Ethiopian Sambusas: A Printable Recipe with Pictures (2024)

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience."

- James Beard

Today, we're inviting you into our kitchen to share how we make sambusas in our homeschool.

This recipe for Easy Ethiopian Sambusas is from Kanyi over at Kanyi's Kitchen. We really wanted to try this recipe because it looks like fun and Kanyi throws in some history and geography lessons to go with his delicious East African dishes, which we love.

Be sure to check out Kanyi's Kitchen after you grab your printable sambusas recipe with pictures. The recipe is waiting for you down at the bottom or you can use the table of contents to skip to it.

If you like making these sambusas, you should try jollof rice, oxtail, shrimp gumbo, vegetable gumbo, picadillo, empanadillas, Asian dumplings, New Year's Day rice and peas, pork belly, and chaat. The Mother Africa sauce makes for the perfect sambusas dipping sauce.

Learn more about how to cook with kids.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Amazon links are not affiliate links. You can read my full affiliate disclosure.

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What are Sambusas?

Sambusas are pastry dough filled with meat and spices and folded in a triangular shape. They taste delicious and can be adapted to whatever your family's preferences are, including vegetarian.

We decided to make two versions. We used ground beef, green onion, cilantro, cardamom, and cinnamon in one batch. The second batch included everything mentioned in the first batch plus jalapeño for a spicy kick. So tasty!

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Wondering How to Fold Sambusas?

Our kids used an easy four-step process that you will see demonstrated below with egg roll wrappers.

First, they fold the top left corner down to the middle of the wrapper. Next, they fold the top right corner down to the same spot. Afterward, they fold the bottom of the wrapper up to the top and finish it off by tucking the bottom corners around the back.

I found that after demonstrating the folding process once, Kaia and Noah were off and folding without any issues. However, if a child appears confused or frustrated, you may want to gently remind them that you're available and they can ask for assistance if needed.

Are Sambusas Fun for Kids to Make?

Absolutely! If your kids enjoy arts and crafts, such as making paper airplanes or origami, this is the dish for them.

Once we finished our meal, Kaia and Noah were immediately asking what else they can wrap up. I wouldn't be surprised at all if things start going missing around our house as our kids perfect their folding technique.

Homemade Wrappers or Store-Bought

If you want to save time, you can purchase square egg roll wrappers from the market. If you're looking to extend the fun, you can make your own wrappers. We use all-purpose einkorn flour and an easy wrapper recipe from Let's Make Dumplings!, an exciting comic book cookbook for Asian dumplings.

Kids can practice working with a tortilla press to flatten the dough and then cut the dough into a square shape using a knife.

Ethiopian Sambusas

These sambusas are so much fun to make. We've broken everything down into small steps for kids to follow in order to create their own version of this incredibly fun dish. You can follow along here and then print your own kid-friendly recipe with pictures at the bottom of the page.

You may want to setup the workspace for younger children who are still mastering skills such as chopping and pouring. Older children may be more independent and able to gather the necessary materials using the visual recipe with pictures.

Katalina was napping at this time but if she were participating, I would gather the items for her and she would likely practice slicing or transferring. The older kids are able to gather what they need using a list or visual recipe and can work more independently, having practiced these tasks before.

Be sure to review kitchen safety rules with kids, especially those who will be working at the stove. Depending on the child's experience and level of mastery, you may decide to demonstrate or model several of the tasks related to this activity.

As always, try to make sure items are accessible to kids so they may move freely around their workspace. I organize our kitchen and food prep area with the goals of order and accessibility for the kids.

Ingredients

• Green Onion
• Cilantro
• Jalapeño (optional)
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon
• Ground Beef
• Water
• Egg Roll Wrappers
• Oil for Frying
• Dipping Sauce of Choice

Equipment

• child-friendly knife
• cutting board
• blue carbon steel pan
• basting brush (optional)
• tortilla press (optional)

1. Chop the Green Onion for Making Sambusas

Wash your hands with soap and water. Chop the green onion using a kid-friendly knife and cutting board. You may find that a demonstration or hands-on assistance is helpful if this is a new skill the child is working on.

2. Chop the Cilantro

Again, if this is a new skill for the child, you may want to demonstrate how to cut off the stems and then chop up the cilantro. Kids may also want to use their hands to tear the cilantro and that works great too.

Place the chopped veggies into a prep bowl.

3. Brown the Ground Beef for Sambusas

Turn on the stove to medium heat. Place a pan on the stove and let it heat up for a few minutes. Use a Learning Tower or other assistive device as needed for a child working at the stove.

Add the ground beef to the preheated pan and wash your hands. Cook over medium heat until brown. The kids used a large metal spoon to break up the beef as it cooked. Afterwards, drain the fat. You may need to assist with that part, depending on your tools and setup.

We have a couple wooden spoons that are our normal go-to's for this type of task. However, Katalina is playing a game of 'Guess Where?' with them and I haven't happened upon them yet. I should also mention that she no longer knows where they are either. Something that everyone is getting a good laugh out of right now.

4. Add the Chopped Veggies and Spices to the Beef

Add the vegetables to the ground beef. Have the child measure the correct amount of cardamom and ground cinnamon (assist as needed) and then add them to the pan. If you're making a spicy and mild version like us, hold off on adding the jalapeño.

5. Stir it Together and Wait

Stir everything together and then wait 2-3 minutes. Transfer the meat to a bowl.

For kids cooking two versions, they can transfer the desired amount of mildly seasoned beef to a bowl and add the jalapeño to the remaining meat in the pan. Wait 1 minute and then transfer to a separate bowl.

Turn off the stove.

6. Transfer Beef to Egg Roll Wrapper

Transfer some beef onto an egg roll wrapper and get ready to fold. The kids had no issues making and handling the Sambusas with the jalapeño in them, but you may choose to make those separate from your child's dish.

7. Moisten Egg Roll Wrapper Edges with Water

Wet the edges of the egg roll wrapper with water. This can be done using a basting brush or with fingers.

8. Fold the Top Left Corner Down to the Center

Fold the top left corner down as if you were making a paper airplane.

9. Fold the Top Right Corner Down to the Center

Do the same on the right side and make sure the edges overlap. Use your fingers to press along the edges and seal them together.

10. Fold the Bottom Up

Fold the bottom of the egg roll wrapper up towards the top so that there is no empty space inside the wrapper.

11. Tuck the Bottom Corners Around the Back

Tuck the bottom corners around the back to create the final triangle shape. Then, make a silly celebration face and set it aside for frying. Noah says this folding activity is his favorite part of making the sambusas.

This is also my favorite part of kids cooking in our home. Seeing their excitement when they learn a new technique or complete something lets me know how they feel about their work in addition to what they tell me or write down in their Montessori Work Plan during the week.

You can extend the fun by making the sambusas wrappers. We used all-purpose einkorn flour and a wrapper recipe from Let's Make Dumplings!, an exciting comic book cookbook for Asian dumplings.

For more fun with dough, check out Ukrainian Welcome Bread and Antarctic expedition food.

12. Add Oil to the Pan and Cook Sambusas

Head back to the stove and reheat the pan on medium. Coat the bottom of the pan with oil and cook Sambusas until golden brown.

If you're wondering what's up with the dustbuster in the background, our oldest drew an illustrated reminder of what all you can't suck up with a dustbuster and stuck it through the handle for everyone's benefit. Moving right along with kids cooking.

13. Flip Over When Golden Brown

Flip over and cook the other side until it is also golden brown. Kaia. really enjoys working at the stove right now. As a result, she says Sambusa flipping with the spatula is her favorite part of making this delicious dish.

14. Remove From Heat and Let Cool

Transfer the cooked sambusas to a tea towel or paper towel to remove excess oil. After a few minutes, transfer to a plate.

When all the sambusas have been cooked, turn off the stove. Clean up the food prep area and prepare for a tasty treat.

15. Enjoy with Your Favorite Dipping Sauce

We made some of this delicious Baasbas sauce (minus the coriander) to go with the spicy sambusas and it was a perfect pairing. Our kids ate the mild sambusas with ketchup because well, ketchup is amazing.

Free Ethiopian Sambusas Recipe for Pre-Readers and Up

We hope you enjoyed seeing how we make Ethiopian sambusas in our homeschool. This was such an awesome cooking experience for us. Everyone really enjoyed the sambusas. They are so flavorful and making them is just as fun as eating them.

Don't forget to download your free sambusas recipe with pictures (above) to join in the kids' cooking fun.

Special thanks to Kanyi's Kitchen for sharing this awesome Sambusas recipe with us.

If you'd like similar printable cards for kids for North American cuisine, you can visit our Chocolate Bison Chili and Three Sisters Bean Stew. They make an excellent addition to your Montessori Continent Boxes.

Montessori Continent Boxes

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More Africa Resources

• Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora
• Books for Africa Continent Studies
• Africa Booklist by Social Justice Books
• Afrocentric Montessori
• Waseca Biomes

Thanks for stopping by!

- Kristin