Koshary is essentially the national dish of Egypt. From a two-story koshary restaurant to a man pushing a cart along the side of the road, anything is possible. Even the biggest carnivores don’t miss the absence of meat in this dish.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ (16 ounce) package ditalini pasta
- 1 ½ cups short-grain rice, rinsed
- cold water, to cover
- 1 ½ cups dark brown lentils
- water to cover
- 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 (3 ounce) can French-fried onions
Instructions
- Combine chickpeas, vinegar, coriander, cayenne pepper, and cumin in a resealable bag or container with a tight-fitting lid. Store in refrigerator while prepping remainder of dish, shaking occasionally.
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta in the boiling water until cooked through yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes; drain and set aside.
- Combine rice with enough cold water to cover; allow to soak for 20 minutes. Drain.
- Meanwhile, combine lentils with enough water to cover in a pot; season with salt and pepper. Bring the lentils to a boil and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain.
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat; cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes; season with salt and pepper, reduce heat to medium-low, and maintain at a simmer while preparing remainder of dish.
- Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat; add rice, increase heat to high, and fry for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper; reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until rice is tender, and the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
- Mix rice and lentils together on a large serving platter. Spread cooked pasta over the rice and lentil mixture. Serve with marinated chickpeas, tomato sauce, and French-fried onions.
- Instead of French-fried onions, you can caramelize 4 large sliced onions in butter and brown sugar for 45 minutes and serve with both kinds of onion. It’s sensational!
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 498 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 84 g |
| Cholesterol | 4 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 13 g |
| Protein | 18 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 797 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Really tasty and would make for a great dish to bring to large gathering. Really tasty!
I have made this many times, and it is amazing. To make it a little more balanced, I double the chickpeas and the crushed tomatoes to 2 cans each. In step 5, I add some of the chickpea marinade for the vinegary kick I remember tasting when I had it in Cairo. Carmelized onions plus french fried onions? Yes. Without hesitation, yes.
Great recipe. Adds some flare to a starchy meal. I suggest decreasing the amount of rice to 1.5cups and pasta to 10ounces. Or adding another can of chickpeas.
Lentils were too bland, added spices to them, also added spices to tomato sauce. 1 and 1/2 cup dry lentils way too much for 2 people and out of proportion to the sauce.
I made this with my own veg broth, and instead of red wine vinegar I used balsamic. I also used barley instead of rice. I only changed ingredients because that was what i had on hand. Oh and instead of cayenne I used turmeric It all turned out great. Thanks for the idea.
I made this with my own veg broth, and instead of red wine vinegar I used balsamic. I also used barley instead of rice. I only changed ingredients because that was what i had on hand. Oh and instead of cayenne I used turmeric It all turned out great. Thanks for the idea.
The recipe is a little bland compared to other Koshary dishes I’ve tried. The tomato sauce is missing some spice. I recommend adding cumin, coriander and chili in the tomato sauce.
My family loved it. I used frozen onion rings, but did everything else as the recipe states.
I made the recipe exactly as it was written. I enjoyed it . I will definitely make this again.
Delicious! My one recommendation would be to double the chickpea/vinegar mixture and double the tomato mixture if you’re serving them as individual toppings, because we ran out of both when people were serving themselves.
I added additional spice to my lentils, and I wish I would have been more heavy-handed with those: cardamom pods, bay leaf, peppercorn. I used tomato sauce instead of puree, turned out great… I think next time I would double the tomato proportion, as my Egyptian friend tells me that the tomato sauce is the key to this dish. I didn’t do the fried onions. Loved it!
Very good. Way too much lentils though. And this only made 4 servings. About the rice, it depends on your rice, but mine (long grained egyptian rice) takes 7 minutes to be done after I put the lid on. The trick with the rice is that it should be filled with just enough water to slightly cover the rice (just a few millimeters). Too much and it gets mushy. 20 Minutes may be too long in most cases, burning the rice. Check on it after 10 minutes, but don’t take the lid off more than once though. Never make this without the pasta, that’s the main ingredient really.
This a great recipe. I especially loved the marinated chickpeas and sauce.
It takes more than 2 hours to make this recipe! I lived in Egypt sometime ago, and as part of an International Day at my daughter school, we were ask to bring a dish to the pot luck, I made koshery for the very first time in my life. Delicious!
This recipe is delicious! I used to live in Egypt, and this recipe is a winner. Followed all directions to a T, except for adding just a little more garlic to the tomatoes. It was a hit with the husband and with my finicky child as well! I highly recommend it. Great meatless meal.
Habibti! Thank you for putting your recipe on here!!! Just finished making this and I am very impressed. My boyfriend (soon to be fiance) is from Al Minya and will love this! I will take a look at your other recipes as well..thank you again!
Koshari is know as ‘a poor man’s dish’ in the Middle East. I had it all the time while I was living there and it was one of my favorites. Like many ‘European’ comfort foods we all grew up eating, this one is sure to please everyone. Thanks for the recipe and the memory.
Reminded me of the koshary we had in Egypt. Thank you for a recipe that brings back good memories.
I made up all the elements then used 1/3 cup each of lentils, elbows, rice, and sauce per serving. Added a little more garlic to the sauce. By the end of the meal dd proclaimed this a winner and asked to have it for lunch the next day. Will use the submitter suggested caramelized onions next time as neither of us were wild about the canned onions. Served with steamed cauli sprinkled with Dukkah.
This recipe was easy to make. I made it for my son’s class at the request of the teacher to have the kids taste traditional Egyptian food. I looked up what Koshary was first and found this recipe to have all the parts of the dish. Since then, I have made this again for our family. I only used half the amount of cayenne pepper and that gave it just enough kick.
I loved it. My husband didn’t like it all but he has not sense of adventure. I sent some leftovers to my neighbors who also enjoyed it. Followed the recipe exactly. I used brown rice and also added some fresh chopped cilantro on top.