Search
Brazil
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
French Guiana
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Finland
France
Greece
the Netherlands
Hungary
Ireland
Iceland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Poland
Portugal
the United Kingdom
the Czech Republic
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Canada
the United States
Mexico
the Dominican RepublicTurkey
South AfricaEgypt
Australia
Fiji
New Zealand
Papua New GuineaFlavors · Egypt
Rice, short pasta, lentils and chickpeas, topped with tomato sauce and crispy fried onions, served with garlic vinegar and a spicy sauce on the side. It is Egypt’s most popular everyday dish, sold in specialty shops and street carts, and was inscribed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2025.
Traditional dish from Egypt
Also known as: Kushari, Koshari, Kosheri, كشري
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Koshary — Egypt
Koshary brings simple ingredients together in a single bowl: rice, short pasta, lentils, chickpeas and onions fried until dark and crispy. A seasoned tomato sauce is spooned on top, and garlic vinegar and a spicy sauce are left on the table for each person to add to taste. The result is a hearty, meatless dish eaten at lunch, dinner or as a quick meal.
In December 2025, UNESCO inscribed “Koshary, everyday dish and associated practices” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It was the first Egyptian dish to join the list. The decision highlights that koshary is eaten by people of all ages and backgrounds, in rural areas, cities and coastal regions, and that many people take part in its culture: home cooks, restaurant owners and staff, street vendors, farmers and the artisans who build and decorate koshary carts.
The dish is prepared at home and sold in restaurants dedicated to it and from street carts, often near schools and busy places. According to UNESCO, the way of making koshary is passed down within families, especially from mother to daughter, and also through cooking shows, social media and professional courses. Near places where koshary is prepared, confectioners often offer rice pudding afterwards.
The basic recipe is the same across the country, but there are regional variations: on the coast there are versions with yellow lentils, and some households add a boiled egg. Regarding its origin, a widely repeated explanation links koshary to khichdi, the Indian rice-and-lentil dish, which is said to have reached Egypt in the 19th century; this is a hypothesis without confirmation. Its popularity grew in the 20th century with the spread of restaurants and colorful street carts across cities.
Egypt
Everyday dish across Egypt, inscribed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2025.
Rice, short pasta, lentils, chickpeas, fried onions and seasoned tomato sauce. On the side: garlic vinegar and a spicy sauce.
In a bowl or deep plate, mixing the layers when eating. Each person adds garlic vinegar and spicy sauce to taste. It’s eaten at home, in specialty restaurants and from street carts.
All year round, at lunch, at dinner or as a quick meal.
Your questions
No. The base is rice, pasta, lentils, chickpeas, fried onions and tomato sauce, which makes it one of the most common meatless meals in Egypt. If your restriction is strict, ask how the onions and sauces were prepared.
In 2025, UNESCO inscribed koshary and the practices associated with it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision recognizes a dish eaten by people of all backgrounds across the country, and the network of cooks, vendors, farmers and cart artisans that sustain this tradition.
Mix everything on the plate and add garlic vinegar and the spicy sauce that come on the side to taste. It can be eaten at lunch, at dinner or as a quick meal.
Flavors of Egypt
Layers of toasted bread moistened with broth, rice and a garlic, vinegar and tomato sauce, topped with cooked meat. It’s the Eid al-Adha dish in Egypt and also appears at Coptic Easter and other family celebrations.
A multi-layered puff pastry made with samna, the clarified butter, baked until golden and crisp. It’s eaten plain, with honey, molasses or ashta, or with savory fillings; traditionally baked in clay ovens.
Slow-cooked dried fava beans until tender, partly mashed and seasoned with oil, cumin, lemon and garlic. It’s the most common breakfast in Egypt, served with baladi bread in homes, small restaurants and street carts.
Young pigeon stuffed with rice or fireek (green wheat), with onion and giblets, cooked in broth and then roasted or grilled until the skin browns. A classic on Egyptian tables, it is usually served in pairs.
Round buttery cookie, dusted with powdered sugar, plain or filled with ajameya (honey and walnuts), dates, or pistachio. It’s the sweet of Eid al-Fitr, at the end of Ramadan, prepared at home or bought at bakeries and patisseries.
Thick green soup made from very finely chopped jute leaves, cooked in broth and seasoned with toasted garlic and coriander. Served with rice or bread, often with chicken or rabbit, it is for many Egyptians the quintessential home dish.
Fried patty made from ground dried fava beans and herbs, crunchy on the outside and soft inside. It’s the Egyptian version of falafel and, together with ful medames, forms Egypt’s most common breakfast, often served in a baladi bread sandwich.
Beef liver cut into thin strips and quickly fried with garlic and bell pepper, seasoned with cumin and lemon. It’s named after Alexandria and is served as a sandwich on the city’s thin bread, with tahini.
A dark-red drink made from dried hibiscus calyces steeped in water, with a tart flavor, sweetened and served cold or hot. In the Aswan region, among the Nubians, it is the welcome drink offered to arriving guests.
