Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Zigni
A fiery Eritrean beef stew built on berbere spice and long-cooked onions, eaten with injera.
Eritrean · medium · serves 6
prep 25 min · cook 90 min
~516 cal · 41g protein · 13g carbs · 32g fat · 2g fiber · 5g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Zigni is Eritrea's fiery signature stew, beef cooked long and slow with a foundation of onions melted down without oil and a heavy hand of , the regional chili-and-spice blend, until deep red, thick, and intensely savory. It is close kin to Ethiopian wot, reflecting the shared culinary heritage of the Horn of Africa.
The patient dry-cooking of the onions before any liquid is added builds the stew's body and sweetness, while the and spiced butter give it heat and aromatic depth. It is food that rewards time and attention at the stove.
Served on , here often the Eritrean version, zigni is eaten by hand from a shared platter, the tangy flatbread cooling and carrying the fiery stew. It is celebration and Sunday food in Asmara, the dish that anchors a generous communal spread.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
2 lb beef, cubed
4 large onions, very finely chopped
3 tbsp spice blend
Hard to find? sweet paprika and cayenne with ground fenugreek, coriander, ginger and a little cinnamon and clove - berbere is a blend rather than a single spice, so rebuilding it roughly is fair game; fenugreek is the note people miss most when they leave it out
6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ginger
3 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup oil or niter kibbeh (or oil for vegan)
Instructions
1
Cook the onions gently in the oil, without water, for 20-25 minutes until collapsed, sweet, and jammy.
2
Stir in the garlic, ginger, tomato paste, and berbere and cook until darkened and fragrant.
3
Add the beef (or mushrooms and chickpeas) and turn to coat in the spiced base.
4
Add just enough water to make a thick sauce and simmer 45-60 minutes until the meat is tender.
5
Serve on injera with extra berbere for the brave.
Asmara tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Asmara. The Italian half-century left more than architecture. Espresso is drunk standing at a counter, pasta is entirely ordinary, and the hybrid everyone points to is pasta al sugo e berbere, spaghetti in a tomato sauce built with the same chilli blend that goes into the stews.
🗺️
Eritrea. Italian rule left more than a memory. Pasta al sugo e berbere is the emblematic hybrid, spaghetti under a sauce built on Eritrean spice rather than an Italian one, and Asmara's cafes still turn out espresso and cappuccino as a matter of course, in a modernist city centre built during the colonial period.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Eritrea
Pasta al Sugo e BerbereSpaghetti tossed in silsi, the Eritrean tomato sauce spiked with berbere, the everyday pasta of Asmara.
TibsiCubes of beef seared hard with onion, green chili and berbere until the edges brown, an Eritrean celebration dish eaten with injera.
Kicha Fit-fitShredded flatbread tossed with spiced clarified butter and berbere, a warming Eritrean breakfast.
Browse all Eritrea recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Eritrea meal
Shahi EritreaDrink
Himbasha (Celebration Bread)Dessert
Hamli (Eritrean Spiced Greens)Lunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Pique a lo MachoBolivia
Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew)Chad
HaleemPakistan
Mloukhia (Jute Leaf Beef Stew)Tunisia
SaltahYemen
LocroArgentina
Cuisine
Diet
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Dinners from Around the World
Dairy-Free Dinners from Around the World
Nut-Free Dinners from Around the World
Egg-Free Dinners from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Zigni?
A fiery Eritrean beef stew built on berbere spice and long-cooked onions, eaten with injera.
Where does Zigni come from?
Zigni is a Eritrean dish from Asmara, Eritrea.
Can Zigni be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Zigni recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Zigni safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Zigni take to make?
About 115 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 6.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.