Nigeria: Recipes and Cuisine

Nigeria, a large country in West Africa, is the continent's most populous nation and one of its most diverse. Nigerian food is typically West African, but individual ethnic groups within the country give Nigerian cuisine a wonderful variety of dishes and flavors.

Popular Nigerian dishes include jollof rice, dodo (fried plantains), fufu, or iyan (mashed yams), and moin moin (a bean pudding). Yams, cassava, rice and sorghum are common starches, while tomatoes, peppers, onions, peanuts and beans are important vegetables. Rich red palm oil flavors many dishes. Zobo, a drink from hibiscus blooms, quenches many a thirst.

Typical Nigerian Dishes

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A list of typical Nigerian dishes and foods. Use it to help you plan a Nigerian-style meal, party or festival.

Soups and Stews

Efo (Vegetable soup)
Obe Ata (Bell pepper soup)
Obe Eja Tutu (Fish and pepper stew)
Ogbono Soup (Stew thickened with ogbono nut)

Poultry

Jollof Rice (Chicken with rice)

Meats

Egusi (Stewed meat with ground melon seeds)
O Jo Jo (Fried meat and potato balls)
Suya (Grilled meat skewers)

Fish and Seafood

Ewa Dodo (Seafood with plantains and black-eyed peas)

Vegetables and Beans

Dodo (Fried plantains)
Ewedu (Simmered mallow greens)
Frejon (Pureed beans)
Fufu (Mashed yams)
Ila (Stewed okra)
Iru (Fermented locust beans)
Moin-moin (Steamed bean pudding)

Breads and Grains

Eba (Cassava flour puree)
Gari (Roasted cassava flour)

Sauces and Condiments

Iru (Fermented locust beans)

Beverages

Zobo (Hibiscus beverage)

Desserts

Puff Puffs (Fried dough)

Nigerian Recipes

Try these recipes from Nigeria.

Jollof Rice

(West African chicken with rice)

Mafé, or Maafe

(West African meat in peanut sauce)

Fufu

(West African mashed yams)

Plantain Porridge

(Nigerian plantain and vegetable stew)

Ogbono Soup

(Nigerian meat and vegetable stew thickened with ogbono seed)

Moin Moin

(Nigerian savory steamed bean pudding)

Ewa Dodo

(Nigerian black-eyed pea stew with plantains)

Dodo

(Nigerian fried plantains; see Plátanos Fritos recipe)

Zobo

(Nigerian hibiscus flower beverage; see Sorrel Punch recipe)

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