Tibs recipe — traditional dish from Ethiopia

Name: Tibs
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Ethiopia
Ingredients: 500 g beef sirloin; 60 g niter kibbeh; 1 red onion; 2 jalapeno peppers; 3 clove garlic; 15 g ginger; 15 g berbere; 2 fresh rosemary; 1 tsp salt

Cubes of beef seared hard in spiced butter with rosemary and green chilli, served while still sizzling.

How to make Tibs

Cut 500 g of beef sirloin into 2 cm cubes and pat them dry; wet meat steams instead of searing.

Heat a heavy skillet until it smokes, melt 60 g of niter kibbeh and sear the beef in two batches, 2 to 3 minutes each, then set it aside.

Add the remaining 60 g of niter kibbeh with 1 sliced red onion and 2 sliced jalapenos and cook 4 minutes; they should stay crunchy.

Stir in 3 minced garlic cloves, 15 g of grated ginger and 15 g of berbere and cook 1 minute.

Return the beef and its juices to the pan and toss 2 minutes to coat.

Drop in 2 sprigs of rosemary, salt, and cook 1 minute more. Tibs is a fast sauté, not a stew: do not let it simmer down.

Serve immediately over injera, ideally in a preheated clay dish so it keeps sizzling at the table.

What is Tibs?

Tibs is a traditional dish from Ethiopia, simmered in one pot, and takes about 25 minutes from start to finish. It is built around beef sirloin, niter kibbeh and ginger. The recipe below uses 9 ingredients and is written out step by step.

How long does Tibs take?

At 25 minutes it is quicker than 98% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 11 dishes built on beef sirloin. The method runs to 7 steps, the longest being 4 minutes.

Any tips for making Tibs?

Pat the beef dry and sear it in two batches in a smoking-hot skillet: wet meat steams instead of searing, and tibs must never simmer.

How Tibs compares

At 25 minutes, Tibs is among the 20 quickest of the 586 dishes Copper documents. Hard to find elsewhere: jalapeno peppers (1), fresh rosemary (1) and berbere (2).

Cooked with the same thing elsewhere

Other traditional dishes built on rosemary, from other countries.

Paella valenciana 🇪🇸 Spain
Lamb roast 🇳🇿 New Zealand

Copper documents Ethiopia alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.