Nigerian foods are delicious and enjoyable. It is much better when you get to know the ingredients required and preparation method; actually, it is rear for a young girl to lack cooking skills in a Nigerian home and if you’ll like to have a happy home, seeking for more ideas to improve in your cooking will be the right choice.
I will give you the list of common Nigerian foods and soups, but you have to keep checking for updates on this site for their ingredients and methods of preparation. Now let’s get started….
Nigerian Soups are very delicious and essential for healthy living. They can be served with eba (garri), amala, agidi, semo, tuwo shinkafa, pounded yam or fufu.
Edikang Ikong soup
The Nigerian Edikang Ikong soup or simply Vegetable soup is native to the Efiks, people from Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria. It is a general notion that the Edikang Ikong soup is very nutritious and this is very much so. Prepared with a generous quantity of pumpkin leaves and water leaves, this Nigerian soup recipe is nourishing in every sense of the word.
Bitterleaf soup( Ofe Onugbu)
Bitterleaf soup – Ofe onugbu (as the Igbos like to call it) is very delicious.
This soup is popular because it could be made in more than five different ways and can also be refrigerated for a very long time (even though I recommend two weeks at most for most Nigerian soups).
Gbegiri soup
Gbegiri soup (the yellow one in the image) takes a bit of getting used, for those who are not used to eating soup cooked with beans. The combination of the Gbegiri soup, Ewedu soup and the stew will surely tease and challenge your tastebuds!
Okra soup
Okra soup is one of the quickest and easiest Nigerian soups to prepare. This soup is known as Miyan Kubewa in Hausa.
Some argue that a lot of work goes to the cutting of the two vegetables used in preparing this recipe. Yes but once the vegetables are ready; it cooks in no time at all.
Ogbono soup
Ogbono soup or draw soup is a popular Nigerian soup recipe made with Ogbono Seeds (wild African bush mango seeds). This is one of the first soups given to kids when trying to introduce them to Nigerian soups.
Pepper soup
The Nigerian Pepper soup is a popular Nigerian soup recipe. It is such a versatile recipe as it can be prepared with different types of meat and fish. Thus there is the Chicken Pepper Soup, the Catfish Pepper Soup (popularly known as Point & Kill), the Goat Meat Pepper Soup, the Cow Foot Pepper Soup and the Assorted Beef Pepper Soup.
Oha Soup
Oha soup is native to the South Eastern Nigeria. It is a very traditional soup similar to the bitterleaf soup but cooked with Oha leaves. Oha Soup is special because the tender oha leaves used in preparing this soup recipe are seasonal unlike their bitterleaf counterpart which can be found all year round.
Ewedu soup
Ewedu soup is a delicious soup indigenous to the people of Yoruba. It is cooked with ewedu leaves (corchorus olitorius).
Egusi soup is also a popular Nigerian soup common to all tribes; this is usually made with melon seeds to cook ordinarily or combine with leaves like ugu or bitter leaves depending on choice.
Banga soup
The Nigerian Banga soup or Ofe Akwu is native to the Niger Delta and the South Eastern parts of Nigeria. In the Niger Delta areas, Banga soup is commonly eaten with various fufu recipes: Starch, Pounded Yam, Semolina, Garri and Cassava Fufu.
Afang soup
The Nigerian Afang soup, like the Edikang Ikong soup, is native to the Efiks, people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria but enjoyed by all Nigerians. It is also very nutritious as the soup consists mainly of vegetables. Afang soup is prepared with a generous quantity of Water leaves and the wild herbal Okazi leaves.
Ofe nsala
Ofe Nsala (Nsala soup) is a delicious soup, popular in the eastern part of Nigeria. It is also known as ”white soup” because of its light color , due to the absence of palm oil.
The authentic Nsala soup recipe calls for fresh whole Cat Fish, which gives this soup its unique taste. But in the absence of whole catfish, catfish fillets or conger eel can be used.
Efo riro
Efo riro is a rich vegetable soup that is native to the Yoruba people of Western Nigeria. The vegetables that can be used to cook this soup are water leaves and pumpkin leaves.
Tomato Stew
This is a stew used to serving and preparing the Nigerian Jollof Rice recipes: Jollof Rice, Coconut Rice, Rice & Beans, etc. This tomato stew also forms the base for the Nigerian Beef & Chicken Stew.
Fried rice
Fried rice is one of the most widely eaten Nigerian foods; it is accepted by almost every Nigerian both at home and in Diaspora.
Moi moi
Moi Moi (also Moin Moin) is a great dish accessory in Nigeria. It is commonly seen accompanying Jollof Rice, Fried Rice, Fried Plantain, Custard, Akamu (Pap, Ogi) etc. It can even be eaten alone as a snack with a soft drink to wash it down.
Jollof rice
This is the most popular Nigerian rice recipe. This is why you will always see it in parties.
Ewa Agoyi
Ewa Agoyi simply means plain boiled beans eaten with pepper sauce. It is a very delicious delicacy common among Yoruba.
Spaghetti
The delicious spaghetti/macaroni dish is a very popular Nigerian cuisine eaten in every part of the country.
Akara(bean cake)
Akara, also known as Bean Cakes, Bean Balls, Bean Fritas or Acarajé in Portuguese is a Nigerian breakfast recipe made with beans.
To make Akara, you need to first of all remove the beans coat. You should remove the coat from the beans just before you make the Akara. This means that you can’t use coatless beans that have been stored in the fridge or freezer to make Akara.
Eba
This is a staple food eaten in West Africa, particularly in the Southern parts of Nigeria made from cassava (manioc) flour, known in West Africa as garri.
Yam porridge
The Yam Porridge can also be referred to as yam soup. It is mainly yam cooked with ingredients and the resulting dish contains some soupy liquid.
Fufu
Fufu is eaten with the various Nigerian soup recipes. Fufu is derived by mashing starchy foods or mixing the processed starchy foods in hot water. Fufu is a generic name for food you swallow during the eating process. Fufu recipes are generally tastless on their own so they rely on the richness of the soups to make the meal delicious.
Suya, is a spicy shish kebablike skewered meat which is a popular food item in various parts of Nigeria and is enjoyed as a delicacy in West Africa. (where it is called agashe). Suya is generally made with skewered beef, ram, or chicken.
It is traditionally prepared by the Hausa people of northern Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, and some parts of Sudan (where it is called agashe). Suya is generally made with skewered beef, ram, or chicken. Innards such as kidney, liver and tripe are also used.
I’m always looking for opportunities to add new cuisines and recipes to my list and I was curious about the sort of recipes other countries have to offer. I was very intrigued about the section of your article that highlights the different kinds of Nigerian soups especially the Pepper Soup. I love having a versatile and very flexible recipe that I can show to my friends and the Pepper Soup seems perfect for that kind of meal. I’ll look for any Nigerian restaurants I can sample these recipes at first before I try my own attempt at making them, but I’ll be sure to remember your recommendations. Thank you so much!
Alright, you’re most welcome. I’m glad you find this useful.
I would like to learn how to cook all complete Nigeria soups.