Vegetarian and Vegan Ethiopian Food: What to Order

Sudo Menu Editorial · 3 November 2026

Ethiopia is one of the easiest countries in the world to eat well as a vegetarian or vegan. The reason is the fasting tradition: on many days of the year, a large share of the population eats no meat, dairy or eggs, so every restaurant knows how to cook rich, satisfying plant-based dishes. This guide explains what to order, how vegetarian differs from vegan in an Ethiopian kitchen, and what to ask.

Fasting food is vegan food

The single most useful word for a vegan in Ethiopia is tsom (ጾም), fasting. A dish labelled fasting, or ye-tsom (የጾም), is prepared without meat, dairy or eggs, which makes it vegan. Many menus have a whole fasting section, and on Wednesdays, Fridays and during Lent, the choice is especially wide.

The opposite word is fisik (ፍስክ), which marks dishes containing animal products.

Dishes to look for

Lentils, peas and beans

Misir wot (ምስር ወጥ): red lentils in a spicy berbere sauce. Rich and deeply flavoured.
Kik alicha (ክክ አልጫ): yellow split peas in a mild turmeric sauce.
Shiro (ሽሮ): a smooth stew of ground chickpeas or beans, often served bubbling as shiro tegabino.
Azifa (አዚፋ): a cold green lentil salad with mustard and lemon.
Ful (ፉል): fava beans with onion, tomato and chilli, popular at breakfast.

Vegetables

Gomen (ጎመን): collard greens cooked with garlic and green chilli.
Atkilt (አትክልት): cabbage, carrot and potato in a mild sauce.
Fosolia (ፎሶሊያ): green beans and carrots.
Dinich wot (ድንች ወጥ): potato stew.
Timatim salata (ቲማቲም ሰላጣ): tomato and onion salad.

The mixed platter

The beyaynetu (በያይነቱ) is the best way to try many dishes at once: a large round of injera topped with small portions of several stews and vegetables. A fasting beyaynetu is entirely plant-based and usually very good value.

Vegetarian but not vegan

If you eat dairy and eggs, a few more dishes open up:

Ayib (አይብ): a mild, crumbly fresh cheese, often served as a side to cool spicy dishes.
Gomen with ayib, or gomen cooked with butter.
Enkulal firfir (እንቁላል ፍርፍር): Ethiopian scrambled eggs with onion, tomato and chilli.
Chechebsa (ጨጨብሳ): torn flatbread with spiced butter and berbere, often with honey.
Gomen kitfo: finely chopped greens prepared in the style of kitfo, usually with butter and ayib.

Note that many non-fasting versions of vegetable dishes are cooked with niter kibbeh, the spiced clarified butter. If you are vegetarian this is fine; if you are vegan, choose fasting versions.

Questions worth asking

Most kitchens are used to these questions, especially during fasting periods:

“Is this fasting?” (ye-tsom new?). A fasting dish should contain no animal products.
“Is it cooked with butter or oil?” Fasting dishes use oil.
“Does it contain meat stock or meat pieces?” Some vegetable dishes are cooked with a little meat outside fasting periods.
“Is the injera 100% teff?” Important if you also avoid gluten, because some injera is mixed with wheat or barley.

Outside fasting periods, a dish that is usually fasting may occasionally be finished with butter. During Lent and on Wednesdays and Fridays, you can be more confident that fasting dishes are truly plant-based.

Protein and balance

People sometimes worry about getting enough protein on a plant-based diet. Ethiopian fasting food answers that naturally: lentils, chickpeas, split peas and broad beans are all excellent sources of protein, and teff injera adds fibre, protein and iron. A beyaynetu with injera is a complete, balanced meal.

Drinks and desserts

Black coffee, tea, spris and fresh juices are all plant-based, as long as no milk or yoghurt is added. Macchiato, cappuccino and tea with milk are not. Ethiopian cuisine does not have a large dessert tradition, but fresh fruit and juices are everywhere.

Eating out as a vegan in Addis Ababa

Go on a Wednesday or Friday for the widest fasting choice.
Look for the fasting section of the menu, or a fasting filter on a digital menu.
Order a beyaynetu to share with friends.
Ask with confidence. Fasting is so common that nobody will find your questions unusual.

On Sudo Menu, venues can label dishes as fasting, vegan or vegetarian, and guests can tap the fasting filter to see only fasting dishes, so you can see what you can eat before the waiter arrives.

In short

Ethiopian food is a gift for vegetarians and vegans. Learn the word tsom, order a fasting beyaynetu, try misir wot, shiro and gomen, and ask whether a dish is cooked with oil or butter. You will eat some of the best plant-based food of your life.