Injera substitute

Best substitute

Shop-Bought Injera

Use the same amount as the injera you are replacing

Best for any Ethiopian meal

Close match

Ready-made injera from an Ethiopian restaurant, market or grocer, sold in stacks and often frozen.

Other injera substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Same-Day Teff Batter With Sourdough Starter
Different taste
Use the same amount
About 1 cup teff flour, 1/2 cup all-purpose or sorghum flour, 1 1/2 cups water, 2 tablespoons sourdough starter or 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt, rested 1-2 hours, then cooked on one side in a dry non-stick pan.
What changes
Best for
cooking tonight, wat and tibs, learning the technique
The best same-day approximation. You get the right dark colour, a spongy crumb, some holes and a mild tang. What you cannot shortcut is the depth of a proper three-day ferment, so it tastes gently sour rather than properly, pleasantly funky, and the eyes are fewer and larger. Pour the batter in a spiral from the outside in, cover for a minute, and never flip it.
3Sourdough Crepes
Different texture
Use the same amount by piece
Thin crepes made from sourdough starter discard thinned with water, cooked large and pale.
What changes
Best for
getting the sourness, scooping stews, using up starter discard
This nails the one thing most substitutes miss - the sour counterpoint that cuts through rich berbere stews. What it does not give you is the sponge: crepes are smooth, thin and slightly rubbery, with no holes to trap sauce, so the stews sit on top rather than soaking in. Make them larger and thicker than a dessert crepe and do not sweeten the batter.
4Canjeero or Other Fermented Flatbread
Close match
Use the same amount by piece
Somali canjeero (also called lahoh), or any thin fermented pancake-style bread from the region.
What changes
Best for
Horn of Africa meals, breakfast dishes, scooping stews
A genuine close cousin rather than an imitation: fermented batter, cooked on one side, holey and mildly sour. It is usually smaller, softer and made with wheat or sorghum rather than teff, so it tastes milder and paler and tears more easily under a heavy stew. If your local shop has it, this is the best non-injera option there is.
5Thin Buttermilk or Buckwheat Pancakes
Different taste
Use the same amount by piece, cut into quarters for scooping
Unsweetened pancakes made thin, with buttermilk for tang and buckwheat for colour and earthiness.
What changes
Best for
households with children, improvising with cupboard ingredients
Spongy and holey in roughly the right way, and buttermilk gives a faint sourness. The problems are thickness and sweetness: pancakes are much thicker than injera and most batters lean sweet, so leave out any sugar entirely and spread the batter thinner than feels right. Cut them into squares rather than serving them whole.
6Warm Flatbread, Lavash or Rice
Taste and texture differ
serve alongside as the starch
Any soft flatbread used as a scoop, or plain rice served under the stews.
What changes
Best for
weeknight meals, when nothing else is available, large gatherings
Not an imitation, a different way to eat the same food - and one that Ethiopian households abroad use regularly. Flatbread and lavash scoop well but are dry and neutral, so the meal loses its sour counterpoint; put a lemon wedge or a small bowl of plain yogurt on the table to replace that acidity. Rice takes the sauce beautifully and is eaten with a fork rather than by hand, which changes the meal more than the taste.

What is Injera?

Injera is Injera is the large, spongy, sour Ethiopian and Eritrean flatbread made from a teff batter fermented for several days and cooked on one side only, so its surface is covered in tiny holes.

Cooking tips

Injera is doing three jobs at once, which is why it is so hard to replace: it is the plate, it is the utensil, and it is the acidity that balances rich, chilli-heavy stews. Any substitute needs to at least scoop, and if it cannot bring sourness, put lemon or yogurt on the table instead.
Injera is cooked on one side only and never flipped. Pour the batter in a spiral from the outside inwards on a hot dry pan, cover for 60 to 90 seconds until the surface is set and covered in eyes, then lift it out. Flipping it flattens the holes and ruins the texture.
The sourness comes from a two to three day wild ferment using a starter called ersho, and there is no honest shortcut to it. Same-day versions with lemon or baking powder give you the shape and some tang; they do not give you the depth.
Keep cooked injera covered at all times, under a cloth or in a sealed container. Exposed to air it stiffens and cracks within minutes, which is why restaurant injera arrives folded in a stack.
Pure teff batter is fragile and expensive, which is why most home and commercial recipes cut it with wheat, barley or sorghum flour. If your first attempt tears when you lift it, add a little more wheat or sorghum flour to the batter next time.
If your injera or batter tastes bitter and harsh rather than pleasantly sour, the ferment has gone too far. Shorten it next time, or stir in a little fresh flour and water and cook it sooner.

Frequently asked questions

Is injera gluten-free?

Teff itself contains no gluten, but most injera you buy is not gluten-free, because commercial and home batters are commonly cut with wheat or barley flour to save cost and improve handling. If it matters, ask specifically for 100 percent teff injera - some shops and restaurants make it, and it usually costs more.

Can I use ordinary pancakes instead of injera?

As a scoop, yes, provided you make them thin and leave out all the sugar. Buttermilk or buckwheat batters work best because they bring a little tang and a darker colour. Expect something noticeably thicker and softer than injera; cutting the pancakes into quarters makes them easier to use with the stews.

Can I make injera in one day?

You can make something injera-shaped in a day. Combining teff flour with sourdough starter or a squeeze of lemon plus a little baking powder gives you a dark, spongy, mildly tangy flatbread with visible eyes. It is a good dinner. It is not the same as a properly fermented injera, which has a deep sourness that only time produces.

What should I serve if I have no injera at all?

Rice is the simplest and it works well - Ethiopian stews are excellent over rice, they are simply eaten with a fork. Otherwise use any soft flatbread, lavash or pita as the scoop, and put a lemon wedge or a spoonful of plain yogurt on each plate to replace the sourness injera would have contributed.

Can I freeze injera?

Yes, and it is the main reason to buy a large stack when you find some. Interleave the pieces with baking paper, seal well, and freeze for up to a couple of months. Thaw at room temperature still wrapped, then warm briefly in a covered pan - unwrapping it early is what makes thawed injera go dry and brittle.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Injera substitute

Other injera substitutes

2Same-Day Teff Batter With Sourdough Starter

3Sourdough Crepes

4Canjeero or Other Fermented Flatbread

5Thin Buttermilk or Buckwheat Pancakes

6Warm Flatbread, Lavash or Rice