Egyptian Food you must try

One of the best things about my trip to Egypt was the chance to try so many new dishes, and so I’ve made a list of some of my favourite Egyptian food you must try when you visit. I visited during Ramadan so I didn’t have as many opportunities to try things like Egyptian street food. Still, everything I ate was delicious, and I would love to return another time to try even more food! The dishes are presented in no particular order, as they were all so delicious that trying to rank them would be very difficult. If you are wanting recommendations of where to eat in Egypt, or where to eat in Luxor, all of these dishes were ordered at the same place. It’s a restaurant called Al Sahaby Lane in Luxor and was so good we went there twice to try as many dishes as we could!

Mulukhiyah Soup (ملوخية)

I’m very picky when it comes to soup, but this dish was fantastic. Mulukhiyah is a leafy vegetable and is commonly used to make soup. The soup has lots of garlic added, and I really enjoyed the texture of this dish. The spelling of this varies so it might also be listed as molokheyya, molokhia or mulukhiyyah.

Za’atar Bread

This is probably the dish that I’ll miss most from Egypt! Za’atar Bread is a flatbread, topped with Za’atar spice and is absolutely delicious. The exact ingredients of the spice can vary by region however some common ones are thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. I enjoyed this dish so much that I bought some za’atar to try and make it myself.

Camel

Now, I’m always one to try new things whenever possible and so I couldn’t miss the chance to try camel meat. I tried a delicious camel stew in Luxor while my sister tried a camel burger. Both were fantastic! It is red meat and tastes quite similar to beef. If you are a meat-eater, I would definitely recommend to give it a go!

Falafel (Ta’ameya)

Falafel is one of the dishes I already knew and liked before going to Egypt. I would probably say that falafel is the quintessential Egyptian food you must try – you would have to try very hard to avoid it! Egyptian Falafel, also known as Ta’ameya has a slight twist – instead of using chickpeas, these are instead made with fava beans. If you like chickpea falafel, then it’s very likely you will enjoy these too.

Tabbouleh

This is yet another fantastic dish that I plan on trying to make myself. The main ingredients of Tabbouleh are bulgur wheat, tomatoes, parsley and onions that are all finely chopped. I adore parsley and so couldn’t get enough of this!

Hummus, Baba Ghanoush and Muhamarra

I’ve put these both together as they’re both fantastic dips, and also because I got a platter of dips to try so don’t have individual photos of them. I love hummus, and have even managed to make it myself so this was something I was very excited to try in Egypt. I must say, I’m not the biggest fan of aubergine (eggplant) but the Baba Ghanoush I tried was great. My favourite though was Muhamarra which was incredible. It’s made with red peppers (which I adore) and I would have happily ordered it every single day.

Aish Baladi (Egyptian Flatbread)

I can’t suggest dips, without also recommending the incredible Egyptian bread that we had to go with them. Now, I love bread and I ate a lot of bread on this trip. Za’atar was my favourite, as mentioned above, but nothing could beat the plain flatbread as the perfect companion for the delicious dips. It had an excellent texture and allowed you to fully appreciate all the flavours of the various dips.

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This is just a small selection of the Egyptian food you must try – there are loads more dishes that I didn’t have a chance to eat on this trip. Hopefully though, this has given you a good starting point and I hope you enjoy these dishes as much as I did! Are there any other Egyptian dishes you would recommend? Let me know!