Food guide · Yado Market Blog
Ghanaian food is built on corn, cassava, plantain, yam, groundnuts and red palm oil, cooked into bold soups and stews and eaten with soft "swallows" like fufu, banku and kenkey. Here are 20 traditional Ghana dishes to know, what goes in them, and where to get the ingredients in the U.S. or at our Chicago store.
Quick answer: the most popular Ghanaian foods
Jollof rice, waakye, fufu with light soup, banku with grilled tilapia, kenkey with fried fish and shito, red red, kelewele, palm nut soup, groundnut soup and kontomire stew. A typical meal pairs a soup or stew with a swallow (fufu, banku, kenkey, kokonte or tuo zaafi) or with rice.
20
Ghana dishes in this guide
5
Swallows to know
4
Staples: corn, cassava, plantain, yam
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1651 E 87th St, Chicago
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The Ghanaian Pantry: 8 Staples We Stock
With these on your shelf you can cook most of the dishes below. All ship across the U.S., or pick up today at our Chicago store.
Banku
Homefresh Banku Mix 1kg
Fermented corn and cassava flour for smooth banku in 15 minutes.
Shop · $8.99
Kokonte
Kokonte Cassava Flour 1kg
Dried cassava flour for brown kokonte, great with groundnut soup.
Shop · $7.99
Palm nut soup
Ghana Fresh Palm Nut Cream 800g
Ready palm fruit cream: the base of abenkwan.
Shop · $8.49
Waakye
AFO Waakye Powder
Gives rice and beans the classic deep red-brown waakye color.
Shop · $11.99
Shito
Teo Shito Hot Pepper Sauce
Ghana's black pepper sauce for kenkey, waakye and rice.
Shop · $8.99
Dishes 1 to 3
Rice & Bean Dishes
Rice is everyday food in Ghana's cities, and beans show up in two of the country's most-loved plates.
01Jollof rice
Rice cooked in a spiced tomato, onion and pepper stew. Ghana jollof is usually made with fragrant long-grain or jasmine rice and served with fried chicken, shito and salad. Yes, Ghana and Nigeria argue about whose is best.
Shop jollof seasoning · $9.99 → · Compare: Nigerian jollof →
02Waakye
Rice and beans cooked with dried waakye leaves (sorghum leaf sheaths), which give the dish its red-brown color.3 Served with shito, gari, boiled egg, spaghetti ("talia"), fried plantain and a tomato stew.
Shop waakye powder · $11.99 → · Waakye leaves · $5.00 → · Full waakye guide →
03Red red
Black-eyed peas in a red palm oil and tomato stew, topped with fried ripe plantain, the "second red." Often sprinkled with gari.
Dishes 4 to 8
Ghanaian Swallows
A "swallow" is a soft dough you pinch off with your fingers and dip into soup or stew. Ghana has five big ones.
04Banku & tilapia
Banku is fermented corn and cassava dough, stirred until smooth and slightly sour. The classic plate is banku with grilled tilapia, hot pepper (shito or fresh pepper) and onions, or with okra stew.
Shop Homefresh banku mix · $8.99 → · Maame Yaa quick banku · $12.99 →
05Kenkey & fried fish
Fermented corn dough wrapped and steamed: Ga kenkey in corn husks, Fante kenkey in plantain leaves.4 Eaten with fried fish, fresh pepper and shito. Fresh kenkey is perishable, so ask for it at our Chicago store.
06Fufu & light soup
Ghana's Sunday favorite: soft fufu (cassava with plantain or cocoyam) with light soup, a spicy tomato-and-pepper broth with goat, chicken or fish.
07Kokonte
"Brown fufu" made from dried cassava flour. Earthy and firm, it's best with groundnut soup or palm nut soup.
08Tuo zaafi (TZ)
Northern Ghana's corn (and sometimes rice) swallow, served with green ayoyo leaf soup or a light okra soup.
In-store only
Looking for fresh kenkey in Chicago?
Kenkey is a fresh, perishable food, so we don't ship it. Stop by Yado Market at 1651 E 87th St, Chicago and ask at the counter, and grab shito while you're there. Read What Is Kenkey? to learn how to eat it.
Dishes 9 to 14
Ghanaian Soups & Stews
Soups are thin enough to sip and are eaten with a swallow. Stews are thicker and go with rice, yam or plantain.
09Palm nut soup (abenkwan)
Rich red soup made from palm fruit, cooked with goat, smoked fish or crab. Eat it with fufu or omo tuo (rice balls). A ready palm nut cream saves hours of pounding.
Shop Ghana Fresh palm nut cream · $8.49 → · Praise palm cream · $7.99 →
10Groundnut soup (nkatenkwan)
Creamy peanut soup, usually with chicken, tomatoes and pepper. Classic with fufu, omo tuo or kokonte.
11Kontomire stew (palava sauce)
Cocoyam leaves cooked in palm oil with ground egusi ("agushi"), onions, pepper and smoked fish. Served with boiled yam, plantain or rice.
12Apapransa
A Fante dish of roasted corn flour stirred into palm nut soup with crab and fish until thick. Hard to find outside Ghana, easy with a ready mix.
13Ampesi
Boiled yam, plantain or cocoyam served with kontomire stew or garden egg stew. Simple, filling home cooking.
14Eto (oto)
Mashed yam or plantain mixed with red palm oil and onions, served with boiled eggs and avocado. Traditional for birthdays and celebrations.
Dishes 15 to 18
Ghana Street Food & Snacks
Grab-and-go favorites sold from roadside stalls across Accra and Kumasi.
15Kelewele
Ripe plantain cubes spiced with ginger, pepper and onion, then fried. Often eaten with roasted peanuts.
16Bofrot (puff puff)
Sweet fried dough balls, Ghana's version of puff puff. A breakfast and street-snack favorite.
17Gari foto & gari soakings
Gari foto is gari stirred into a tomato, onion and egg sauce. Gari soakings is gari soaked in cold water with sugar, milk and groundnuts.
Shop Ghana gari · $5.00 → · Gari soaking mix · $2.99 → · Garri guide →
18Dzowoe & atadwe
Spicy peanut balls from the Volta Region, plus tiger nuts (atadwe), chewed as a snack.
Dishes 19 & 20
Ghanaian Breakfast & Drinks
19Hausa koko & koose
Smooth, spiced millet porridge flavored with ginger and pepper, eaten with koose (fried bean fritters, like akara) or bofrot.
Shop hausa koko mix · $15.99 → · Peeled beans for koose · $9.99 →
20Sobolo
Chilled hibiscus drink brewed with ginger, cloves and pineapple peel. Same family as Nigerian zobo and Senegalese bissap.
Cheat sheet
Ghanaian Soup + Swallow Pairing Chart
| Soup or stew | Classic partner |
|---|---|
| Light soup | Fufu, omo tuo (rice balls) |
| Palm nut soup | Fufu, omo tuo, apapransa |
| Groundnut soup | Fufu, kokonte, omo tuo |
| Okra stew | Banku |
| Ayoyo soup | Tuo zaafi |
| Kontomire stew | Ampesi (yam, plantain), rice |
| Fried fish & shito | Kenkey, banku |
By region
Ghanaian Food by Region
Ghana has many ethnic groups. The Akan are the largest, at about 45% of the population,1 which is why fufu and Akan soups are so well known abroad.
Ashanti & Akan areas
Fufu with light soup or palm nut soup, ampesi, eto
Greater Accra (Ga)
Ga kenkey with fried fish, banku, shito
Central (Fante)
Fante kenkey, apapransa, fante fante fish stew
Volta (Ewe)
Banku with okra stew, akple, dzowoe
Northern Ghana
Tuo zaafi, waakye, hausa koko, koose
Ghanaian food near me
Ghanaian Food in Chicago
Craving Ghanaian food in Chicago? The most reliable way to get it is to cook it at home. Yado African & Caribbean Market on the South Side stocks the Ghana staples in this guide: banku and kokonte flour, palm nut cream, shito, waakye leaves and powder, hausa koko, gari, fresh Ghana yam and more.
- Pick up in store: 1651 E 87th St, Chicago, IL
- Local delivery in the Chicago area, or shipping anywhere in the U.S.
- Fresh kenkey: in-store only (ask at the counter)
FAQ
Ghanaian Food Questions
What is traditional Ghanaian food?
Meals built on corn, cassava, plantain, yam and rice, eaten with soups and stews made from palm fruit, groundnuts, tomatoes, peppers and fish. Fufu with light soup, banku, kenkey, waakye, jollof and red red are the best known.2
What is Ghana's national dish?
There's no official one. Most Ghanaians would name fufu with light soup or palm nut soup, with jollof rice and waakye close behind.
What food do Ghanaians eat the most?
Rice dishes like jollof and waakye, and corn-based swallows like banku and kenkey, are everyday food. Fufu is often a weekend or family meal.
What is a Ghanaian breakfast?
Hausa koko with koose or bofrot, tom brown (roasted corn porridge), tea with bread, or a plate of waakye bought from a roadside seller.
What is fufu in Ghana?
Ghanaian fufu is usually cassava pounded with plantain or cocoyam until smooth and stretchy. At home in the U.S., most people use plantain or cassava fufu flour.
Is Ghanaian food spicy?
Often, yes. Fresh pepper and shito are on most tables, but you can add them on the side and keep the soup itself mild.
What is the difference between Ghana and Nigerian jollof?
Ghana jollof often uses fragrant long-grain or jasmine rice and more spice, while Nigerian jollof usually uses parboiled long-grain rice and has a smoky "party" flavor. Both start with a tomato and pepper base.
Where can I buy Ghanaian food ingredients near me in Chicago?
At Yado African & Caribbean Market, 1651 E 87th St, Chicago. Pick up in store, get local delivery, or order online with shipping across the U.S.
Sources
Keep reading
More Ghanaian Food Guides
Cook Ghanaian Food at Home
Banku, kokonte, palm nut cream, shito, waakye leaves and more. Pick up today at 1651 E 87th St, Chicago, or get it shipped.