This Ethiopian Lentils recipe, also known as Misir Wot or Misir Wat, is an irresistible vegetarian meal. Made with red lentils cooked to creamy perfection and seasoned with the bright, warming flavors of Berbere spice mix, this is a simple and delicious recipe that can be part of a healthy weeknight meal. Instant Pot and stovetop instructions included.
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Misir wot (misr wat or misir wat) is a mainstay on menus at Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants, particularly as part of the veggie combo. I love it because it’s similar to Indian dal recipes.
Scott says ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh mercy! I just made this tonight and I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better tasting Misir Wot anywhere! That was delicious! Thank you so much!
A spicy Ethiopian lentil stew made with onions, lentils, berbere spice, and spiced clarified butter, miser wot is traditionally served over injera, a large sourdough crepe made out of a fermented millet-like grain known as teff flour.
Injera has the flavor of sourdough bread or South Indian dosa but is much more sour. Traditionally, a variety of entrées and side dishes are heaped on the injera in tidy piles, and the injera is torn off in pieces and used to pick up bites of the various stews.
My kids aren’t big fans of injera, so I like to serve these Ethiopian red lentils with brown rice, white rice, or crusty bread.
This misr wat recipe is a streamlined and quick version that can be made in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop. It’s simple enough that you can make it on a weeknight, and because there’s no meat in this lentil recipe, you can also make it ahead of time and leave it on Keep Warm mode.
➡ Looking for Instant Pot vegetarian recipes? Instant Pot Chana Masala, Instant Pot Curried Risotto, Taze Fasulye (Turkish green beans), Instant Pot Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower and Potatoes) are some of my favorite recipes!
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients for Misir Wat
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips for Misir Wot
🌶️ Berbere: Berbere (pronounced bare-bare-eh) is a spicy chili pepper blend essential to Ethiopian cooking that gives this misir wot recipe intense flavor and spice. Similar to garam masala but much spicier! The spiciness varies by brand – Penzey’s is quite hot while Silk Road is milder. Use as much or as little as your taste dictates.
🏡 Homemade Berbere: Make your own with this easy recipe (makes about ⅓ cup). Add less paprika and more cayenne for a spicier mix:
- 3 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek powder
- ¼ teaspoon allspice powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
🧅 Onions: Traditional misir wat uses shallots, but red or yellow onions work great. Traditionally, the shallots are sautéed without fat until they become paste-like, but I sauté them in niter kibbeh or ghee instead. On the stovetop, cook until deep golden brown. In the Instant Pot, sauté for less time since pressure cooking breaks them down further.
🫘 Lentils: Use red lentils (also called pink lentils, Egyptian lentils, or masoor dal). Split red lentils work perfectly, or use whole red lentils (pressure cook 15-20 minutes for whole). You don’t need to soak them since they cook fast, but rinse them well. If the lentils don’t cook properly, they may be old and you may need a new bag.
🧈 Niter Kibbeh: This spiced clarified butter is like ghee but simmered with aromatics for extra flavor. You can substitute ghee for simplicity, but niter kibbeh adds an authentic dimension. Buy it or make your own by adding these to a ghee recipe:
- 1 small onion (quartered)
- 2 garlic cloves (whole)
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 1 cinnamon stick (2-inch piece)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
Strain them out with the milk solids and use the leftover niter kibbeh in other recipes!
💦 Liquid and Cook Time: Some readers like the misir wat to be thicker and more chewy so they use less water (2 cups) and release the pressure after 5 minutes. Feel free to reduce the quantity of water and do a quick release for firmer and chewier lentils.
❓ FAQS
Double the recipe, and keep the same cook time. Make sure the contents don’t go over the ½ full mark.
This recipe uses ghee or niter kibbeh which are not vegan. You can use olive oil to make it vegan.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. The flavors actually improve the next day, so I like to make it ahead!
How to Make Misir Wot
⏲️ Instant Pot Instructions
- Put the Instant Pot in Saute mode. Once the inner pot has preheated, add niter kibbeh or ghee to the inner pot and let it melt. Add onions, garlic, and ginger. Saute onion mixture until the onions are golden. Add a few tablespoons of water to deglaze the inner pot if needed. Press Cancel. The spices added in the next step will cook in the residual heat.
- Add berbere and salt. Saute for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Don’t let the spices burn! Deglaze with a tablespoon or two of water if necessary, to make sure nothing is stuck on the bottom.
- Stir in the tomato paste and then the water.
- Stir in the lentils.
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 06:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a 10 minute natural release of pressure or a full natural release. Once the float valve goes down, the lid can be opened.
- Stir the Ethiopian lentil stew.
- Garnish with cilantro if desired.
♨️ Stovetop Instructions
- To make Ethiopian lentils on the stovetop, cook the onion mixture till deep golden brown in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, and then lower to medium-low.
- Add spices, lentils, and tomato paste.
- Simmer the lentils in 3 cups of water, stirring often and adding water as needed, until the lentils are cooked through to your liking and the mixture is a thick stew, about 30 minutes.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions on how to make this Ethiopian vegetarian recipe.
Ethiopian Lentils | Misir Wot (Instant Pot and Stovetop)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups onion diced
- 2 tablespoon niter kibbeh or ghee or butter [See Note 1]
- 2 teaspoon garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon ginger minced
- 1 ½ tablespoon berbere or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 ¾ cup water (3 cups for stovetop)
- 1 cup red lentils rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoon cilantro to garnish (optional)
Instructions
Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
- Press Saute and add niter kibbeh to the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Once the niter kibbeh has heated up, add onions, garlic and ginger. Stir until onion mixture is golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Press Cancel. The spices in the next step will cook in the residual heat.
- Add berbere and salt and stir to coat, about 30 seconds. Make sure there's nothing stuck to the bottom of the inner pot – deglaze as needed.
- Add tomato paste and stir for 30 seconds. If anything gets stuck to the inner pot, deglaze with a tablespoon or two of water.
- Stir in the water and lentils.
- Close the lid and pressure cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes. [See Note 2]
- Do a natural pressure release. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Open the Instant Pot and stir the Ethiopian lentils. Garnish with cilantro, if using.
Stovetop
- In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat niter kibbeh over medium heat.
- Add onions, garlic and ginger. Stir for a few minutes till onions begin to turn golden. Lower the temperature to medium-low and saute till onion mixture is a deep golden brown, stirring frequently. It may take 15 to 20 minutes or longer for the onions to become nicely browned. Make sure they don't burn, and deglaze as needed.
- Stir in berbere and salt, and saute for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Stir in tomato paste and lentils. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes, deglazing with water if needed.
- Add 3 cups of water and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are cooked to your liking and the stew has thickened, about 30 minutes. Add more water, if needed, in tablespoon increments.
- Adjust with more berbere and salt, according to your tastes.
- Garnish with cilantro, if desired.
Notes
- Note 1: Niter kibbeh is a spiced clarified butter that can be made at home or purchased. See the blog post tips for a recipe. Ghee is a good substitute but it will lack the flavor of niter kibbeh.
- Note 1: Some readers have mentioned that they like to cook the misir wat for 4 or 5 minutes and do a 5-minute natural release to make it firmer and chewier.
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. minced garlic, chopped onion, etc.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Annie says
Could you use brown lentils to sub for the red? If so would the cooking time change? Either stovetop or Instapot instructions would be fine, Instapot preferred. Thanks.
Neena Panicker says
Hi Annie, if using brown whole lentils, soak them for 2 hours and follow the recipe. Do a natural release. If you want to use unsoaked brown lentils, pressure cook for about 15 minutes for soft lentils and 10 minutes for firmer lentils.
Scott says
Oh mercy! I just made this tonight and I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better tasting Misir Wot anywhere! That was delicious! Thank you so much!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m so happy to hear that you liked the Ethiopian lentils recipe! Did you make it in the Instant Pot or stovetop?
Kristy Yoder Schemrich says
Hi in my town I can only find fenugreek seed. If I grind it, is it the same as the powder?
Thanks, Kristy
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Kristy, great question. Yes, to make homemade berbere for Ethiopian Lentils, you can just grind whole fenugreek seed.
Myss Terree says
Thank you so much for the Instant Pot instructions.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed the Ethiopian lentil recipe!
Cheryl says
Really good. I did the IP method and took the advice of other commenters who said less water (If you want scoopable with injera) and 5/5 cook/natural. I didn’t have any niter kibbeh so I used olive oil and then stirred a tablespoon of butter in after the natural release and it was such an amazing texture!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks, Cheryl. I’m glad to hear that you liked the misir wot recipe!
Dana says
This was delicious! I did the home made berbere and used the shallot. Also, the person I live with always needs meat, so I dumped some shredded chicken on his. Served on quinoa…again, delish! 6 mins in the instant pot was a bit too long because the texture ended up like babyfood…which is fine, it was tasty. But if you’re looking for a little more texture, I’d do maybe 4 mins in IP, 5 mins natural release, then manual release the rest…possibly manual release it all after 4 mins of cooking.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Dana, I really appreciate you taking the time to give your feedback!
Ann says
Yum. I’ve made this with 2 cups of water in the IP – our favorite Ethiopian place’s misir wot is very scoopable. I think I can go with even less water. I’ve also dragged my IP outside to cook it so that the smell of the niter kibbeh doesn’t make the house smell =)
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Ann, thank you for the review. I’m so happy you like the recipe. Thanks for the tips.
Liz says
Make this dish a lot!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
So glad to hear it, Liz!
Yoav Morahg says
Made this tonight and it was FANTASTIC! My father-in-law is vegan so I wound up making my own vegan niter kibbeh which seems to have worked just fine. I happened to have berbere from Penzeys and you were right… it was HOT. A bit hot for me but my father-in-law likes a lot of heat and he was happy as can be. He said it’s a winner and I definitely agree! Thanks as always!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Great to hear from you again, Yoav! I’m so glad you let me know that you and your FIL like the recipe 🙂
Mara says
I’ve made this twice now and it never gets old! Love to add chopped dates and black olives to it as well.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Mara – thank you so much for your comment – I’m thrilled to hear you love the recipe!
Leone says
Made this last night. Incredibly good! My husband and I I loved it!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Leone – I’m thrilled to hear you loved the recipe. I love how quick and easy it is!
laura says
Fabulous! This was delicious & the flavor reminded me a lot of my favorite Ethiopian restaurant. Great recipes. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you so much, Laura! I’m glad you liked the recipe – I love how easy and healthy it is!
Karan Lewis says
Can you double or triple this recipe?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Karan, yes you should be able to – just make sure the contents don’t go above the 1/2 mark of the inner pot.