Egyptian Diet Bread
Luckily in Egypt, you don’t have to be the Pharaoh to EAT like one!
This list of 27 things to fulfill yourself with in Egypt is by no means extensive, feel free to share with me what your favorite Egyptian food is!
1 EGP (Egyptian Pound) = $0.17 USD
1. Diet Bread (above)
At the street store, the vendor told me it was “diet bread.” I bought some and ate it, but my trip to Egypt could be described as an antonym of the word “diet.”
Price: Almost Free ($0.05)
Egptian Street Food - Arabic Bread
2. Arabic Bread
Egptian Street Food - Arabic Bread
Egyptian bread that is eaten with almost every possible meal combination
Price: Almost Free ($0.05)
Egyptian thick load bread
3. Thick Loaf Bread
Solid and heavy Egyptian loaves
Price: 2-4 LE ($0.34 – $0.68)
Egyptian Street Food - Ful Beans
4. Ful Medames – Mushed Fava Beans
An undisputed and nutritious champ in the repertoire of Egyptian street food! I think not a single day passed for me without devouring a few portions of ful!
Price: ful sandwich 1-2 LE ($0.17 – $0.34) , plastic bag full 2-5 LE ($0.34 – $0.84)
Egyptian Sandwiches
5. Egyptian Sandwich Selection
Egyptian sandwiches are served all over Egypt and include an assortment of fillings.
Price: 1-3 LE per sandwich ($0.17 – $0.50)
Egyptian Street Food - Kushari
6. Kushari
Looking for a bowl full of filling (and tasty) carbs? Look no further than Kushari, a true Egyptian manly meal!
Price: 5-10 LE ($0.84 – $1.68)
Egptian Falafel
7. Falafel
Though falafel is enjoyed all over the Middle East, Egypt is recognized as the first to eat these flavorful deep fried treats. I ate quite a bit of falafel, but these little guys in Luxor were among my favorite.
Price: 1-3 LE ($0.17 – $0.50)
Tahini Sauce
8. Tahini
Tahini makes an incredible dip or sauce for Arabic bread and on top of sandwiches.
Price: normally included in sandwiches, extra 1-3 LE ($0.17 – $0.50)
Egyptian Mashi
9. Mahshi
Peppers stuffed with scrumptious spiced rice
Price: 5 LE ($0.84)
Egyptian Shawarma
10. Egyptian Style Shawarma
Layers of meat, thicker than Elephant legs, slow roast before the cooked outer layer is shaved off and thrown into Arabic bread or rolls to make a fantastic sandwich!
Price: Big sandwich 7 LE ($1.18)
Roasted Chicken in Egypt
11. Roasted Chicken
Roasted Chicken in Egypt
Rotisserie chickens bathe in their own juices as they revolve in a cabinet of flame roasting heat.
Price: 20 LE ($3.36)
Kofta Kebabs, Egypt
12. Kofta Kebabs
A favorite meat dish of mine in Egypt is the Kofta kebabs. Minced lamb is mixed with spices and pressed onto metal skewers before hitting the coals. It’s like an Egyptian style ambrosial sausage!
Price: 13.50 LE at Abeer Restaurant in Aswan ($2.27)
Lamb Parts in Egypt
13. Form of Halaweyat – Lamb Parts
A pot full of lamb parts boiling in their own grease. Ordered this in a sandwich form, piled into a half of Arabic bread on the streets of Cairo.
Price: 4-5 LE ($0.68 – $0.84)
Molokhia
14. Molokhia
I enjoyed this bowl of Molokhia at the Siwa Oasis; it is a green slimy paste that is made from jute leaves. Though the substance is characterized by a gluey stickiness, the taste is fresh and herbaceous!
Price: from a restaurant at the Siwa Oasis – 5 LE ($0.84)
Egyptian Pizza, Cairo, Egypt
15. Egyptian Pizza
There’s no tomato sauce on this Egyptian pizza! Cheese, chicken, and peppers were stuffed between the layers of the perfectly golden browned pasty dough.
Price: 25 LE ($4.20)
Search for Cheap Flights to Egypt.
Hawawshy - Egyptian Street Food
16. Hawawshy
Pronunciation: Ha-WOW-She!
Minced lamb and onions filled the interior of this Arabic bread wrapping before it was roasted in a wood oven. Though it was baked, I could have believed it was deep fried from the crunchiness of the outer bread.
I ate this hawawshy on my first day in Egypt, a grand welcome to Cairo!
Price: 6 LE ($1)
Mihallabiya
17. Mihallabiya
Egyptian version of milk pudding
Price: 2-5 LE ($0.34 – $0.84)
Mombar Mahshy
18. Mombar Mahshy
Despite their appearance, these Egyptian sausages were stuffed with spiced rice and were truly a divine treat on the streets of Cairo!
Price: 2-5 LE ($0.34 – $0.84)
Dates in Egypt
19. Egyptian Dates
I couldn’t get over the quality and affordability of dates in Egypt. I bought a few kilos straight from Siwa Oasis, one of Egypt’s main sources.
Price: Cheapest price for dates I’ve ever seen anywhere
Egyptian Basbousa
20. Basbousa
This overly sweet cake made from semolina flour, is found throughout the Arab world and is a great way to get an instant sugary burst of highness!
Price: 5-10 LE for an entire plate of mixed Egyptian street desserts ($0.84 – $1.68)
Egyptian Dessert
21. Crystallized Honey
Sweet dessert known as kunafa. It tasted like flakes of honey with a crunch.
Price: 5-10 LE for an entire plate of mixed Egyptian street desserts ($0.84 – $1.68)
Egyptian Tea
22. Tea
Everywhere, anywhere. Normally served in glasses with NO handle (unlike the photo), I just thought this photo was cool!
Price: 1 LE ($0.17)
Ahwa Egyptian Coffee
23. Ahwa Egyptian Coffee
The Egyptian variation of spiced coffee
Price: 2-4 LE ($0.34 – $0.68)
Coctel in Cairo
24. Coctel
Layers of strawberries, bananas, apples, mango pulp and yogurt make this Cairene coctel a magical street treat! There’s no way I could ever pass the stall in Cairo and resist an Egyptian coctel.
Price: 2-4 LE ($0.34 – $0.68)
Egyptian Oreo Shake
25. Egyptian B-0reo Concoction
Milk and B-oreo (Egyptian Oreos) cookies, mashed up – Cairo style!
Price: 2-4 LE ($0.34 – $0.68)
Pomegranate Shake
26. Pomegranate Shake
A heavenly blend of fresh Egyptian pomegranate juice
Price: 4 LE ($0.68)
Egyptian Sheesha
27. Sheesha Water Pipe
Egyptian style flavored tobacco smoked through a water pipe – a very popular past time in Egypt.
Price: 1-3 LE ($0.17 – $0.50)
Yay, I can give you some handy info for a change. The honey flake desert is called kunafa or kanafeh. I have Jordanian friends that make it and I love it. It looks like shredded wheat with honey. It’s a big Ramadan treat they told me. All Arabic people make it.
Great, thanks so much for the help Paulo! I’ll get that changed right away!
I can confirm the above – quite big during Ramadan, it’s a shredded phyllo pastry and comes in different forms, including the rolls as you had it (I think Qatayif in that case?), or as a cake with cream or cheese (jibn) filling
Thanks! It was so good, probably my favorite dessert in Egypt.
Actually, Enrico, Qatayef is totally different from Kunafa. Qatayef is kind of this mix of flour and semolina and stuff that’s made in a round shape then filled with nuts, sugar,cinnamon and raisins, and folded to be like a half-moon, because the sides are mushy they stick together; then it’s fried and dipped in a sweat liquid compound called Sharbat that’s made by boiling sugar, water and a hint of lemons until it’s deep brown and a little thick. [I watched my mom make it
] I guess you’d confuse them cause they’re usually served together and are vary common here in Ramadan. I’m surprised, Mark, that you came to Egypt and had Kunafa WITHOUT Qatayef; you would’ve really loved them. Maybe next time, I hope…
Thanks for sharing Ragia! Yes, I really hope I can make it back to Egypt sometime and try a lot of things that I didn’t get to try my first time. I’ll remember to try Qatayef!
I love tahini and anything that remotely looks like bread. Mouth-watering stuff!
Definitely Raymond, so good!
you never cease to amaze me mark- or to make me hungry! love how you’ve sort of gone in dining order here too. delicious
Thanks Lorna!
As I read through this list I kept thinking “ooh, that one looks the tastiest”… over and over again. I would eat ALL of this given half the chance! Just another reason why I want to visit Egypt…
Yah, When I went to Egypt I honestly didn’t know what exactly to expect, but I ended up being extremely excited with the array and availability of food. There is truly fantastic food in Egypt.
Roasted chicken. Classic! But I wouldn’t go to Egypt to eat chicken. I don’t know… I guess I’d choose Kushari. Or Mashi. Or…
Yah, I’m with you Keith, but that old school looking rotisserie cabinet was just too classic to miss!
The word is Mahshi and not Mashi.
Mahshi in arabic means Stufffed food.
Thanks for the tip Aslan, I’ll change the spelling.
17 cents per sandwich?! You can’t beat that! I visited Egypt in April for about 3 days but did not try the street food. It looks delicious. I did try the ful/foul dish in restaurants and loved it.
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Yah, I couldn’t resist eating 5 – 10 sandwiches in a sitting. So tasty and cheap enough to go a bit crazy eating!
Another fact about The Egyptian Bread, it is made out of Bran and there is no sugar or addidives at all.
The reason they call it Diet Bread is that Bran helps you discharge faster and more often (If you know what i mean)and that is very healthy for you.
Awesome, I didn’t know why it was diet bread, just thought that because it tasted healthy. I like this explanation – thanks Aslan!
I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR RECIPES OF DIET BREAD, MADE WITH BRAN. WITH NO AVAIL
Hope you can find some Mario!
I was born in Alexandria Egypt BUT I was Maltese British Subject by birth.
Since then I have become an Australian Citizen and proud of it.
I was forced to Emigrate to Australia in 1949 as there was no work for us British. I am used to these lovely dishes, and I am lucky that I can buy them here in Melbourne anytime I want to, and I often do.
Keep up the good work.
yes all of us who had to leave egypt miss the lovely food and if we are lucky we can cook some of it ourselves.
Thanks Dolina, I really enjoyed Egyptian food when I visited – very delicious!
mazbout
Thanks for the comment Gaston!
How right you are Alex…. we all can relate to this marvellous reminder of our dear past life in Egypt and alexandria where we were born..
N>B> See you at the Melita club.
A dish of Bamia and Rice and Lentils should have been included also.
Thanks Guy, appreciate the comment!
Cool thanks for the suggestion. I think I did eat Bamia once or twice, but my photo didn’t turn out. There so many good Egyptian dishes!
Thanks Aloexander!
Awesome that you can find all these Egyptian dishes in Australia! I’m in Thailand now and there are a few Egyptian restaurants, but it’s just not quite as good as the source.
Thanks for stopping my my site.
Bonjour,
A part les foul et falafel avec le eish shami ou le eish baladi que j’adore, mes souvenirs des mets et des boissons sont plus nombreux. Le sanwich de foul médamés ou falafel (taameya) coûte aujourd’hui ½ livre (8 livre pour un euro) Avec le prix d’un sandwich en France (6 euro) j’achète 96 sandwichs en Egypte.
Les falafel égyptiennes sont uniques car elles sont faites principalement avec du foul et beaucoup de persil).
Voici quelques uns de mes souvenirs d’enfance:
Bamiah (combos ou cornes grecques)
Pasticio (Pâtes au four)
Tehina, Babakhanoush, Khomosseiah
Taboulé
Merguez Egyptienne et Maaneh (saucisse très parfumées)
Koubebah
Molokheya avec du riz et citron vert
Verdure shicoria, indibia, salade garguir
Guebna (fromage) beda, guebna roumi, guebna Tourki, guebna halloumi, Cashcaval
Shorbet Ads (soupe de lentilles jaunes)
Waraq Inab Dolma (Feuilles de vignes farcies)
Moussaka (Aubergines rôties avec la viande)
Sabanekh Bel Lahma (Ragoût aux épinards avec viande)
Dora (maïs grillé)
Koulouriah et semit
Soudani, leb et khomos grillés
Eshtah (Crème fraîche)
Fessih (poisson à l’odeur forte)
Mahshi de courgettes, de poivrons, de tomates, d’aubergines etc.
Kahwa torki (café turque)
Roz bel laban et cannelle (riz au lait)
Basbousah
Fitira
Samboussek
Doha (mélange d’épices)
Torshi memalah left et gazar, tourchi kheïar
Batarek
Bastourma
Kebab, Kofta kebab et Meshwi
Soudjouk
Mugadara (lentilles brunes au riz)
Shakshouka (omelette aux tomates)
Poissons grillés rouget, sardines crevettes sabrés (friture)
Oum el Kholoul (petit fruits de mer)
Abou galambo(Crabes rose d’Alexandrie)
Rizza (les oursins)
Bien que je n’aime pas les volailles, il y avait des coualiah (des cailles) au feu de bois et des bec à figue (des ortolans) en brochettes. Hamam Machwy (pigeon farci)
Eish el saraya (le pain du palais) un pain macéré dans le miel avec au dessus un rouleau de crème de lait et sous poudré de pistaches.
Dandourma (glace à la mastica grecque)
Khoshaf (Salade de fruit sec dans un jus )
Boukhadja (feuilleté au fromage arrosé de lait chaud et cannelle)
Halawa avec et sans pistache ou avec noisette et halawa tahiniyeh
Baklawa (gâteau au noix)
Kounafa bel Kechta (à la crème fraîche)
Basboussa (gâteau au yagourt)
Kaak bel agwa (gâteau farci aux dattes dénoyeautés)
Khoushaf
Menena
Loukoumadis ou Lokmet el kadi ou Zalabia (Baignés de boulettes frites au sirop)
Loukoum
Balah essoued (dates fraiches noirs)
Manga hindi, manga abou sennara
Tin ou teen shoki (flique de barbarie)
Lamoun benzaher (citron vert) et asir lamoun
Lamoun helw (citrons doux)
Douma (fruit sec)
Caca chinois (une douceur)
Cloclo (cornet de glace)
Assir assab (jus de cane à sucre)
Karkadeh (infusion de fleur d’ibiscus) en guise de bien venue
Kharoub
Tamarhindi (jus de tamarin))
Arghessous (jus)
Assir Manga (jus de Mangue)
Jus de noix de coco, de fraises au lait etc.
Café frappé et chocolat frappé
Coca Cola
Pepsi Cola
Sinalco
Orango
Lemango
Spatis
Et tant d’autres choses que j’oubli
Ciao
Mario
nous avons probablement vécu la meme expérience. La lecture de ton article m’a ramené 55 ans en arriere, une enfance et une adolescence inoubliables. Merci pour le petit “voyage” ….
(AHLAN YA MARIO! ESAYAK?)I was born in Alexandra Egypt 1941 Saint Vincent & Don Bosco School, left in 1965 to come to Australia, I never look back, that is why we left in the 1st place to make a better life for ourselves and our kids, When I remember the past, I remember my youth, my friends that are scattered all over the world, & the food of course. ANY FOOD THAT I FEEL LIKE I CAN FIND IT ON YOU TUBE, STEP BY STEP RECIPES. AND I MANAGE TO PREPARE IT. PROBLEM IS AT MY AGE I NEED TO AVOID FATTY FOOD AND SUGAR.
CIAO
Hey Mario, I’m not sure of any recipes for Egyptian food, but keep searching around and I know you’ll be able to find some good ones. Good thing there is some nice healthy Egyptian food!
Salamat Tito.I was born in Alexandria 1933 and graduated from Don Bosco 1952.In 1962 I immigrate to Canada and few yeays later I opened a machine shop and we had a comfortable living I owe it to Salesiani.I always remember the good time and the good fool and falafel sandwiches of Benjamin.Ya khesara beyekhrebou Masr.
Hey Arto, good to hear from you and thank you for sharing!
Ciao Mario ! I would like to make the old recipe of CACA Chinois. I have tried several internet resources but with no success. Do you remember how to make it?
Best wishes
Adel
Moi aussi je suis nee en Egypte. And I do recall everything I used to eat while living there. But now that I live in Israel, I can get almost anything I want here.
Awesome Margot! I would love to visit Israel someday and taste the delicious food there too!
Come any day, give me a call and I’ll take you wherever you want for food. As delicious as in Egypt, but some vegetales are missing here and the one I miss particularly if OL’AS. I won’t be able to visit Egypt because I’m turning 84 next month.and my travels outside the country will only be Sao Paulo, Brazil where I just attended my granddaughter’s wedding last June and expecting one last trip if the newly weds will speed it up to give me a greatgrand whaterver!!!! I cook Bamia, spinach with houmous, etc., etc. and HARISSA (called basboussa) with semoul and ground coco.
mais nous avonts pas la meme odeur de la corniche
i have to much nostalgie in my memories and in my heart
Thanks for the comment Victor! Hope you can find some great Egyptian food soon!
Hi gys ! …. Seeing all these pictures , and you people talking of the BEAUTIFUL ,UNFORGETABLE days we lived in Egypt …made me go back to old memories ,…, I myself lived in Alexandria ,…and left at the age of 13 , to São Paulo , Brasil ,…
all this gorgeous food ,…the friends ,the fun and speacially the “Wahash “of eveything ! ,… you call it “Saudades ” in portuguese ,(no real translation of the word ,…)
it would be the “missing “of something ,…
… I really miss everything we had at the time ,…we Egyptian origin are real
different people : gentlemen education , fun ,simple ,yet happy people ,loyable,generous ,etc. etc,…
…and I would write loads of qualities ,…that none of other nationalities
could possibly ever think of getting closer ,… nor understand …,…
…As for the food ,… we make a real good MOLOHEYA ,…sometimes ,…lots of hugs to all ,…
Claude
…
Thanks for the comment Claude!
Egyptian food is fantastic – and I’m sure you can get some good food in Sao Paulo as well!
Mois aussi je suis nee en Egypte. A Port-Said mais nous vivions au Caire.
Seems like eons now. In Los Angeles one can find some decent Arabic food, and Armenian markets have most ingredients needed. Now I am retired and live in Hawaii and on the Big Island one can at time find tahini and philo dough.
Now with an American passport and at my age I would be afraid to go back, though I have a French name and I am fluent in French and Italian.
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Thanks Henri! Glad you can find some of the fantastic Egyptian foods where you are!
I was born in Alexandria many, many years ago and part of my heart is atill there. Those were the days. The smell of the sea at the corniche, the swimming at Sidi Bishr, the fantastic humor of the Egyptians. As far as the food was concerned I loved it all and miss it all.
Thanks for the comment Sylvana,
I can image back then (with the images you depicted) it was an amazing place, and I’m sure the food was so good then! Do you cook a lot of Egyptian food?
Unfortunately no. What I would give to be able to have the same life and same food I had in Egypt, a country that I love very much. Nowhere have I smelled the sea as in Alexandria strolling along the Corniche then going to dinner at the Mayfair. So many memories, the only things we have left now.
The site has agitated my apetite, but the right name of Arabic bread is: 3esh Balady. I love 3esh Balady with Gebna Barmeel or Gebna Istambuli (two types of Egyptian white chees). Thank your for your Oral meal invitation
Cool, thanks for sharing this extra information Mohamed. Great to know the name of the bread and thanks for checking out all this food!
VERY, VERY GOOD WORK MARK! CONGRATULATIONS!
I was born in Alexandria in 1945 and lived in “Cléopatra-les-bains” (kilubatra al hammamat)!
MARIO L., MARIO TITO, HENRI G. are my friends and I am in touch with them!
I remember Guy (Guido) Dessman and every day I receive the e-mail sent by Sylvana Turrini Maakad to Stenio who is always forwarding them to me!
IL MONDO E’ PICCOLO!
Thanks for sharing Alfredo!
Great to read all this.
I too was born in Egypt. I am currently visiting Alexandria and I am yet to find a place that serves Khoushaf. I went to a number of cafes in the Ramleh station area where I used to eat Khoushaf and no success.The young people often have no idea what it is.
Does anyone know where I can finally get to eat a khohshaf, the weather is just right for it.
Thank you, nice to brouse through your site.
Thank you for taking a look at this article Gerard and I hope someone else reading this article can point you in the right direction to eat Khoushaf. I just looked it up, like a dried fruit salad?
Wow, this is great. I lived in Egypt for a year and a half and this brings back memories. I was trying to look for a food we ate there and I found it here! (Hawawshy) -Thanks!
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Hey Sherrie, thanks for taking a look at this article and glad you found Hawawshy!
We live in Luxor Egypt, and often have hawawshy, but from all the local shops it isn’t as good as a cafe and take-away in Karnak, which is about 2 kilometres away. We are currently paying 3le for it, and we’ve been able to introduce quite a few tourist friends to this delicacy.
I do think that you’re slightly misleading in describing it as ‘minced lamb’, though. It’s actually minced offal; the same as the Scotch ‘haggis’! We thoroughly enjoy them both, depending whether we’re at home in England or at home in Egypt!
Keep up the good work.
Hey Edward, thank you very much for the comment and great to hear you have introduced some other visitors to hawawshy. Is it normally just minced offal? Or can it be mixed with lamb meat, because I could be wrong, but I think the one I had had real like minced meat within it? Do you think that was correct? I’m not sure, but I do know it was tasty!
WOW what youre doing was amazing. I mean you travel and eat. Btw your pic is with durian isnt it? Somewhere around Malaysia Indonesia I guess. Anyway Awesome! Really inspiring to travel over the world and savour their food. Hope that i can do that too..
Hey Melati, thanks a lot for checking out my website, I really enjoy traveling and eating. Yes, you’re right, that’s a durian, in Thailand at a fruit farm. Where are you from? I hope you get to travel as well in the future!