Egyptian Koshari
A glorious five-layer pile of rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas, fried onions, and spiced tomato sauce. The most popular street food in Egypt for good reason.
- Total time:
- 1 hr 10 min
- Servings:
- 6
- Per serving:
- 480 kcal
- Cost per serving:
- $1.60
- Difficulty:
- medium
Step-by-step
Cook lentils in salted water 25 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
25 min timer
Cook rice with cumin and salt per package directions.
Cook pasta in salted water per package directions. Drain.
Fry onions in batches over medium-low heat until deep mahogany and crispy, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
14 min timer
In a saucepan, sauté garlic in 2 tbsp of the onion oil. Add tomatoes, vinegar, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, salt. Simmer 10 minutes until thick.
Layer in a wide bowl or platter: rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas. Spoon tomato sauce over. Pile fried onions on top.
Serve. Each diner mixes their own bowl.
Cook's tip
The fried onions are the soul. Do them slowly over medium-low heat so they go deep brown and crispy without burning.
Storage
Refrigerate components separately 4 days. Pasta absorbs sauce overnight, so build fresh.
Freezer: Freeze tomato sauce 2 months. Other components fresh.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480
- Protein
- 17g
- Carbs
- 76g
- Fat
- 14g
- Fiber
- 12g
- Sugar
- 8g
- Sat Fat
- 2g
- Sodium
- 720mg
Estimates based on USDA FoodData Central. See our nutrition disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
Gluten-free version?
Use GF pasta. The dish becomes naturally GF.
Shortcut for fried onions?
Buy fried onions at an Indian or Middle Eastern grocery. They sell crispy onions in tubs that taste better than most home-fried.
Reviews
Marcus B.
1 week ago
First time cooking this and the timing notes saved me. Did not lift the lid once. The crust at the bottom was the best part.
✓ Would make again
Aisha K.
2 weeks ago
Loved it but added an extra scotch bonnet — we like it spicy. Recipe scales well, made a double batch.
✓ Would make again
Tola O.
3 days ago
Made this for Sunday lunch — the smoky bottom turned out perfect. Family demolished the pot in twenty minutes.
✓ Would make again
Reviews shown are illustrative pre-launch. Real user reviews appear here as the community grows.
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