Hilbet substitutes
Hilbet substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Hummus with ground fenugreek
1 cup hummus + ½ to 1 tsp ground fenugreek + 1 crushed garlic clove + squeeze of lemon
The quickest substitute for hilbet is hummus stirred with ground fenugreek: 1 cup hummus, ½ to 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek, a crushed garlic clove and a squeeze of lemon. Mashed fava beans (ful) with the same additions work 1:1 and taste earthier, and a red lentil puree with fenugreek and garlic is closer still if you have twenty minutes.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- What changes —
- similar taste, different texture
- Best for —
- no cooking at all
Updated 26 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of hilbet | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hummus with ground fenugreekno cooking at all | 1 cup hummus + ½ to 1 tsp ground fenugreek + 1 crushed garlic clove + squeeze of lemonTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Homemade hilbet from fenugreek seeds and red lentilsthe real thing | ¼ cup fenugreek seeds soaked overnight and rinsed, ½ cup red lentils cooked soft, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 tsp berbere, 2 tbsp oil, salt and lemon to tasteWorks | Works |
| 3 | Mashed fava beans (ful medames) with fenugreekwidely available in tins | Same amount as a spreadPlus ½ tsp ground fenugreek per cupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Red lentil puree with fenugreek and garliccooking from pantry staples | 1 cup cooked red lentils blended with ½ tsp ground fenugreek, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp oil, salt and lemonYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Fenugreek-spiked yogurt or labneha fast table condiment | ½ cup thick yogurt + ¼ tsp ground fenugreek + 1 small crushed garlic cloveYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Plain hummus with no fenugreek (least-bad option)when the shop has no fenugreek in any form | Same amountYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Hummus with ground fenugreek
similar taste, different texture
The fastest genuinely good answer, because hummus already does most of hilbet's job: a creamy, savoury, oil-enriched legume spread for bread.
- Best for
- no cooking at all, fasting and vegan plates, spreading on injera, a beyaynetu you are assembling at short notice
Two things differ. Hummus is nuttier and rounder from the tahini in it, and it is much smoother, so you get fenugreek's bittersweet, maple-and-celery aroma but not the slippery, faintly gluey pull that real hilbet has from the mucilage in fenugreek seed. Start at half a teaspoon of fenugreek per cup and taste, because too much turns aggressively bitter fast.
Homemade hilbet from fenugreek seeds and red lentils
similar taste and texture
This is not really a substitute, it is the dish itself, and it is worth listing because the ingredients are ordinary and the method is the only part people get wrong.
- Best for
- the real thing, fasting-season cooking, making a batch to keep for a few days
The whole technique is in the soaking and rinsing. Soak the seeds overnight, then drain and rinse two or three times, squeezing the slippery gel out between rinses; that is what removes the harsh bitterness and leaves the pleasant bittersweet aroma behind. Blend everything with just enough water to move, then beat in the oil at the end.
Mashed fava beans (ful medames) with fenugreek
different taste, similar texture
Canned or cooked fava beans mashed with garlic and oil give a legume paste with real body, and fava is closer to the beans some households actually use in hilbet.
- Best for
- widely available in tins, a heartier, more filling spread, Middle Eastern and African groceries
It comes out earthier and beanier with visible texture, and darker in colour than hilbet's pale cream, so the plate looks different. Tinned ful is usually already seasoned with cumin, which pushes the flavour toward Egyptian breakfast rather than Eritrean fasting food. Rinse a plain tin if you can find one, and mash rather than blend so it keeps some grain.
Red lentil puree with fenugreek and garlic
different taste and texture
Red lentils cook to a soft puree in fifteen minutes and give a pale, mild base that takes fenugreek well.
- Best for
- cooking from pantry staples, controlling the seasoning exactly, a smooth spread without tahini flavour
The colour and mildness are close and it tastes noticeably sweeter and cleaner than hilbet, with less of the bitter counterpoint. Because there is no fenugreek seed in it there is no mucilage, so it sits on the injera in a soft mound instead of clinging to it. Keep it thicker than you think you want; lentil puree loosens as it cools less than fenugreek paste tightens.
Fenugreek-spiked yogurt or labneh
different taste and texture
A quick creamy condiment that carries the fenugreek aroma, for meals where the fasting rules do not apply.
- Best for
- a fast table condiment, non-fasting meals, cutting through berbere-heavy stews
This is tangy and cooling where hilbet is savoury and faintly bitter, and it is dairy, which defeats the purpose entirely on a fasting plate where hilbet is one of the only rich things allowed. As a general spread beside spicy stews it is genuinely good. As a stand-in for hilbet specifically, it changes both the flavour and the point.
Plain hummus with no fenugreek (least-bad option)
different taste and texture
Listed honestly: it gives you something creamy and savoury to spread, and it does not taste like hilbet at all.
- Best for
- when the shop has no fenugreek in any form, guests who dislike bitter flavours
Fenugreek is the entire identity of hilbet, so hummus without it is simply hummus on injera. It fills the same slot on the plate and provides the same richness, which is not nothing, but the distinctive bittersweet aroma that people recognise hilbet by is completely absent. If you can get fenugreek in any form, even a teaspoon of curry powder that contains it, use it.
Questions
5 questionsCan I just leave hilbet out?
On a fasting or vegan beyaynetu, you can, but you will notice. Hilbet is one of the few genuinely rich things on a plate that is otherwise stews and greens, so the meal comes out leaner and more monotonous without it. If you skip it, add another oil-rich dish such as shiro or a well-oiled lentil stew in its place rather than just serving less food.
Is hilbet the same as fenugreek?
No, and this is the most common confusion. Fenugreek is a spice, a hard bitter seed sold in a jar. Hilbet is a prepared paste in which soaked and rinsed fenugreek seeds are blended with legumes, garlic, ginger, oil and often a little berbere. Buying a jar of fenugreek and spooning it onto injera gets you nowhere; the seeds have to be soaked, rinsed and blended into something.
Why is my hilbet so bitter?
Almost certainly because the fenugreek seeds were not soaked long enough or not rinsed enough. Fenugreek carries a lot of bitterness that leaches out in water, and the traditional method is a long soak followed by several rinses with the gel squeezed out each time. Using ground fenugreek instead of seeds causes the same problem for a different reason: you cannot rinse a powder, so you have to use far less of it.
Is hilbet vegan?
Traditionally yes. Hilbet is a fasting food, made specifically for the Orthodox fasting periods when animal products are avoided, so the standard version is fenugreek, legumes, aromatics, salt and vegetable oil. If you are substituting for it on a fasting plate, avoid the yogurt option and stay with the hummus, ful or lentil versions.
Can I use ground fenugreek instead of whole seeds?
Yes, but use dramatically less. Ground fenugreek cannot be soaked and rinsed, so all of its bitterness stays in the dish. Where a recipe uses a quarter cup of whole soaked seeds, start with about a teaspoon of the powder, taste, and add more cautiously. The aroma will be right; the balance is easy to overshoot.
Tips for substituting hilbet
5 tips- Soak fenugreek seeds overnight, then drain and rinse them two or three times, squeezing the gel out as you go. Skipping this is the single most common reason homemade hilbet comes out inedibly bitter, and no amount of garlic or lemon afterwards will rescue it.
- Fenugreek keeps thickening as it stands, because of the mucilage in the seed. Make hilbet looser than you want to serve it and expect it to firm up within an hour; if it has set too stiff, beat in a spoonful of water and a little oil rather than reheating it.
- If you are using ground fenugreek instead of seeds, toast it barely or not at all. Over-toasted fenugreek turns acrid and tastes of burnt maple syrup, and unlike bitterness from unrinsed seed it cannot be diluted away.
- Serve hilbet at room temperature. It is a spread, not a hot stew, and chilling it dulls the aroma while heating it makes the texture slack and gluey.
- Beat a tablespoon of oil in at the very end. On a fasting plate hilbet is one of the few sources of fat, and that final oil both smooths the texture and carries fenugreek's aroma, which is fat-soluble and tastes muted without it.