Vegetarian and Vegan Travel in Egypt: What to Eat and What to Ask

Is Egypt easy for vegetarians and vegans?

Yes: Egypt's everyday food is largely plant-based, because meat has traditionally been expensive and many Egyptians eat beans, lentils and vegetables daily. Vegetarians will eat very well with little effort, and vegans can do so with a few questions about cooking fats and stocks.

The challenge is not finding vegetarian dishes but spotting hidden animal products. Rice is often cooked in ghee or chicken stock, vegetable stews may be made with meat broth, and pastries are rich with butter. Hotels, Nile cruise buffets and tourist restaurants understand vegetarianism well; veganism is less familiar, though growing in Cairo, and the Coptic fasting tradition gives you a culturally understood way to explain it.

Australians and New Zealanders used to labelled menus should expect fewer written ingredient lists, especially outside hotels. The upside is that cooks and waiters are generally happy to explain what is in a dish, and your guide can translate.

Which Egyptian dishes are naturally vegan?

The great Egyptian street-food staples, koshari, ful medames and taameya, are vegan as traditionally made, along with most dips, salads and pickles.

• Koshari: rice, brown lentils, macaroni and chickpeas with a spiced tomato sauce, garlic vinegar and crisp fried onions. Egypt's national dish, and almost always vegan.
• Ful medames: slow-cooked fava beans with oil, cumin, lemon and garlic. Vegan unless finished with butter, ghee or egg.
• Taameya: Egyptian falafel, made from fava beans rather than chickpeas, with herbs that make it bright green inside.
• Bessara: a thick dip of fava beans with green herbs such as dill and parsley, topped with fried onion.
• Baba ghanoug and tahina: smoky eggplant dip and sesame sauce, served with almost every meal.
• Mesaqa'a: Egypt's version of moussaka, fried eggplant with tomato, peppers and garlic; often made without meat, but ask.
• Salata baladi and torshi: chopped tomato, cucumber and onion salad, and pickled vegetables.
• Aish baladi: the round wholemeal flatbread eaten with everything; normally made without animal products.

Which dishes need checking?

Cooked dishes such as stuffed vegetables, okra stew, molokhia and rice are where meat stock and ghee hide, so ask before ordering.

Cheeses such as gebna beida (white cheese) and rumi make vegetarian breakfasts easy, and eggs are everywhere. Vegetarians should note that some hard cheeses may use animal rennet, which is hard to verify in Egypt.

What is siyami food, and why does it help vegans?

Siyami means fasting food: during Coptic Orthodox fasts, observant Christians avoid all animal products, so a siyami dish is vegan by design, and many Egyptian restaurants and bakeries understand the word immediately.

Coptic Christians observe several long fasts each year, including about 55 days before Easter and the weeks before Coptic Christmas on 7 January, plus most Wednesdays and Fridays; for the most observant, fasting days add up to more than 200 a year. Some fasts allow fish, so ask for siyami without fish (min gheir samak) if you need to. In the fasting seasons, bakeries and chains often advertise siyami versions of sweets, and asking whether a dish is siyami is often quicker than listing ingredients. It is a good example of how a little cultural knowledge goes a long way.

Which Arabic phrases help vegetarians and vegans?

A handful of Egyptian Arabic phrases will get you a long way; pronunciation guides here are approximate.

Show the phrases on your phone as well as saying them. Our Egyptian Arabic phrases guide covers greetings and numbers.

Where is it easiest to eat vegetarian in Egypt?

Cairo and Alexandria are easiest, with dedicated koshari and taameya restaurants on almost every main street; Luxor, Aswan and the Red Sea resorts rely more on hotel and ship kitchens.

• Cairo: long-running downtown names such as Abou Tarek for koshari and Felfela for taameya and mezze were still trading at the time of writing, and Zamalek and New Cairo have cafés with plant-based menus and oat or soy milk.
• Alexandria: ful and taameya breakfast shops are an institution, and the seafood restaurants all serve generous mezze spreads of dips, salads and pickles.
• Luxor and Aswan: Nubian restaurants on Aswan's West Bank cook vegetable stews in clay pots and lentil soup; ask whether the stew uses meat stock.
• Red Sea resorts: all-inclusive buffets always have salads, vegetables, pasta and rice, and the larger resorts label dishes. Vegan options vary, so speak to the head chef on arrival.
• Siwa and the desert: dates, olives and simple vegetable dishes dominate; desert camp dinners can be fully vegetarian if requested in advance.

How do you eat well on a Nile cruise and on tour?

Tell us your requirements at booking so they reach hotels, cruise ships and lunch stops in advance; buffets then cover vegetarians easily, and chefs can prepare vegan plates. Nile cruise buffets typically offer salads, mezze, cooked vegetables, pasta, rice and fruit at every meal, and the galley can prepare dishes without butter or stock when asked early. Dahabiyas, with a small galley cooking for a dozen or so guests, are the most flexible of all.

On sightseeing days, a koshari or taameya stop is quick, cheap and filling, and your guide can confirm ingredients. In Cairo, a food tour can be adapted for vegetarians, and a growing number of cafés offer plant-based milk, though not everywhere. Carry snacks such as nuts and dates for long drives to Abu Simbel or Abydos.

What about breakfast, sweets and drinks?

Breakfast is easy, with ful, taameya, bread, salad and pickles at any local café; sweets and hot drinks are where dairy and ghee creep in.

• Usually vegan: fresh juices such as sugarcane (asab), mango and guava; karkadeh (hibiscus) and tamarind drinks; black tea and Turkish-style coffee; dates and fresh fruit.
• Usually contain dairy or ghee: konafa and basbousa (butter or ghee, sometimes yoghurt), om ali (bread pudding with milk) and roz bel laban (rice pudding). Sahlab is a hot milk drink.
• Look for siyami versions of basbousa and other sweets during the Coptic fasts.

As always in Egypt, stick to busy places with high turnover and peeled or cooked produce. See avoiding stomach upsets.