A warm, thick, milky winter drink scented with cinnamon and topped with nuts and coconut.

Where does Sahlab come from?

Sahlab is a Egyptian dish from Cairo, Egypt.

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

Yes. This Sahlab 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 Sahlab take to make?

About 20 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.

Sahlab — a Cairo, Egypt recipe

Name: Sahlab
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Egyptian
Ingredients: 4 cups whole milk; 3 tbsp cornstarch (or sahlab powder); 1/4 cup sugar; 1 tsp rosewater; to finish ground cinnamon; 1/4 cup chopped pistachios and coconut, to top

Africa → 🇪🇬 Egypt → Cairo

Sahlab

Egyptian · easy · serves 4

prep 5 min · cook 15 min

~306 cal · 10g protein · 34g carbs · 14g fat (estimated, per serving)

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Glass of thick white milky drink topped with cinnamon and nuts

🇪🇬 Cairo

Sahlab is the drink of Egyptian winters, a creamy, pudding-thin cup once thickened with ground orchid tuber and now usually with cornstarch. Sold steaming from carts and cafés, it is ladled into glasses and showered with cinnamon, chopped nuts, and coconut against the cold.

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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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4 cups whole milk

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3 tbsp cornstarch (or sahlab powder)

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1/4 cup sugar

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1 tsp rosewater

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to finish ground cinnamon

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1/4 cup chopped pistachios and coconut, to top

Instructions

1

Whisk the cornstarch into a little cold milk (or plant milk) to make a slurry.

2

Heat the rest of the milk with the sugar until steaming.

3

Whisk in the slurry and cook, stirring, until thickened to a pourable cream.

4

Stir in the rosewater.

5

Pour into glasses and top with cinnamon, nuts (or seeds), and coconut.

Cairo winter tradition.

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🌏 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 →