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Thali

🇬🇭 The food of Ghana

25 dishes from Ghana, best known first, across 2 cities and regions.

Ghanaian cooking is shaped by local crops, with starchy staples like cassava, maize, and yam paired with lively soups or stews built on tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Meals often combine these bases with a variety of proteins, and the cuisine stands out for its use of fermented doughs, bold spices, and a wide range of traditional and adapted dishes.

  • Most soups and stews are red or orange from tomatoes and peppers.
  • Kenkey and banku use fermented corn dough and are wrapped in leaves.
  • Waakye combines rice, beans, and sorghum for a reddish color.
  • Palm oil is essential in many traditional stews.
  • Breakfast often features sweet or savory porridges.

The cooking of Ghana

Ghanaian cuisine brings together native crops and influences from trade and colonization, creating a food culture centered on starches such as cassava, maize, yam, and plantain. These are typically served with richly flavored soups or stews, which rely on tomatoes, hot peppers, and onions for their base. Proteins range from fish and seafood to beef, goat, and pulses, often smoked or dried for extra flavor. Fermentation is common, especially in doughs for dishes like kenkey and banku. Spices such as ginger, garlic, and local herbs add complexity. Cooking oils like palm and peanut oil are essential, and certain dishes require specific oils for authenticity.

Staple foods in Ghana

Main staples vary by region: cassava and plantain are common in the south, while millet and sorghum are central in the north. Yam, maize, and beans are eaten throughout the country. Rice and wheat, once less common, now appear in dishes like jollof rice and bread. Cassava is used in many forms, from fufu to garri. Beans feature in stews and fritters, and plantains are fried, boiled, or mashed.

Breakfast in Ghana 1 dish

Breakfast often includes tea or cocoa drinks, fruit, and bread. Ghanaian breads come in several types, such as tea bread and sugar bread. Porridges made from maize, millet, or rice are popular, sometimes paired with fritters like koose or maasa. In the north, Hausa koko, a sweet millet porridge, is common, often eaten with bread or groundnuts.

Sweets and drinks in Ghana

Sweet foods are varied but less prominent due to lengthy preparation. Fried plantains (kelewele), bean fritters (koose), and peanut confections are popular. Drinks include asaana, a fermented maize beverage, and palm wine, which can be distilled into akpeteshie, a local spirit. Gari soakings, a mix of cassava granules, sugar, peanuts, and milk, is a modern sweet snack.

From region to region in Ghana

Southern Ghana leans on cassava and plantain, with dishes like fufu and kenkey, while the north features millet, sorghum, and maize in staples such as tuozaafi. Regional variations also appear in the types of soups and stews, with different greens and proteins used. Ewe, Ga, and Akan communities have their own specialties, like akple, banku, and Fante kenkey, reflecting local crops and preferences.

Where this page comes from

The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Ghanaian cuisine", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Thali rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

Cities and regions of Ghana

Accra 1Elmina 1
MealBreakfastLunchTea timeDinnerSupperSnacks
KindMain dishStreet foodSoupStew or curryRice dishNoodle or pasta dishDumplingBreadGrill or roastSandwich or wrapPie or savoury pastrySalad or sideCheese or dairy foodSausage or cured foodSauce, pickle or fermentSweet or dessertDrink
DietVegetarianVeganFish and seafoodMeat
Kpekpele 🇬🇭 GhanaSteamed and fermented cornmeal eaten with palm nut soup and smoked fish Main dish Peanut stew 🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreA rich West African stew of meat and vegetables in a spiced peanut sauce Stew or curry, Lunch, Dinner FufuVegan 🇬🇭 Ghana and 4 moreA soft, starchy dough made by pounding cassava, plantain or cocoyam, eaten with soups Main dish, Lunch, Dinner Jollof rice 🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreWest African rice simmered in tomato, chili and spices, often served with meat or fish Main dish, Lunch, Dinner AkaraVeganàkàrà 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreWest African bean fritters, deep-fried and eaten hot as street food or breakfast Street food, Breakfast, Snacks Peanut soup 🇬🇭 Ghana and 5 moreA rich, spicy soup made from peanuts, common in West African cooking Soup, Lunch, Dinner Palm nut soup 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 4 moreA rich, red soup made from palm fruit, meat, fish and spices Soup, Lunch, Dinner KokonteVegan 🇬🇭 Ghana and 2 moreA Ghanaian staple made from dried cassava flour, served with soups Main dish, Lunch, Dinner KenkeyVegan 🇬🇭 Ghana and 3 moreFermented maize dough dumpling, steamed and served with spicy sides Main dish, Lunch, Dinner EgusiẸ̀gúṣí 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreGround melon seeds used to thicken and flavor West African soups and stews Main dish, Lunch, Dinner Okra soup 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreSoup made with okra pods, found in West Africa, Asia, and the Americas Soup, Lunch, Dinner Tuwon shinkafaVegan 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 2 moreSoft, sticky rice dough served with soups in northern Nigeria and Niger Main dish, Lunch, Dinner Palaver sauce 🇬🇭 Ghana and 3 moreWest African stew of leafy greens, meat or fish, and palm oil Stew or curry, Lunch, Dinner AgidiVegan 🇳🇬 Nigeria and 4 moreA smooth, jelly-like pudding made from corn flour and water Main dish, Lunch, Dinner

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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