My meatless doro wat, a popular Ethiopian chicken stew, is everything you'd want it to be: spicy, aromatic, hearty and loaded with yum.
To keep this stew as close to the original as possible, I used traditional Ethiopian flavor ingredients, including berbere, a powdered spice mix, and niter kibbeh, a spice-infused oil. Tofu stands in for chicken and mushrooms add texture and umami.
Serve this vegan doro wat with injera bread or rice for a meal you won't forget any time soon.
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What is doro wat?
Doro wat is a spicy chicken and egg stew with an appetizing, deep-red color. It's eaten across Ethiopia, where it's considered the national dish, and neighboring Eritrea. Like most Ethiopian food it has complex flavors and an enchanting aroma created by roasting onions until they are caramelized and smoky, then layering them with traditional spices.
I have long had a fierce love for Ethiopian food, and I'm lucky because my hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland, which borders Washington, D.C., is home to the largest Ethiopian population in the United States. We have our pick of dozens of restaurants that offer the most amazing and authentic Ethiopian and Eritrean food and stores that sell delicious spice mixes and freshly made injera bread.
Ethiopian food is very vegan-friendly but I've always been intrigued by the dishes that aren't, and especially by doro wat, which has both chicken and eggs. In 2011 I shared with you my vegan doro wat recipe, made with tempeh and mushrooms. I've since learned so much more about this cuisine and its flavors and I am confident that my updated vegan doro wat tastes as authentic as can be minus the meat.
This is a pretty easy dish to make if you have berbere and niter kibbeh on hand. I shared both recipes when I posted a bunch of Ethiopian recipes a few years back, including misir wat, shiro wat and tikil gomen. You can also buy berbere at any Ethiopian store or online, but niter kibbeh is made with butter so if you are strictly vegan you do have to make your own. My vegan niter kibbeh recipe uses olive oil and it is loaded with flavor.
Like many Ethiopian stews, doro wat begins with browning a lot of onions. Take your time to do this properly because the browned onions create that rich, savory flavor base and thicken the stew. To improve the texture of the tofu before adding it to the stew I boiled it first in a water bath. This easy step makes the tofu firmer without spending hours pressing it, and also gives it a lovely, springy texture. Try this technique with other tofu recipes, if you haven't already.
Recipe card
Vegan Doro Wat
Ingredients
- 16 oz extra firm tofu (no need to press. Cut into ½-inch chunks)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 medium onions (cut into large chunks)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)
- 6 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup vegan niter kibbeh
- 2-3 tablespoons berbere
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups mushroom stock or vegetable stock
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms or button mushrooms (sliced)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped, for garnish)
Instructions
Boil tofu
- Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Add tofu cubes to it, return the water to a simmer, and let the tofu cubes simmer for 3-4 minutes. Strain them in a colander.
- Place the tofu cubes back in the dry saucepan or in a bowl and sprinkle the lemon juice over them. Mix and set aside.
Prep flavor base
- Place the onions, ginger and garlic in a food processor. Pulse 10-15 times to finely chop the onions. Do not process into a paste.
Make doro wat
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions to the pot with ¼ teaspoon salt. Saute the onions until they begin to brown. If they stick, add a tablespoon of water or so and scrape up any browned bits with the spatula.
- About halfway through, add the niter kibbeh to the pot and continue sauteing the onions until they are well-browned.
- Add the dry spices to the pot - berbere, sweet paprika, turmeric, ground cardamom, ground allspice and ground ginger.
- Stir the spices into the onions.
- Add two cups mushroom stock or vegetable stock to the pot. Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Season with more salt as needed.
- Stir in the mushrooms and let them simmer in the sauce for a couple of minutes.
- Add the boiled tofu cubes to the pot. Mix well and bring back to a boil. Let the stew simmer another five minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve.
Nutrition Information
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Marc Eliaert
This is a fantastic recipe, i serve it to all my clients. Thank yoy so much. 🙏🙏🙏
Ron j
I used this recipe with eggplant with spectacular results. Really loved the two flavor-base method! It really makes a difference. Restaurant quality stuff! I am NOT a vegan, but could easily eat vegan meals like this all day. Thanks so much for this darn fine recipe.
Vaishali
So happy to hear, Ron. I agree the two flavor bases really kick this up. 🙂
SONYA GRIER
Love this recipe, thank you for sharing!
Vaishali
So happy to hear, Sonya!
Ester Ellen-Poe
Recipe says 3 clove of green cardamom. I s that the same as 3 pods? I can’t find cardamom “cloves” anywhere! What would be the powdered cardamom equivalent amount? If you mean pods, are the seeds included? Also, recipe says reserve the niter kibbeh oil; reserve it for what and when?
Vaishali
Yes, three pods. About 1/2 tsp of powdered. See step 3 for niter kibbeh.
Liz
My goodness, thank you so much for this recipe. I'm half Ethiopian and just became a vegetarian and was googling vegan doro wat. What a treat to find this jewel of a website! I appreciate you sharing this recipe and just signed up to your newsletter! Many blessings
Ignis Orchidacea
Thank you so much for posting a recipe like this! My boyfriend and I are not vegan but vegetarian and it is nice to see a veggie alternative to such a tasty dish. Really enjoyed it!
Anonymous
This recipe looks very interesting! I plan to try it with a few modifications. Just wanted to point out that real Ethiopian doro wot does not contain tomato of any kind (fresh, paste, or otherwise). Although it is typical to find tomato in western recipes or restaurants whose patrons are mostly non-Ethiopian. The color comes from the berbere that is added.
Thanks for posting this looks like a quick, vegan alternative to a great dish!
Vaishali
Miri, thanks.
Zengirl, I see what you mean. I tend to go for quick dishes most nights too-- this one's good for one of those rare slow days.
Prixie, Irene, Thanks.
Ellen, I will definitely post a Korean recipe soon. Stay tuned.
Jabs, thanks for the feedback-- homemade seitan and sweet potatoes in the doro wat sound wonderful.
JABS
I made this last night with homemade seitan substituting for the tempeh, and eggplant and starchy sweet potatoes (I've only seen them here in Morocco) as the vegetables. It was a big hit!
Ellen L
This looks incredible! I will make it with naan---too scared to try to make injera.
Can you make Korean food next? 🙂
Irene @ H.V.R.
YUMMY! looks very delicious and enticing. I can't wait to try this one up.
Prixie
I am salivating looking at this. Thanks for sharing such great recipes!
Zengirl @ Heart and Mind
Vaishali,
I love Ethopian food but I have not much since my disaster to make injra! This sure looks yummy, I wished I had quality time to make this some day. With my 2 year old, I tend to go with tried and quick food.
Preeti