Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone Pepper Soup
Pepper Soup
A fiery Sierra Leonean broth of fish or meat, ginger, chilli and fragrant spices.
western-africa
Sierra Leone
Explore 81 foods connected to Sierra Leone, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
81 foods12 leading categories1 Essentials guides
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The local shortlist
Sierra Leone Essentials
10 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from Sierra Leone.
81 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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Sierra Leone
Sierra Leonean Jollof Rice
Jollof Rice
Sierra Leonean one-pot rice cooked in a tomato, pepper and onion base with meat or fish.
South (Cotonou / Porto-Novo / Fon-Yoruba), Benin
Sodabi
Distilled palm wine alcohol; 40-60% ethanol; a traditional spirit from Allada in southern Benin; the strong drink of celebrations and ceremonies; also called koutoukou.
Niger
Suya
Thin strips of beef threaded on sticks, coated in yaji — a groundnut, chilli and spice rub — and grilled over open coals, then dusted with more yaji.
The Gambia
Tapalapa
Dense brown bread of millet, maize and wheat flour baked in wood-fired ovens into long, heavy loaves.
South (Cotonou / Porto-Novo / Fon-Yoruba), Togo
Tchakpalo
A fermented maize, sorghum, or millet beer; slightly sweet; a southern Benin specialty; lighter than tchoukoutou; served fresh in calabashes.
Togo
Togolese Banana Fritters
Klako
Togolese banana fritters: ripe bananas mashed with a little flour and sugar, shaped into small patties and deep-fried until caramelised and golden; a favourite sweet snack.
Sierra Leone
Tola Soup
A rainforest spice soup from Sierra Leone made with tola, a wild forest seed that gives the soup a slippery, okra-like texture; cooked with fish or meat and served with rice, fufu, or plantain.
Sierra Leone
Yebeh
A hearty traditional Mende stew of cassava, yam, sweet potato, onion, ginger, tomato paste, peanut butter, turmeric, and chilli; can be vegan or enriched with chicken, and is a warming one-pot dish from Sierra Leone's south.