Travel

5 Heartiest West African Foods You Should Try

Published

4 years ago

November 22, 2020

Before you travel to West Africa we think it’s important that you get familiar with the amazing West African Foods you might be introduced to while there.

If you are a culinary enthusiast you are aware that West African food is pretty trendy right now. Even though it’s been around for a very long time, it’s only this year that it’s started to make serious waves around the world.

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In our opinion, it’s about time. West African cuisine is one of the heartiest and most flavorful in the world, while also remaining healthy. A lot of West African dishes use vegetables as the base, with protein like fish and meat acting as the secondary component. They usually consist of dark, leafy greens—which tick off the healthy aspect—and the manner in which they are cooked makes them anything but boring.

West African foods are becoming increasingly popular around the world, and it’s about time. If you’re curious, we have listed 5 of the heartiest West African foods you should try the next time you head that way.

Efo Riro

If you’re looking for a thick, hearty and healthy soup, the efo riro has you covered. This is a soup dish from Yorubaland in Western Nigeria. It’s basically a spinach stew. However, it’s the other ingredients that make it a worthy addition to your palate. We have palm oil, vegetables, fish, beans, peppers, locust bean, stockfish, crayfish and meat. Of course, you won’t always find all of these ingredients together; each cook has their own preferred ingredients and way to cook it, after all. But the end-result is always a delicious thick soup that can easily fill you up.

Waakye

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and the Waakye ticks almost every nutritional box you can think of. In fact, the meal is so nutritious and filling that people can eat it at any time throughout the day.

Originating from Ghana, waakye is a dish that includes ground cassava—or gari—spaghetti, beans, stew, rice and even boiled eggs. Then, to complete the meal, it’s served with either a vegetable salad or spiced plantain.

If you’re looking for the most filling West African food, look no further than the waakye.

Superkanja

What do you get when you merge a range of superfoods into one dish? The superkanja, that’s what. This is an incredible dish from Gambia that incorporates collards, spinach, and okra. In addition to these vegetables, the meal is often served with either fish or meat, onions and chili peppers. The resulting dish is something spicy, flavorful, and healthy, packed with essential nutrients vitamins, proteins and superfoods.

Depending on who you ask, a few of the ingredients might change. But in essence, superkanja is a meal that merges superfoods with a source of protein and onions.

Cachupa

In Cape Verde, cachupa is the most famous dish. It’s so popular, in fact, that it’s considered the national dish in the country.

Cachupa is a slow-cooked stew that mainly consists of sweet potato, cassava, corn, beans and fish or meat—the meat is often one of chicken, goat, sausage, or beef. Since Cape Verde comprises of a series of islands, each island typically has its own twist on the recipe that’s based on the area’s available recipes. But, however you eat it, cachupa is a tender and satisfying meal that’s worth digging into.

Ogbono Soup

This is a Nigerian igbo soup that primarily consists of grounded ogbono seeds. The grounded seeds act as thickeners, and they make the soup dark in color. They also give it a full flavor that complements the other ingredients.

Speaking of ingredients, the ogbono soup varies from one locale to another. However, it primarily consists of palm oil, water, leafy vegetables—like celosia and bitterleaf—other veggies like okra and tomatoes, chili peppers, and a variety of meats like crayfish, shrimp, fish, goat, beef, chicken and bush meat.

What are your favorite West African Foods? Comment below!