Food In Amharic: 88 Meal-Related Words
We all love food! And we all have to eat to survive. So, it stands to reason that learning the names of various food items in Amharic should be high on your list of priorities.
If you’re planning a trip to Ethiopia soon, you’ll want to know what the meals on your menu mean when you go out to eat. Or perhaps there’s a nice Ethiopian restaurant in your city and you want to impress the staff by ordering in their native language? Whatever the reason, you’re in the right place!
In this article, we’ll introduce you to over 80 essential words related to food (ምግብ – migb) and drinks (መጠጦች – met’et’och) in Amharic. Everything’s been split into categories for your browsing convenience, and we’ve even included phonetic, Latin-based Amharic spelling to help you pronounce each word correctly.
Meals in Amharic
In this section, you’ll learn mealtime terms along with the names of some popular dishes. You’ll notice that many of them are pronounced exactly as they are in English.
| Breakfast | ቁርስ | k’urs |
| Lunch | ምሳ | misa |
| Dinner | እራት | irat |
| Dessert | ጣፋጭ | t’afach’ |
| Curry | ካሪ | karī |
| Burger | በርገር | berger |
| Pizza | ፒዛ | peeza |
| Chips (fries) | የድንች ጥብስ | yedinich t’bs |
| Sandwich | ሳንድዊች | sandwich |
| Salad | ሰላጣ | selat’a |
| Soup | ሾርባ | shorba |
Meat in Amharic
| Meat | ስጋ | siga |
| Chicken | ዶሮ | doro |
| Beef | የበሬ ስጋ | yeberē siga |
| Pork | የአሳማ ስጋ | ye’asama siga |
| Lamb | የጠቦት ስጋ | yetebot siga |
| Sausage | ቋሊማ | k’walīma |
| Steak | ስቴክ | stayk |
| Fish | አሳ | āsa |
Ingredients and Cooking in Amharic
This section is composed of words relating to foods that you don’t normally eat on their own, but instead, they make up part of a bigger meal.
| Bread | ዳቦ | dabo |
| Rice | ሩዝ | ruz |
| Pasta | ፓስታ | pasta |
| Flour | ዱቄት | duk’et |
| Oil (cooking) | የማብሰያ ዘይት | yemabiseya zeyt |
| Butter | ቅቤ | k’bē |
| Eggs | እንቁላል | ink’ulal |
| Cheese | አይብ | āyb |
| Sugar | ስኳር | skuar |
| Salt | ጨው | ch’ew |
| Pepper | በርበሬ | beriberē |
| Honey | ማር | mar |
Fruits in Amharic
Self-explanatory, eh? Fruits are lovely, and they’re an important part of a healthy diet. Here are the Amharic names for some popular fruits.
| Fruits | ፍራፍሬ | frafree |
| Apple | ፖም | pom |
| Orange | ብርቱካን | birtukan |
| Banana | ሙዝ | mooz |
| Strawberry | እንጆሪ | enjori |
| Pear | ፒር | pear |
| Plum | ፕሪም | prim |
| Mango | ማንጎ | mango |
| Blueberry | ብሉቤሪ | bluberi |
| Cherries | ቼሪ | cherri |
| Pineapple | አናናስ | ananas |
| Grapes | ወይን | weyn |
| Peach | ኮክ | coke |
| Coconut | ኮኮናት | coconut |
| Lemon | ሎሚ | lomi |
| Lime | ሎሚ | lomi |
| Melon | ሐባብ | habab |
| Papaya | ፓፓያ | papaya |
Vegetables in Amharic
We’ll cover common vegetables in this section, including salad items.
| Vegetables | አታክልቶች | atakiltoch |
| Tomato | ቲማቲም | tīmatīm |
| Onion | ሽንኩርት | shinkurt |
| Carrot | ካሮት | karot |
| Garlic | ነጭ ሽንኩርት | nech’ shinkurt |
| Corn | በቆሎ | bek’olo |
| Mushroom | እንጉዳይ | inguday |
| Broccoli | ብሮኮሊ | brokoli |
| Peppers | ቃሪያ | k’arīya |
| Lettuce | ሰላጣ | selat’a |
| Potato | ድንች | dinich |
| Cabbage | ጥቅል ጎመን | t’ik’il gomen |
| Cucumber | የፈረንጅ ዱባ | yeferenj duba |
| Beans | ቦሎቄ | bolok’ē |
| Peas | አተር | ater |
| Cauliflower | አበባ ጎመን | abeba gomen |
| Pumpkin | ዱባ | duba |
| Spinach | ስፒናች | spīnach |
Snacks in Amharic
Next, we’ll introduce you to the names of some of the most popular snacks in Ethiopia (and the world).
| Snacks | መክሰስ | mekses |
| Crisps (potato chips) | ድንች ቺፕስ | dinich chīps |
| Cookie | ኩኪ | kukī |
| Doughnut | ዶናት | donat |
| Popcorn | ፈንዲሻ | fendīsha |
| Nuts | ለውዝ | lewz |
| Candy (sweets) | ከረሜላ | keremēla |
| Chocolate | ቸኮሌት | chekolēt |
| Cake | ኬክ | kayk |
| Yogurt | እርጎ | irgo |
| Ice cream | አይስ ክሬም | āys krēm |
Drinks in Amharic
And last but not least, let’s take a look at some common beverage names in Amharic. After all, you’ll want to know what “beer” is called in Amharic, seeing as it’s by far the most popular alcoholic beverage in Ethiopia.
| Drinks | መጠጦች | met’et’och |
| Water | ውሃ | wuha |
| Milk | ወተት | wetet |
| Tea | ሻይ | shay |
| Coffee | ቡና | buna |
| Orange juice | የብርቱካን ጭማቂ | yebirtukan ch’imak’i |
| Lemonade | የሎሚ ጭማቂ (ሎሚናት) | yelomī ch’imak’i (lomīnat) |
| Apple juice | የኣፕል ጭማቂ | ye’apil ch’imak’i |
| Beer | ቢራ | bīra |
| Wine | ወይን | whyn |
Learning the names of various food items in Amharic is a great way to build up your core vocabulary. For the most part, these are words that you’ll use regularly, so it’s well worth putting in the effort to learn them.
If you’re interested in learning some more important Amharic words, why not check out our posts How Do You Say This in Amharic? Common Words and Phrases, and Days, Months, Seasons, Weather, and Time in Amharic.
