Top 45 African Breads

Mahjouba is a traditional flatbread that is one of the most popular street food items in the country. These thick and flaky crepe-like flatbreads are made with semolina, then filled with a combination of tomatoes and caramelized onions. Mahjouba is often paired with harissa sauce on the side, but the condiment is completely optional.Expand

M'semen is a traditional Maghrebi flatbread made with a combination of flour, semolina, sugar, salt, yeast, warm water, oil, and clarified butter. The dough is kneaded until it becomes smooth, and pieces of it are then flattened and shaped into squares. Once the dough has been folded and shaped, it is cooked on a griddle or fried in a pan until it becomes crispy on the exterior and chewy on the inside. Although m'semen is traditionally consumed on its own as an accompaniment to coffee or tea, it can also be stuffed with various meats and vegetables. In Tunisia, the flatbread is often based on semolina flour and made without yeast.Expand

Native to Egypt, aish baladi is a flatbread made with whole wheat flour. It is traditionally baked in extremely hot ovens and can be found at numerous Egyptian markets. The bread has been produced since the times of ancient Egypt, when it was made with emmer wheat. Nowadays, this bread is a staple at Egyptian tables, from breakfast to dinner, and everyone eats it, whether poor or rich. In fact, it is so important that the word life (aish) is included in its name.Expand

Kesra or khobz f'tir is a traditional flatbread that is used as a daily bread. The dough consists of semolina, oil, salt, and water, and typically contains no yeast. Unlike the similar khobz el dar, kesra is not baked, but cooked on a tagine or on the stove. It is recommended to pair kesra with an Algerian chicken and freekeh soup called chorba.Expand

Bazin is a popular Libyan unleavened bread (also considered a dough-based dish) made by boiling barley flour and salt in water and beating it with a stick called magraf until it develops into a dough which is then baked or steamed. The bread is characterized by its hard texture, achieved by the usage of large amounts of salt. It is traditionally shared and consumed using the right hand. Bazin is often served with a tomato-based stew, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and mutton.Expand

Injera (or tayta) is a spongy Ethiopian and Eritrean flatbread and an integral part of life for the locals. The bread is made from teff, the tiniest grain in the world, also considered a super grain due to its high nutritious properties. Injera is so popular that the people greet each other by asking "Did you eat injera today?", and if the answer is positive, that assures the other person that all is well. This flatbread is served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and sharing it when times are rough has kept many Ethiopians and Eritreans alive. Its flavor is tart and quite similar to sourdough bread. The dough is left for three days to ferment and is then shaped into a large, pancake-like disk. It is usually fried in a skillet over a fire, where the spongy texture of the bread develops as the dough hits the hot skillet and air bubbles form on the inside. Once cooled, it is combined with the main course, usually a hearty stew. Injera is eaten without utensils – instead, it is broken into pieces and used to scoop up some more stew from the shared communal platter. Due to the air pockets in the bread, it can absorb a lot of sauce from the stews. Although shared eating might seem strange to some, injera succeeds in bringing people together.Expand

Roosterkoek, literally meaning grill cake, is a traditional bread baked on a grid over the coals. Made with flour, yeast, salt, sugar, oil, and water, these small balls of leavened bread dough are brushed with butter and grilled until slightly charred. Roosterkoek is best enjoyed piping hot, straight off the grill, smeared with more butter. The bread makes an inevitable part of a braai, a South African barbecue, but it's also great as a snack, paired with butter, jam, or cheese.Expand

Batbout is a traditional flatbread originating from Morocco. The bread is usually made with a combination of wheat flour, semolina, yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil or vegetable oil. The dough is shaped into balls that are left to rest and rolled into thin rounds. The bread is baked in a large pan or on a griddle on both sides until the air bubbles begin to appear on the surface. This puffy and chewy flatbread is then left to cool before consumption. Batbout is typically served as an accompaniment to grilled meat, but it can also be served for breakfast with jam, butter, or honey. Alternatively, the flatbread can also be used to make various sandwiches.Expand

Rougag is a type of flatbread mostly associated with Algeria and Tunisia, although it is often used in the cuisines of other North African countries. It is made with semolina and wheat flour dough and prepared on a tajine or a cast-iron skillet. After it's cooked, rougag is folded and paired with various local dishes or torn into pieces and used as an ingredient in stews and pilafs.Expand

Berber pizza or khobza medfouna is a traditional dish originating from Morocco, and it is believed that its true birthplace is Rissani, a small oasis town near the northwest edge of Sahara. Although it's called a pizza, this is more of a stuffed flatbread that's similar to calzone or stromboli. The flatbread dough is stuffed with beef or lamb, diced onions, and various spices, and it's then baked in a fire pit until done, while many restaurants and local Berbers cook it in a mud oven. Fried almonds and hard-boiled eggs are welcome, but optional additions. The name medfouna means buried, referring to the ingredients that are buried or hidden in the flatbread dough. Once prepared, Berber pizza is cut into slices, and it's usually accompanied by hot mint tea, which is believed to be a palate balancer that will contrast the flavor of fat from the meat. Expand