Nigerian cuisine

Nigerian cuisine draws from the hundreds of Native African ethnic groups within the country. Like other West African food traditions, it relies on spices and herbs, often cooked with palm oil or groundnut oil, to produce richly flavored sauces and soups. Celebratory meals can be colorful and extravagant, while fragrant snacks sold at markets and by the roadside—grilled over charcoal or deep-fried—are plentiful and diverse. Tropical fruits such as watermelon, pineapple, coconut, banana, orange, papaya, and mango are widely eaten. The cuisine is generally savory and spicy, a trait shared with much of West Africa.

The food of Nigeria developed from what could be grown locally. Staples native to the region include yam, African rice, black-eyed peas, millet, sorghum, okra, egusi, and palm oil. Crops introduced through trade, like cassava and corn, are also common. A range of indigenous vegetables are staples, and native fruit trees—such as African star apple, African mango, African pear, hog plum, and garden egg—are important as well. Yam production is concentrated in West Africa, with Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Cameroon together accounting for 97% of African yam output. Meals traditionally center on carbohydrate-rich foods like rice, yams, and potatoes, usually paired with protein from beef, goat, mutton, fish, or chicken. Hot peppers and various spices are frequent additions, giving the dishes their characteristic flavors.

Nigeria’s cuisine comes from 371 distinct ethnic groups, each with its own cooking methods, ingredients, and ceremonial practices, which have evolved over millennia. The Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy recognizes that the country’s culinary culture is as diverse as its ethnic makeup. Traditional dishes such as Fufu and Ugba reflect this diversity and are considered part of the national heritage.

**Entrees**

**Rice-based dishes** include coconut rice, made with coconut milk and spices; Jollof rice, cooked with a puréed tomato and Scotch bonnet sauce; Ofada rice, a variety from southwestern Nigeria served with ayamase or ofada sauce; and fried rice, a rich dish with mixed vegetables (cabbage, carrots, green peas), meat, poultry, or prawns. Pate is made from ground dry corn, rice, or acha, often combined with vegetables (spinach), tomatoes, onions, peppers, garden eggs, locust beans, groundnuts, biscuit bones, and minced meat, and is common in northwestern states like Kano, Kaduna, Nassarawa, and Plateau. Tuwo masara is a corn-flour dish from the north, while Tuwo shinkafa is a thick rice pudding usually eaten with miyan kuka (a thick soup) and goat meat stew or miyan taushe (a pumpkin stew with spinach, goat or mutton, and smoked fish), primarily in the northern region. White rice—both local and imported—is often served with stews, pepper soup, and sauces, especially a thick tomato-and-pepper stew. Banga rice is a traditional recipe using palm nut and rice, common in the southern (Delta State) and eastern parts of the country. Palm-oil rice, sometimes called local rice or yellow rice, is prepared with fresh palm oil, assorted fish (dried and smoked), and local spices like locust beans, onions, and pepper; it can be made as jollof or as white rice with a separate palm oil stew. Curried rice uses fresh turmeric or curry powder, onions, salt, and seasoning, served with a vegetable sauce. Masa is made from blended, destoned Tuwo shinkafa rice with onions and spices, then yeast is added and the mixture is allowed to rise before being cooked on low heat in a special pot. Danbu rice, a northern preparation, is ground and mixed with pepper. Groundnut oil rice is cooked with groundnut oil, fish (dry or fresh), fresh tomatoes, onions, fresh pepper, and plenty of crayfish.

**Bean-based dishes** include Akara (bean cake), a fritter from the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria; Gbegiri, a bean-based soup also from the Yoruba; and Abula soup, a combination of gbegiri, ewedu (vegetable soup), and stew, typically eaten with amala (dried yam flour fufu) or lafun (dried cassava flour fufu) by the Yoruba. Moi moi (also called Ọ̀lẹ̀lẹ̀) is a steamed bean pudding made from washed and peeled black-eyed peas blended with onions and fresh ground peppers, originating from the Yoruba. Ekuru is a steamed savory bean dish from the same group, while Ewa aganyin consists of boiled beans served with a pepper sauce. Okpa, a breakfast food made from Bambara nut flour, is popular among the Igbo of southeastern Nigeria. Adalu is a bean and sweet corn pottage from the Yoruba.

**Corn-based dishes** include Egbo, a Yoruba specialty that can be eaten alone with pepper sauce or paired with beans.

**Meat** appears in most Nigerian dishes. Suya, from the north, is grilled meat coated with ground chili pepper, peanut powder, and other local spices, cooked barbecue-style on a skewer; it is one of the country’s most famous specialties and is widely available. Tsire refers specifically to meat with a generous coating of peanut and chili powder, which may or may not be grilled.