blend, fresh ginger, onion, niter kibbeh, tomato paste and fresh ginger grated. Ethiopian kitchens also lean on berbere, niter kibbeh (spiced butter), garlic, ginger and fenugreek.
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