Doro wat
Non-vegetarian
ዶሮ ወጥ · doro wet
Chicken braised slowly in a deep, glossy sauce of long-cooked onions, spiced butter and berbere, with hard-boiled eggs simmered in at the end. A celebration dish across Ethiopia.
Doro wat is an Ethiopian stew, ready in about 2 hours 20 minutes and made with chicken pieces, skin-on, red onion and berbere. It serves 6 and is rated intermediate to cook.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 h 50 min
- Total
- 2 h 20 min
- Serves
- 6
- Level
- Intermediate
- Calories
- 591
Method
Step 1
Toss the chicken with the lemon juice (opens in a new tab) and a little water, leave for 10 minutes, then rinse and pat dry. Score the larger pieces so the sauce can soak in.
- 10 min
Food safety: Wash hands, boards and knives after handling raw chicken; rinsing does not make chicken safe — thorough cooking does.
Step 2
Cook the onions in a heavy pot without any fat over medium-low heat for 30–40 minutes, stirring often, until they are deeply soft and jammy. Add spoonfuls of water whenever they start to stick.
- 35 min
- medium-low heat
- Dutch oven / casserole pot (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels Step 3
Stir in the niter kibbeh (opens in a new tab), garlic (opens in a new tab), ginger, berbere (opens in a new tab) and korerima (opens in a new tab) and cook for 10 minutes, stirring, until the mixture is a dark, glossy paste.
- 10 min
- medium-low heat
Step 4
Add the chicken, salt and water. Cover and simmer gently, turning the pieces occasionally, until the chicken is very tender and the sauce is thick.
- 50 min
- low heat
Food safety: Chicken must reach 74 °C at the thickest part next to the bone.
How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels Step 5
Lightly score the boiled eggs (opens in a new tab), nestle them in the sauce and simmer for 10 more minutes. Serve with injera.
- 10 min
- low heat
About this dish
- Origin
- Ethiopia · Commonly attributedAlso a festive dish in Eritrea (tsebhi dorho).Also popular in EritreaMore food from Ethiopia
- Dish
- Lunch · Dinner · Stews & braises · Main courses
- Cooking method
- Braised, Simmered, Slow-cooked
- Taste
- spicy (chilli heat), rich, aromatic / warmly spiced, savoury
- Diet
- No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · Low-carb · High-proteinWith the listed swaps: Paleo-style, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
All labels
Non-vegetarian · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · High-protein - Good for
- Festive & celebration · Make-ahead · One-pot
- Cook more with
- Chicken pieces, skin-on · Red onion · Berbere · Lemon juice · Niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter) · Garlic
Allergens
- Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom niter kibbeh (ethiopian spiced butter)
- Contains: Eggsfrom egg
Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.
Nutrition
591 kcal per serving
Estimated1 serving ≈ 461 g · recipe makes 6
Where the energy comes from
- Protein 27%
- Carbohydrate 10%
- Fat 64%
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 g* |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 591 kcal | 128 kcal |
| Protein | 39.3 g | 8.5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 14.5 g | 3.1 g |
| Net carbohydrate | 11.7 g | 2.5 g |
| Sugars | 7.4 g | 1.6 g |
| Added sugars | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fibre | 2.8 g | 0.6 g |
| Fat | 41.8 g | 9.1 g |
| Saturated fat | — | — |
| Trans fat | 0.2 g | 0 g |
| Cholesterol | 340 mg | 74 mg |
| Sodium | 905 mg | 197 mg |
| Salt equivalent | 2.3 g | 0.5 g |
Vitamins & minerals per serving
- Potassium
- 653 mg
- Calcium
- 104 mg
- Iron
- 3.6 mg
- Magnesium
- 61 mg
- Vitamin A (RAE)
- 305 µg
- Vitamin C
- 12 mg
- Vitamin D
- 1.3 µg
- Vitamin B12
- —
- Folate (DFE)
- —
How these numbers were made
- Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
- *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
- Niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter): Anhydrous butter oil (ghee) used as a stand-in; niter kibbeh is clarified butter simmered with spices, which add negligible nutrients.
- Berbere: Blended chili powder (FDC 171319) used as a stand-in; berbere is a chilli-based Ethiopian/Eritrean blend with fenugreek, coriander and warm spices and has a broadly similar profile.
- Korerima (Ethiopian cardamom): Green cardamom used as a stand-in; korerima (Aframomum corrorima) is a related spice used in similar small amounts.
- “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
- Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.
Good to know
Tips
- Doro wat tastes even better the next day once the flavours have settled.
Common mistakes
- Rushing the onions — they are the backbone of the sauce and need the full time.
Serve with
- Serve with injera and a spoonful of ayib (fresh cheese) to cool the heat.
Storage
- Refrigerate up to 3 days.
Reheating
- Reheat gently, covered, until piping hot throughout.
Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated
Recipe DNA
How this dish is built
Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.
What the dish is built around
Main ingredient
- Chicken pieces, skin-on, skinned, drumsticks and thighs1000 g
- Lemon juice2 tbsp · 31 g
- Red onion, very finely chopped or pulsed in a food processor800 g
- Egg, hard-boiled and peeled6 piece · 300 g
Masalas in this recipe
Make the masala first, then come back to finish the dish.
Dry spice blend
Berbere spice blend
This recipe uses 4 tbsp (25 g for 6 servings).
Reviews & corrections
Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.
Eritrean · 2 h 5 min · 295 kcal