What Is Zanzibar Pizza? The Zanzibari Street Food Explained
Zanzibar pizza is a Zanzibari street food of thin wheat dough wrapped around a filling and pan-fried flat, not an Italian pizza. Here is what it is and how it is made.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
Zanzibar pizza is a Zanzibari street food, made famous at the Forodhani night market, of thin wheat dough wrapped around a filling and pan-fried flat on a hot griddle until crisp and golden. Despite the name it is not an Italian pizza; it is a folded, stuffed flatbread parcel, closer to a stuffed pancake or a filled roti. The savoury version is filled with minced meat, onion, egg and cheese, while the sweet version is filled with banana and chocolate, and it is usually served with a chilli or mango sauce. In the UK the wheat flour and other ingredients to make it are sold by African food shops, which you can find near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Zanzibar pizza is a Zanzibari street food of thin dough folded around a filling and pan-fried flat.
- It is not an Italian pizza; it is a folded, stuffed flatbread parcel.
- It is a speciality of the Forodhani night market in Stone Town.
- The savoury version uses minced meat, onion, egg and cheese, and the sweet version uses banana and chocolate.
- It is usually served hot with a chilli or mango sauce.
Evening at the Forodhani gardens in Stone Town means the smell of dough hitting hot metal, the clatter of a cook flipping parcels on a wide griddle, and a crowd gathered to watch the show. Zanzibar pizza is the star of that scene, ordered fresh, folded before your eyes and handed over crisp and hot from the pan. It is street food as theatre, and for Zanzibaris in Britain it brings the whole seafront back in a single bite.
There is real joy in a dish this playful. A thin round of dough, a handful of filling and a few minutes on the griddle become something people queue up for and remember for years. To make Zanzibar pizza in a kitchen far from the coast is to keep that market night alive, and to share one with someone new is to hand them a taste of the Swahili coast at its most welcoming.
What Zanzibar Pizza Actually Is
Zanzibar pizza is a much loved Zanzibari street food, a speciality of the Forodhani night market in Stone Town, where cooks stretch a thin round of wheat dough almost paper thin, pile a filling into the middle, then fold the edges over into a neat parcel and pan-fry it flat on a hot griddle until it is crisp and golden on both sides. The result is a thin, layered, stuffed flatbread with a savoury or sweet centre, cut into pieces and eaten hot, usually with a chilli or mango sauce on the side.
The savoury filling is the classic: minced meat with onion, a beaten egg cracked in to bind it and often a little cheese, all sealed inside the dough so it cooks through as the parcel fries. There is also a popular sweet version, filled with sliced banana and chocolate, which crisps and caramelises on the griddle. Whichever you choose, it is a hands-on, made-to-order snack that sits happily among the wider dishes of Tanzanian food.
Why Zanzibar Pizza Is Not an Italian Pizza
The name causes confusion, so it helps to be clear. Zanzibar pizza has nothing to do with the Italian dish of a baked, risen base topped with tomato and cheese. There is no oven, no tomato base and no rising dough. Instead the dough is rolled thin, wrapped completely around its filling like a parcel, and shallow-fried flat in a pan, so the filling is enclosed rather than sitting on top.
That makes it far closer to a stuffed pancake, a filled roti or a folded flatbread than to anything from Italy. The "pizza" in the name is really just a friendly label that travellers and vendors have used over the years. When Zanzibaris talk about Zanzibar pizza they mean this folded, pan-fried, stuffed flatbread, unique to the island, and it is best understood on its own terms rather than as a version of the European dish.
How Zanzibar Pizza Is Made and Served
Making Zanzibar pizza starts with a soft, elastic wheat dough that is rested and then stretched or rolled out very thin. A filling is spooned into the centre, for the savoury version that means minced meat, chopped onion, a cracked egg and sometimes cheese, and the edges of the dough are folded over the top to seal it into a square or round parcel. The parcel is then laid on a hot, lightly oiled griddle or pan and fried flat on both sides until the dough is crisp and golden and the filling is cooked through. It is cut open and served hot, with a chilli or mango sauce to dip.
The sweet version follows the same method with banana and chocolate inside, cooked until soft and gooey. Because the dough is wheat based, the classic filling contains egg, and cheese is often added, this dish typically contains gluten, egg and dairy, so it is worth keeping in mind for anyone with those allergies; the sweet banana and chocolate version still uses the wheat dough and so still contains gluten. Any nutritional benefit is best treated as general information rather than a proven health claim. Made fresh and eaten straight away, Zanzibar pizza is at its best hot off the pan.
Where to Buy Zanzibar Pizza Ingredients in the UK
Zanzibar pizza is a street-food and homemade dish, and its ingredients are simple to gather in Britain from African food shops. The base is plain wheat flour for the dough, along with minced meat, onion, eggs and cheese for the savoury filling, or ripe bananas and chocolate for the sweet one, plus fresh chilli or mango for the sauce. Shops serving East African and Swahili-coast customers will have the everyday staples you need, and much of it is easy to find. You can find African food stores near you to see what is nearby.
Frequently asked questions
What is Zanzibar pizza?
Zanzibar pizza is a Zanzibari street food, made famous at the Forodhani night market in Stone Town, of thin wheat dough wrapped around a filling and pan-fried flat on a hot griddle until crisp and golden. It is not an Italian pizza; it is a folded, stuffed flatbread parcel. The savoury version is filled with minced meat, onion, egg and cheese, and the sweet version with banana and chocolate, usually served with a chilli or mango sauce.
Is Zanzibar pizza a real pizza?
No, Zanzibar pizza is not an Italian pizza. There is no oven, no tomato base and no risen dough. The dough is rolled thin, wrapped completely around its filling like a parcel and shallow-fried flat in a pan, so it is much closer to a stuffed pancake or a folded flatbread than to the European dish. The name is really just a friendly label.
What is Zanzibar pizza made of?
The dough is a thin wheat dough. The classic savoury filling is minced meat with onion, a beaten egg to bind it and often a little cheese, all sealed inside the dough. There is also a sweet version filled with banana and chocolate. Because it is wheat based and the savoury filling uses egg and often cheese, it typically contains gluten, egg and dairy.
How is Zanzibar pizza made?
A soft wheat dough is stretched very thin, a filling is spooned into the centre, and the edges are folded over to seal it into a parcel. The parcel is fried flat on a hot, lightly oiled griddle on both sides until the dough is crisp and golden and the filling is cooked through, then cut open and served hot with a chilli or mango sauce.
Where can I buy Zanzibar pizza ingredients in the UK?
Zanzibar pizza is made at home, so African food shops are the place to buy the ingredients: plain wheat flour for the dough, minced meat, onion, eggs and cheese for the savoury filling, or bananas and chocolate for the sweet one, plus fresh chilli or mango for the sauce. African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks them.
