Ethiopian Bread
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Jun 26, 2025 
This Ethiopian Bread recipe is a quick and easy take on the traditional Injera and features a sourdough crepe-like flatbread that you can make at home!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Several major American cities have large Ethiopian populations with amazing restaurants and markets throughout. Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas are among the largest. And every time we visit family in Dallas, we always eat delicious Injera bread at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant.
Ethiopian Breaad, known as Injera, is a staple Ethiopian dish that you definitely need to learn how to make at home! This sourdough flatbread is always paired with other dishes to soak up the saucy meats, veggies and beans that it accompanies.
Why You’ll Love Ethiopian Bread
- Wonderful texture – This soft and spongy traditional Ethiopian bread is great for scooping up big chunks of stews.
- Diet-friendly – Injera is naturally dairy-free and egg-free!
- Make-ahead hero – Make big batches of this flatbread recipe and store it in the freezer for future use.
Our Easy Ethiopian Bread is not only quick and easy to make in any nonstick skillet, but it’s also tender, rollable, and undoubtedly sour… With absolutely no wait time.
Ingredients and Tips
- All-purpose flour – Use traditional flour to make the sourdough crepes soft and pliable.
- Buckwheat flour – For that pop of color and soft, spongy texture use buckwheat flour.
- Baking Soda – Baking soda will give light air bubbles.
- Club Soda – Club soda will also help to create the bubbly texture.
- Vinegar – Use a good quality vinegar to create the fermented sour taste.
Recipe Variations and Dietary Swaps
- Lemon juice – Swap vinegar with lemon juice for a similar flavor.
- Spices – Add cumin or coriander for an aromatic twist.
- Gluten-free – Use gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- Teff flour – To make a traditional Injera, swap both the all-purpose flour and buckwheat flour with teff flour Just keep in mind that teff flour is hard to find.
How To Make Ethiopian Bread
Injera at Ethiopian restaurants is made as large pizza-sized circular crepes. At home, you can make it in any good nonstick skillet you have available. Just mix the ingredients for the batter, cook it up and then roll the crepes into your final dish!
Find the full Ethiopian Bread recipe with detailed instructions and storage tips in the printable form at the bottom of the post!
Storage Notes
- Storing Leftovers – Store leftover Ethiopian bread in an airtight container and in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freezing Leftovers – Place cooked Injera stacked on top of one another between parchment paper. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for 2 months.
- Reheating Leftovers – I recommend warming these up in the oven.
Serving Suggestions
Ethiopian “Queen” Platters are a great idea for your adventurous dinner guest’s menu. There’s nothing like sitting around a large colorful platter of exotic dishes, scooping them up with your hands. Oh, the memories you will make!
Serve fresh-made Injera Bread with any of the below Ethiopian stews!
- Chicken Doro Wat (a chicken stew made in the slow cooker)
- Kitfo Ethiopian Beef Tartare or Tere Siga (minced raw meat)
- Mesir Wat Red Lentil Stew
- Ayib Cheese
- Yellow Peas like Daal
- Collards or other wilted greens (Gomen)
- Tomato Salad if you like.
- Smeared with Niter Kibbeh (a spiced clarified butter)
- Fenugreek Stew by Eat Smarter
Most of these dishes can be made ahead of time if needed.
(PS, the links to yellow peas and collards aren’t technically Ethiopian recipes, but they are similar and VERY delicious!)
Ethiopian Injera Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups club soda
- 1 cup white vinegar or rice vinegar
- Oil for pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix both flours, salt, and baking soda together. Whisk in the club soda until smooth. Then add the vinegar and whisk.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour oil on a paper towel and wipe the skillet with the oiled paper towel. This creates a thin fatty layer to make it easier to flip the crepes.
- Using a scoop, pour batter into the skillet creating a 6-inch circle. Quickly and carefully swirl the pan around to thin out the batter until it measures 8- to 9-inches across.
- Cook for 1 minute, then using a large spatula, flip the Injera over and cook another minute. Remove from the skillet and stack on a plate. Repeat with remaining batter. The Injera will seem slightly crisp in the pan, but will soften immediately when placed on the plate. The stacking also helps steam and soften the Injera sourdough crepes.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Teff flour is the flour most commonly used in the traditional Ethiopian Injera recipe. It is light and naturally gluten-free, but not always easy to find. If you do find it, you can use it in this recipe in place of the all-purpose flour and buckwheat flour, 4 cups total to make an amazing Injera batter.
You might have overcooked the bread or stacked it in the wrong way. Make sure to reduce the cooking time then, and stack them up immediately after flipping them!
There are some non-traditional Ethiopian dishes you can pair with this bread which can include vegetables (like green beans, cabbage, potatoes, or carrots). You can focus this platter on a vegan-style dish, or vegetarian dish with more grains, porridge, and chickpeas rather than meats. You could even serve it alongside your favorite fruits, like mango or papaya.
Have always loved Ethiopian meals but never knew how to make any of them , thanks so much for the recipe WOW!
I absolutely love this bread. My friend use to make it for me and I really missed it. I’m so happy to find the recipe and I can’t wait to try it.
As a kid, I spent two years in Ethiopia where my father was a teacher for the Swedish missionaries’ children. My mother has been doing this dish since, but we live far from each other so it’s years between the occasions where I can eat this, my favorite food. I will try this to see how close to her recipy it’ll land. I WILL deviate with it in one detail, otherwise I’ll follow it to the letter; not flipping the injera over. By doing so, you’ll get a more spongy side, that you can use to suck up all the tasty sauce! The other side is smooth and held in your hand. I can’t wait to try this!
Oh, and we’ve always used cinnamon rolls that’ll boil with the Doro watt, picking it out as the dish is served. And boiled, peeled eggs, carefully placed on the surface at the end of the cooking. Each will get an egg or two, and along with the sweersour kale, the chopped tomato/red onion mix, alicha (basically carrots and potato boiled in butter
… Sooo not healthy, but sooo delicious! And spiced with the alicha spice mix), it’ll be nothing short of awesome.
Wow, that sounds intriguing! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the injera. :)
Best Injera recipe I have ever tried! Thank you!!
Thank you SO MUCH. Our son misses his native food. Thanks to you, we will be feasting at home for his 15th birthday instead of driving 2 hours to the closest Ethiopian restaurant. You can purchase Berbere through Frontier Coop if you would like the real thing. Blessings to you!
There are some nice Ethiopian restaurants here in Portland Oregon too. I am even happier, however, that there is a good Ethiopian MARKET near me, so I can buy all the spices, and also a fresh batch of delicious injera whenever I want to make a feast at home. Making one tonight actually, it’s what my son requested for his 18th birthday!
Awesome recipe. The hot smoked paprika that I bought from Amazon was super hot, so I only used 4 tsp of it and filled the remainder of the 1/3 cup with regular smoked paprika. Left everything else the same. Delicious!
Thank you so much for posting these recipes, we were new to Ethiopian cooking, but make these dishes all the time now! Very yummy indeed!
I love Ethiopian food, but I’m also a bit lazy in the kitchen sometimes… so this looks like a good recipe to try… However, traditional Doro Wat has chicken on the bone pieces… and (the best part) whole hard boiled eggs (with the shell off of course) in it. Doro Wat is one of my faves, so I will try tweaking this recipe to include the eggs and bigger pieces of chicken.
I have been to Ethiopia a number of times lived and taught there. I learned how to cook authentic Doro Wat. We use a whole chicken onions, garlic, tomatoe paste, and juice.
Berberi spice may be purchased at specialty stores. Use 3 Tbsp to make a hot dish. Original injera is best made with teff flour and the starter may be purchased from Ethiopian resturants.
Tibs is another favourite dish as are the other dishes mentioned for the feast.
Sharro, made from ground corn is eaten by the poorer families.
Oh my god, that looks DELICIOUS. :) Ethiopian food is so fascinating to me but kind of intimidating. This looks like a wonderful way to start in on it.
And yes, immigrant communities generally spring from several influential families moving in to a particular area and then sort of pioneering a community for fellow immigrants to grow around. Sometimes it’s the climate and agriculture but not always. (My parents immigrated from the tropical Philippines to frigid Chicago winters — it definitely wasn’t about climate for them!)
Thank you very mach
I made this recipe and it was awesome. I will never go out for Ethiopian food ever again. Thanks so much for posting this. If you have more please let me know.
So happy that Ethiopian food is so popular in the USA. There are at least 8 restaurants here in Amsterdam(Holland) and all are doing good business. My grand parents in Ethiopia largely cooked vegetarian and passed away at the age of 89 and 96. My mother still lives and she is 86 . Her sister 89 is also very healthy and cook! My grand parents used only barley to make ijnera . However, my mother uses a mix of teff and barely.