Koshari (also spelled kushari and koshary) is the national dish of Egypt made with brown lentil rice, spicy tomato sauce, pasta, and crispy onions. It's popular Egyptian street food, and it hits the spot. This Egyptian koshari recipe is a family recipe and the best I've ever had.
If you are ever visiting Egypt, I recommend trying ful medames, mulukhiyah with roz, and koshari (of course)!
What Is Koshari?
Koshari is a hearty vegan meal made with lentil rice, pasta, chickpeas, vinegar tomato sauce, and topped with crispy, thin fried onion rings.
Why This Koshari Recipe Is The Best
Many koshari recipes only have a cooked red vinegar sauce. However, this recipe has two types of red sauce: a fresh red sauce and a cooked vinegar red sauce. This recipe has been perfected over a lifetime, and the fresh red sauce is the secret sauce.
Ingredient Notes
- Rice: Use Egyptian rice (also known as Calrose short-grain rice). If you substitute a different rice, like medium grain rice, you may need to add some liquid to the lentil rice.
- Tomatoes: I prefer tomatoes on the vine, Roma tomatoes, or beefsteak tomatoes.
Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): I recommend using dried chickpeas; however, canned chickpeas can be substituted to save some time.
How To Make Koshari
This koshary recipe is split into four parts: make the chickpeas and crispy fried onions, blend the fresh red sauce, cook the lentil rice, and make the vinegary sauce. Before getting started, soak the lentils and chickpeas ahead of time for about 3 hours.
Make The Chickpeas and Fried Onions
Boil the chickpeas with cumin while preparing the fried onions. Once the chickpeas are tender, add a squeeze of lime on top.
Chop the onions into thin circles. Allow the onions tossed in flour to rest for 30 minutes prior to frying. Fry the onions in oil until golden brown, then put them on a paper towel lined plate.
Make The Fresh Red Sauce (Optional)
Add the ingredients for the optional fresh red sauce to a food processor.
Blend on high. Set aside.
Make The Koshari Lentil Rice
Blend the peeled onions in the food processor.
Add some oil to a high-rimmed pot and fry the blended onions for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat.
Add the soaked brown lentils and water to the cooked onions. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, or until the lentils are soft.
Turn down the heat to medium-low and add the rice and more water. Add salt and pepper and mix the rice. Cover and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until the rice is steamed. Remove from the heat and keep the rice covered.
Make The Pasta and Koshari Red Vinegar Sauce
Cook the pasta until al dente per the package instructions while making the tomato vinegar chili sauce.
Blend the tomatoes in a blender. Pour the pureed tomatoes into a strainer.
Use a spoon to press the blended tomatoes through the strainer.
In a medium saucepan on high heat, add some oil and fry the red pepper flakes (or cayenne pepper) and minced garlic for about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and white vinegar for about 30 seconds.
Add the strained tomatoes. Stir in the ground cumin, ground coriander, salt, sugar, and ground pepper.
Boil on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. Add a chili pepper if desired.
Assemble your koshari bowl!
How to Assemble the Perfect Koshari Bowl
Because koshari has several parts to it, you might be wondering how to assemble everything. Starting with the bottom-most layer, add lentil rice, pasta, chickpeas, traditional vinegar sauce, optional red sauce, and crispy onions on top. The secret to an amazing bowl of koshari is the right portions of each layer. Personally, I go overboard with the fresh red sauce and fried onions. But, experiment for yourself with what you prefer.
Variations
- If using long-grain rice, add a cup more water. Long-grain rice requires more water than short-grain rice.
- If you want to lighten this recipe up, use whole wheat pasta and reduce the amount of oil used for the koshari rice.
- Substitute brown rice in lieu of white rice.
Time Saving Tips
Koshari takes time to make, especially if it's your first go around. I recommend following the steps just as I lay them out in the recipe instructions to save the most time.
Other ways to save time include using canned chickpeas instead of dried chickpeas, skipping the optional fresh red sauce, and using store-bought passata (strained tomatoes) instead of blending and straining fresh tomatoes.
Middle Eastern Lentil Recipes
Another vegan lentil recipe is this Lebanese lentils and pasta, aka rishta. Or check out Egyptian red lentil soup or mujaddara. Check out the best Egyptian traditional foods, or try some of our favorites below!
📋 Recipe
Egyptian Koshari Recipe (The Best I've Had)
Ingredients
Chickpeas
- 1 cup dried chickpeas or 2 - 15 ounce cans of chickpeas** See note 3
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ lime
Fried Onions
- 1½ lbs onion about 2 large onions
- 6 tablespoon flour to toss the onions in prior to frying
- oil for frying preferably sunflower oil** See note 5
- salt to taste
Fresh Red Sauce (Optional)
- 1 lb tomatoes
- 6 ounces green bell pepper
- 6 ounces onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon oil from the fried onions
- 1 lime
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 spicy pepper optional
Koshari Lentil Rice
- 1 cup dried brown lentils see note 8
- 2 cups dry Calrose rice or short-grain rice **See note 4
- 1¼ lbs onion about 1½ large onions
- 4 tablespoon oil from the fried onions
- 4 cups water
Pasta
- 8 ounces elbow pasta
- 8 ounces dried spaghetti
Traditional Koshari Red Sauce
- 2¼ lbs tomatoes see note 7 for substitution of canned passata
- 2 tablespoon ghee
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes or cayenne powder optional
- 9 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
Instructions
Soak Dry Lentils and Dry Chickpeas Ahead of Time
- Soak the dried lentils and dried chickpeas in water for 3 hours prior to making koshari.
Prepare the Chickpeas
- See note 3 if using canned chickpeas. Boil the dried chickpeas until semi-cooked (about 45 minutes to an hour). Drain water. Add fresh water and the ground cumin. Boil chickpeas a second time for another 30 minutes. Once chickpeas are cooked, squeeze the lime over the chickpeas.
Fry the Onions
- Chop the onions into circles. Mix with flour and set aside for 30 minutes prior to frying.
- Fry in oil, preferably sunflower oil. Using a frying spatula, remove the onions from the oil. Set onto a paper towel and set aside. Salt as desired. Keep the sunflower oil to use some of it in other parts of the recipe.
Make the Fresh Red Sauce (Optional)
- Blend the tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, and garlic cloves in the food processor. If you would like a spicy sauce, add 1 spicy pepper. Add the ground cumin, ground coriander, oil (from the fried onions), lime juice, salt, and pepper. Blend and set aside.
Make the Koshari Lentil Rice
- Blend the onions in a food processor. In a high-rimmed stovetop pot, add the oil (from the fried onions). Cook the blended onions slowly on low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Add the drained brown lentils (these will be about 2.25 cups after being soaked) and water. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes covered, or until they soften.
- Turn down the heat to medium-low. Add the short-grain rice, salt, and pepper. Mix the koshari rice and cook on medium-low heat covered until the rice is tender (about 12 to 15 minutes). Turn off the stove and allow the rice to rest covered for 5 minutes.
Cook the Pasta
- Boil water and add about 1 tablespoon of salt. Break the spaghetti pasta in half, then break the half again making quarter-size sections of spaghetti. Break about 15 spaghetti noodles at the same time.
- Add the spaghetti pasta and elbow pasta to the boiling water. Cook the pasta until desired firmness. Drain the pasta and set it aside.
Koshari Vinegar Red Sauce
- Blend the tomatoes in a blender. Strain tomatoes into a bowl. Alternatively, use canned tomato passata (see note 7). Mince the garlic cloves.
- Fry oil (or ghee) with 1 teaspoon chili flakes (or chili powder) for 30 seconds then add the minced garlic cloves. Add the tomato paste and vinegar for about 30 seconds before adding the blended tomatoes.
- Add the ground cumin, ground coriander, salt, sugar, and ground black pepper. simmer for about 10 minutes.
Assemble the Dish
- Layer the dish, starting with lentil rice on the bottom, then cooked pasta, chickpeas, koshari vinegar sauce (and optional sauce), and top with fried onions.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- Store koshari rice, pasta, fresh red sauce, koshari vinegar red sauce, fried onions, and chickpeas separately in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Whole wheat pasta is a suitable substitution.
- Substitute 2 cans of chickpeas (15-ounce cans) for 1 cup of dried chickpeas. Because canned chickpeas are already cooked, just drain the chickpeas. Boil for 5 minutes in water with ½ tablespoon of ground cumin. Then squeeze ½ a lime on top.
- Use Calrose rice, Egyptian rice, or Japanese short-grain rice for this recipe. If using medium or long-grain rice, add an extra cup of water.
- I prefer sunflower oil because it makes crispy fried onions, but you can use any frying oil available. Also, save the frying oil after frying the onions to use in other parts of the recipe.
- The nutrition facts do not factor in the oil from frying the onions.
- Tomato passata is like tomato sauce. It's strained blended tomatoes. Instead of making homemade passata, you can use canned passata. Substitute a 24 ounce bottle for 2 ¼ lbs fresh tomatoes.
- Substitute green lentils for brown lentils.
Nutrition
FAQs
Normally, koshari is served as a standalone dish. However, you can add some boiled eggs to the side. Also, a chopped salad goes well with this dish.
Koshari is not difficult to make, but it has a lot of parts. Each part is easy to do, but if you are in a hurry, it can get overwhelming. If you are making this for your first time, block off about 2 hours and 30 minutes to take your time. When you've made koshari a few times, you can cook it in less than 1 hour and 30 minutes. If you have made this meal a lot, you can get it down to an hour.
Amy says
This dish was absolutely everything I didn't know I needed. I love the onion layer!
Lily says
Thanks Amy!
Aleena Leon says
I made this for a dinner party with some of my Middle Eastern friends today. I had WAAAY too much lentil rice left over and ran out of the onions (which were the best part). I measured all ingredients according to the recipe. My two Egyptian friends said that they were not trying to be mean, but the sauces were a little bland. One tastes a little like salsa but not as flavorful. And I used canned chickpeas but this took me WAAAY too long. I was expecting more from a recipe that has such high ratings. I am sorry!
Lily says
Thanks for taking the time to give your honest opinion. Koshari took me a few tries to learn, and I would agree the fried onions are the best part! Ask your Egyptian friends to make their version of Koshari and compare it for yourself. I’ve been part of many arguments over who makes the best hummus, tabouli, etc because we middle eastern chefs take pride in the recipes handed down in the family.
One tip I have for the sauces is taste and adjust as they are made. Like adding more salt, vinegar, spice, etc. depending on if you make the passata fresh, the quality of your tomatoes will affect the sauce.
Anjali says
This was the most comforting, satisfying family dinner recipe I've tried in a while! The lentils, pasta and super flavorful spices made it hearty and delicious!
Lily says
It is SUCH a hearty recipe, thank you!
Laika says
My family is from Cairo, so thought it would be nice to try this. Very difficult to follow, but a couple of hours later we had bowls of bland blandness, luckily we had rice with roasted vegetables in the fridge to eat instead.
Jacqueline says
Oh yes please. That sounds absolutely delicious.
Lily says
Thank you!
Melissa says
I used to live in Egypt and tonight I'm having my family for dinner and it's gonna be Egyptian night! Besides gulash and shakshoka, I'm making koshary, akeeeed 😍 thank you for your very helpful recipe!
Lily says
Hi Melissa, Thank you for your comment! I tried to make the instructions as in detail as possible. Let us know how it turned out!
Katherine says
Hi i am In the middle of making the recipe so far all tastes great. However I have a question what about the first red sauce? We do not cook it? I live in Egypt and when buying koshery all sauces r warm. Did I miss a step?
Lily says
Hi Katherine, great question. The first red sauce is a family recipe, and it's not normally what you would find at a restaurant or other homes. You can skip it if you like, but it's really awesome, and why I say this koshari recipe is the best I've tried! And to answer your question, yes- it's not cooked however the tomato vinegar sauce (the traditional koshari sauce) is cooked.
Jean says
I lived in Egypt and missed this meal. Your recipe is spot on. I made this recipe in an hour with these modifications: I used canned garbanzo beans, substituted fresh tomato purée for boxed tomato purée on the vinegary sauce, and added a spicy pepper to the blended tomato sauce. I really enjoyed it and it made a lot!
Morgan says
I can’t quite tell from the photos - do you mix all of the lentil/rice chickpeas and pasta together and then do the sauces? Or do you later these things?
Lily says
Hi Morgan, good question! I keep the lentil rice, pasta, chickpeas, fried onions, and sauces separate (even when storing in the fridge). Then, when you are ready eat, build the koshari by layering kind of like a Chipotle bowl. Hope that helps!
A. says
hi,
I am Egyptian and I know how to make koshari very well. But your recipe and the way you explain it are amazing. Love it
Kerry says
A question what do you do with the sauces am
I missing something
Lily says
Hi Kerry! Thanks for the comment, you spoon the sauces over the pasta, lentil rice, and chickpeas (as little or as much as you want), then top with fried onions.
Lily says
Thank you so much for the comment! It’s so easy to forget a step but hearing comments like this are very helpful
Candace says
I made this tonight, and while it took a while to prep everything, the recipe is very straightforward and easy to follow. That tomato vinegar sauce is to die for and is my new favorite thing. Gonna try it on everything now!
Lily says
Thanks, Candace for the review! I'm so glad you liked the tomato vinegar sauce... I really like making mine super spicy. The red sauce has a nice way of pulling all of the ingredients together in the final bowl.
Jessica says
This recipe was okay, but not amazing. Firstly, for the amount of rice-lentil base it makes, it proportionally needs WAY more than 1 fried onion to top it! You’ll actually need 2-3 onions at minimum, if not more.
Secondly, the best koshari I’ve had always has vermicelli in the rice as well, and both it, the rice, and the lentils are fried in oil first before cooking in water to vastly improve t flavor.
Finally, this recipe has no daqqa (garlic vinegar sauce) in addition to the red sauce and hot sauce.
Like I said, this is an okay recipe, but there are definitely much better ones out there.
Lily says
Thank you for the comment! And great tips you've included. I've updated the recipe to include another onion for frying because I think you are right about that. If you have a recipe for daqqa, drop it below.
Debra Alcala says
I lived in Cairo for 6 years and koshari was a favorite. I can't wait to try your recipe. Thanks
Lily says
Hope you like it! It takes a little bit of time, but it's worth it.
Judy says
I am really interested in making this recipe! While it looks time consuming, I like how you broke down all the steps. Keep the recipes coming; I’m enjoying learning how to make new dishes that I find in this blog.
Lilian B. says
Thanks Judy Batootie!
Mo says
Took a lot of time to make but it was worth it in the end.
Lilian B. says
Thanks Mo!