Ghana
Abunuabunu
Green soup of cocoyam or amaranth leaves blended and cooked with palm oil, pepper and fish into a thick, dark broth.
western-africa
Ghana
Explore 67 foods connected to Ghana, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
67 foods12 leading categories1 Essentials guides
Start with Abunuabunu →
The local shortlist
Ghana Essentials
12 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
Open the guide →
The full directory
Traditional foods from Ghana.
67 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
Filters
Ghana
Agbeli Kaklo
Ewe cassava fritters made from grated cassava, onion and pepper, fried into rough golden cakes.
Ghana
Akara
Àkàrà
Peeled black-eyed beans ground with onion and pepper, whipped until airy and deep-fried in balls, eaten hot for breakfast with pap or bread.
Accra, Ghana
Akotonshi
Crab shells filled with crabmeat cooked with onion, tomato, pepper and spice, then baked or grilled.
Ghana
Akpeteshie
Sodabi
Palm wine or sugarcane juice distilled locally into a rough, strong clear spirit.
Ghana
Akple
Ewe staple of corn dough and cassava dough cooked together, softer and lighter than banku.
Côte d'Ivoire
Alligator Pepper
A pungent West African spice sold as whole scaly pods and seeds, used sparingly to perfume Liberian soups, stews, rice, and ceremonial food.
Togo
Alloco
Ripe plantain cut into thick slices and fried in red palm oil until the sugars catch, served with raw onion and a chilli sauce.
Ghana
Ampesi
Yam, plantain or cocoyam boiled plain and served with a palm-oil or garden egg stew and greens.
Ghana
Asaana
Fermented corn drink darkened and sweetened with caramelised sugar, served cold with ice.
Côte d'Ivoire
Attiéké
Cassava peeled, grated, fermented for a day with a starter of older mash, pressed dry, sieved into granules and steamed into a light couscous.
Togo
Banku
Fermented corn and cassava dough cooked and beaten over heat into a smooth, stretchy, sour ball.
Ghana
Beninese Gari
Gari
Roasted fermented cassava granules; consumed dry, with water, or as paste (piron); a versatile cassava product; the instant food of Benin; eaten with sauce or as a snack.
Ghana
Boama
A Ghanaian snack of smoked or fried fish, often served with plantain or as a savory treat.
Ghana
Bofrot
Botokoin
Sweetened yeast dough dropped by the spoonful into hot oil and fried into round, chewy balls.
Cameroon
Chichinga
Brochettes
Beef or chicken threaded on skewers, rubbed in a spiced groundnut and chilli powder and grilled over coals.
Nigeria
Chin Chin
Sweet dough cut into small cubes or strips and deep-fried hard, flavoured with nutmeg and sold in bags by weight.
Ghana
Dawadawa
Dawa Dawa
African locust bean seeds fermented, pounded and pressed into dark cakes with a powerful savoury smell.
Nigeria
Egusi Soup
Egusi
Ground melon seeds cooked in palm oil with pepper, leafy greens and assorted meat or fish until the seed sets into soft lumps in the oil.
Ghana
Eto
Mashed yam or plantain mixed with palm oil, onion and egg in an Ashanti celebratory preparation.
Ghana
Fante Fante
A Ghanaian coastal fish preparation of fresh fish simmered with tomato, onion, pepper and palm oil.
Ghana
Fetri Detsi
Ewe okra soup cooked slippery with palm oil, smoked fish and crab, eaten with akple.
Liberia
Fufu
Akpu
Cassava soaked for days until it ferments, then pounded or wrapped and steamed into a soft, sour white swallow.
Angola
Funge
Cassava flour beaten into boiling water with a wooden stick until it forms a smooth, elastic grey paste, torn off by hand and used to carry stew.
Sao Tome and Principe
Funge
Funje
Smooth, creamy starch made from cassava or plantain flour; the staple accompaniment to calulu and other Santomean stews; similar to funge in Angola and other West African porridges; boiled and stirred until thick and smooth; serves as the carbohydrate base of most meals; the comfort food of Sao Tome.
Ghana
Garden Egg Stew
Small white and green African aubergines boiled, mashed and cooked with palm oil, onion, pepper and smoked fish.
Ghana
Gari Foto
Cassava granules soaked and stir-fried with egg, onion, tomato and pepper into a moist, savoury dish.
Ghana
Ghanaian Jollof
Jollof
Long-grain aromatic rice cooked in a reduced tomato, onion, ginger and scotch bonnet stock until the grains take the colour of the sauce.
Ghana
Ghanaian Meat Pie
Meat pie
Shortcrust pastry parcel filled with minced beef, onion and pepper, baked and sold from glass cases at lorry stations.
Ghana
Grilled Tilapia
Tilapia
Whole tilapia scored, rubbed with ginger, garlic and pepper and grilled over charcoal, served with banku and hot pepper sauce.
Ghana
Groundnut Soup
Nkatenkwan
Peanut paste cooked out with tomato, onion, ginger and chilli into a thick soup with chicken, goat or dried fish.
Ghana
Hausa Koko
Fermented millet porridge spiced with ginger, chilli, cloves and pepper, drunk hot from a bowl at breakfast.
The Gambia
Hibiscus Juice
Bissap
Dried hibiscus calyces steeped with sugar, mint and sometimes orange-blossom water into a deep red drink served ice-cold.
Ghana
Ice Kenkey
Kenkey blended with water, milk, sugar and sometimes nutmeg and served ice-cold as a thick, sour drink.
Ghana
Kaklo
Ripe plantain mashed with flour and pepper and fried into small balls, crisper and rounder than tatale.
Ghana
Kelewele
Ripe plantain cubed and tossed with ginger, chilli, aniseed and salt, then deep-fried until the sugars caramelise.