You won’t go hungry when visiting Egypt. The local food focuses on beans, stews, bread, and cheese.
Most dishes are made with vegetables because it’s hard and costly to raise animals in Egypt. Plus, many Egyptians are Muslim and don’t eat pork. During festivals in Egypt, food plays a big role. If you’re there for a celebration, be sure to try the special dishes.
On our Egypt tours, you’ll have many chances to taste and learn about the country’s unique foods. If you’re not sure where to start, check out this list of the top foods to try on an Egypt tour.
Dining culture
In Egypt, people often eat late at night. Restaurants may open at 10 pm or later, especially in the summer. Meals are usually big, so don’t order too much. During the holy month of Ramadan, it’s important to be respectful. Avoid eating, drinking, or smoking in public during the day.
Kushari
This filling vegetarian dish is known as the national food of Egypt. It includes rice, macaroni, and black lentils, topped with garlic, vinegar, and thick tomato sauce. You can find it in most restaurants in Cairo.
Kushari is affordable, filling, and unique to Egypt. Even though the mix of ingredients might seem odd, it’s very tasty. It often includes chickpeas, crispy fried onions, and some people like to add garlic juice or hot sauce for extra flavor. It’s called the “poor man’s dish” because the ingredients are cheap and commonly found in pantries.
Kushari first appeared in the mid-19th century during Egypt’s economic boom when the country was diverse. French locals created it as a vegetarian meal. Over time, it became popular among Egyptian soldiers and citizens. Initially sold only from food carts, it’s now served in restaurants.
During our Egypt tour, you’ll see many restaurants specializing in kushari as you explore Cairo. Your guide will take you to Khan el-Khalili bazaar for shopping before enjoying an early dinner featuring this famous dish. Traditionally, it’s vegan if cooked in vegetable oil.
Ful Muddamas
Street food is a big deal in Egypt, especially in the bustling cities you’ll visit on our Egypt tours. As you stroll around, you’ll catch whiffs of all sorts of delicious smells.
If you’re curious about trying local market foods but don’t know where to start, we recommend giving ful muddamas a taste. This breakfast dish made from fava beans is known as the king of street food.
Ful muddamas is all about the spices and is usually topped with parsley, lemon juice, and chili pepper. You can call it “ful” for short. It’s often served with pita bread, making it easy to eat on the go, like a sandwich – perfect for snacking while you explore.
Ful is a staple food in Egypt and is common in many Arab, African, and Middle Eastern cultures. It’s believed to have been eaten since Ancient Egypt and the recipe hasn’t changed much over time.
During our Egypt tours, we stop in the picturesque city of Aswan, overlooking the Nile River. When you’re not sailing on a traditional felucca or exploring temples, head to the main souk to try some traditional foods and soak in the local atmosphere.
Hamam Mahshi
Many tourists might hesitate to try pigeon, a local delicacy in Egypt. But for those who enjoy trying new foods, grilled pigeon is a must-try. Marinated in a tasty sauce and stuffed with rice, onions, and giblets, this dish is full of flavor.
To make it even more delicious, cumin, nuts, pepper, and cinnamon are added to the stuffing. The whole bird is grilled over a wood-charcoal fire until it’s crispy. You can find this special dish in many places across Egypt, especially on the menus of restaurants in Cairo. During your stay in Cairo with our Egypt tours, why not be adventurous and give it a try?
In Egypt, pigeons are not seen as pests like in many other countries. Instead, they’re raised in towers across the city and countryside. These towers are homes to mother birds that feed their young with crop milk.
For the dish, the plumpest squabs are chosen. The flavor and texture of this dark meat dish are similar to duck. Since pigeons are small, it’s normal to eat two in one serving.
Today, squabs and guano (a fertilizer) help feed over 95 million people in Egypt. Pigeon was also popular in Ancient Egypt, as traces of pigeon stew were found on artifacts from Pharaonic times. During our Egypt tour, your guide will point out the mud-brick pigeon lofts along the Nile.
Fatta
This traditional dish from Nubia, Egypt, dates back to ancient times and was served during big celebrations. It’s still a main meal during the Islamic feast Eid-al-adha. Fatta consists of meat soup flavored with vinegar and garlic, layered with crispy flatbread, and served over rice with sauce.
During our Egypt tours, we offer experiences that let you see different parts of the country. When we visit Aswan, you’ll have lunch in a colorful Nubian village nearby. As Aswan is part of the ancient Nubia region, many people there are descendants of the Nubian people.
Your guide will show you around the village, and then you’ll enjoy a feast. Keep an eye out for fatta—it might be one of the tasty dishes available.
Fatta may not have a complicated recipe, but it’s delicious, rich, and filling. It’s also easy to make. Sometimes, molokhia, a leafy green vegetable, is added. During Ramadan, fatta is often eaten for iftar (the evening meal). For special occasions like weddings or births, lamb is used instead of beef. Christians also eat fatta after major fasts. The word “fatta” in Arabic means “crumbs,” which may refer to breaking bread in the dish.
