Cairo’s beloved carb-on-carb street food: lentils, rice, and pasta under spiced tomato sauce and crispy onions.

Where does Koshari come from?

Koshari is a Egyptian dish from Cairo, Egypt.

Can Koshari be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Koshari recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Koshari take to make?

About 60 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.

Recipe

Name: Koshari
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Egyptian
Ingredients: 1 cup brown lentils; 1 cup medium-grain rice; 1 cup small elbow macaroni; 1 cup chickpeas, cooked; 3 yellow onions, thinly sliced; 28 oz can crushed tomatoes; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tbsp white vinegar; 1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander; 1/2 tsp, or more chili flakes; 1/2 cup, for the onions neutral oil

Africa → 🇪🇬 Egypt → Cairo

Koshari

Egyptian · easy · serves 4

prep 20 min · cook 40 min

~860 cal · 28g protein · 118g carbs · 32g fat (estimated, per serving)

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Bowl of koshari layered with crispy onions and red sauce

🇪🇬 Cairo

Koshari grew out of 19th-century Cairo, borrowing Indian kichri, Italian pasta, and Levantine tomato sauce into something completely Egyptian. Dedicated koshari shops serve nothing else, assembling each bowl in seconds from towering pans.

Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 4 —

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1 cup brown lentils

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1 cup medium-grain rice

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1 cup small elbow macaroni

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1 cup chickpeas, cooked

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3 yellow onions, thinly sliced

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28 oz can crushed tomatoes

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4 cloves garlic, minced

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2 tbsp white vinegar

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1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander

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1/2 tsp, or more chili flakes

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1/2 cup, for the onions neutral oil

Instructions

Fry the sliced onions in the oil over medium heat, stirring, until deep mahogany and crisp, 15 minutes. Drain on paper — these are the crown.

Simmer the lentils in salted water 20 minutes until just tender; drain.

Cook the rice and the pasta separately; season both.

Make the sauce: sizzle garlic in 2 tbsp of the onion oil, add tomatoes, vinegar, cumin, coriander, and chili; simmer 10 minutes.

Layer into bowls: rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas, a ladle of sauce, and a big handful of crispy onions.

Cairo koshari-shop style.

Ratings & reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

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Cairo. Street carts of the megacity, feeding millions for pennies.

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Egypt. Five thousand years of feeding people along one river.

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Africa. Fifty-four countries of tagines, stews, and fire-kissed grills.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

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Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →