Ewa riro, also known as beans porridge or stewed beans, is a Nigerian delicacy from the Yoruba-speaking part of the country. It is a hearty and flavorful traditional Nigerian stewed beans recipe made in one pot. It is a favorite dinner, warming, tasty, and quite filling.
If you're trying to learn how to make Nigerian recipes or just looking for a filling and flavorful one pot beans recipe, you're in the right spot. This is truly the best-stewed beans recipe that you will ever taste. You'll love this protein filled recipe for ewa riro on stovetop. The ingredient list is simple but everything combines for an unforgettable Yoruba delicacy you can enjoy for any meal of the day.
If you enjoy ewa riro, you'll also love these classic Nigerian recipes like jollof rice or yaji seasoning. We usually serve it with Garri (cassava flakes), fresh bread, or fried ripe plantains.
My ewa riro is made with a combination of traditional Nigerian ingredients and a couple of readily available swaps to make this an approachable recipe if you live outside of Nigeria. Making ewa riro with ingredients available in the United States is absolutely possible. I can typically source this full list from my local grocery store but African food markets will carry everything you need. Depending on which beans are used, the dish will have either a slightly sweet or earthy flavor.
My essential ''must add'' to Ewa riro is crayfish or dried shrimp however, here is a little trick I learned: I discovered that adding smoked turkey or smoked fish elevates the flavor of this meal. If you are a bacon lover, you can add that as well.
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Key Ingredients for Ewa Riro
- Black-eyed peas: Though these are referred to as peas, but they are actually beans in the real sense, and we know and refer to them as beans in Nigeria.
- Onion: An essential aromatic that boosts the flavor of the beans.
- Salt: For flavor.
- Bouillon Powder: Great for boosting the flavor of the dish.
When making ewa riro, you can either use black-eyed peas or honey beans. The honey beans are quite sweet hence the name ''honey beans''. Ewa riro is traditionally made with Nigerian brown beans--aka honey beans--which aren't as readily available in the US so a relative, black-eyed peas, is often used. Nigerian honey beans are also used in dishes like moi moi and akara. Turkey imparts a bit of smokiness and crayfish a delicious umami flavor.
Texture-wise, ewa riro is dense, creamy, and rich so some people refer to it as beans porridge. If you use palm oil in beans, which I highly recommend, you'll notice additional savory and earthy layers of flavor. The same blend of tomatoes, onion, and pepper we use in rice and stew provides the flavor base and stewed texture. Simple dodo (friend plantains) is the perfect pairing for this dish. And I like to enjoy it with a small serving of vegetables or side salad but that's not required as ewa riro is a complete meal by itself with a combination of protein, fat, fiber, and carbohydrates. Not to mention the abundance of vitamins and minerals. Mashing the beans is optional and will create an even thicker texture.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Cooking Ewa Riro
Here is a detailed guide on how to prepare this delicious meal:
1. Prepare the Beans
To prepare this delicacy, it's important to start with clean Beans. Try as much as possible to pick out the debris in the Beans. Then rinse well and drain. This is so important because chewing on stones or debris while eating is not a pleasant experience at all.
2. Cook the Beans
Place a large pot on medium-low heat, add in beans. Add in 6-8 cups of water. Simmer for 1 hour or until beans is soft to the touch.
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Put the beans inside the pot together with the bell pepper, habanero, onion, and smoked turkey wings. add water and leave to come to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook until the beans become tender. about one hour. a little more or less.Remove the bell pepper, habanero, and onion Blend and add to the beans.
Pour the beans into a large pot. Add the peppers, onion, and smoked turkey wings. Cook until the Beans is very tender. This should take about 1 hour to 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. It will even cook faster if you use a pressure pot.
Feel free to use a pressure cooker if you have one, and this will shorten your cook time.
3. Stew and Season the Beans
Once the Beans are well cooked and soft, remove the peppers, onion, and turkey from the beans. Blend the peppers and add them back to the beans. Debone the turkey wing and cut it into bits and return that also to the beans. Add the salt, crayfish, seasoning powder, and palm oil. Stir well.
Remove the smoked turkey, debone, cut the meat into small pieces, and put it back inside the beans. Add the salt, seasoning powder (seasoning cube), crayfish, and palm oil. Add water if necessary and stir well until everything is well combined. Leave to simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes and serve with Plantains, Bread, or Garri.
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I have always never liked the taste of raw peppers in my beans that's the reason why I like to boil my peppers with the beans.
4. Final Touches
Remove turkey from cooked beans and add in tomato mixture, crayfish, maggi cubes, and palm oil. Stir until incorporated.
It's helpful to use two forks for this. Stir meat back into pot and continue cooking beans for another 30 minutes to one hour to achieve desired thickness and texture. Mashing the beans is optional and will create an even thicker texture. I use the back of a wooden spoon to mash a few against the side of the cooking pot.
Add strained beans into the sauce and 2/3 cup of strained beans water. Stir. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Remove 1/3 of the cooked beans from the strainer, mash until smooth. Add both mashed and unmashed beans into the sauce. Add 1-1.5 cups strained beans water. Stir. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
Tips for the Perfect Ewa Riro
What defines a great dish of beans for me is texture, the beans should be super soft without being all mushy. My number one trick to achieving this is soaking . This greatly softens the beans making it cook faster without breaking apart.
Want to use an instant pot to cook your beans? Soak the beans in lots of water. Leave to soak overnight or for up to 24hrs.
Place another pan on medium heat, add in palm oil and coconut oil if using. Add in chopped onion. Add in stew base, ginger, crayfish, maggi and salt.
Serving Suggestions
Simple dodo (friend plantains) is the perfect pairing for this dish. And I like to enjoy it with a small serving of vegetables or side salad but that's not required as ewa riro is a complete meal by itself with a combination of protein, fat, fiber, and carbohydrates. Not to mention the abundance of vitamins and minerals.
Besides its tastiness, most Nigerians are creative beans eaters. I can confidently say; some people eat it with rice (which I love BTW), some with bread, yam, and some also would add avocado (which I adore).
Table: Nutritional Information (per serving)
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | 678 kcal |
Can I freeze cooked beans? Yes. This recipe calls for two pounds of smoked turkey but the amount or presence of meat is optional if you want to make this a vegetarian meal. If you enjoy Soul Food versions of stewed black-eyed peas, I highly encourage you to try this predecessor recipe! And sharing is caring so be sure to pin my Nigerian bean recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups Honey beans/ Nigerian brown beans/ Black eyed peas
- ¼ cup palm oil
- 4 Roma tomatoes
- 4 scotch bonnet peppers
- 1 Large red onion
- 1 Large bell pepper
- 5 tbsp Ground dried shrimp (aka cray fish) optional
- 3 tsp Shrimp bullion can be substituted with vegetable bullion if vegan
- Salt to taste
Instructions:
- Rinse the beans and place in a deep pot with 7 cups of water.
- Boil the beans on medium heat until it becomes soft, it could take about 40 mins. If you are using black eyed peas, it might take a little longer.
- While the beans are boiling, blend the tomatoes, peppers, and onions and set aside
- Once the beans are softened from boiling (do not drain the water), turn the heat down to low, the pour in the blended tomatoes into pot.
- Allow the beans to cook for an additional 10 minutes with the tomatoes, then add in the crayfish, bullion and palm oil. Stir, and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Season the beans with salt to your taste. Turn off the heat, and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- The beans tend to thicken once they cool.
I really like the taste of porridge beans especially when it is made with ripe plantain, I only learned recently to fry the plantain instead of the old way of adding them to the cooking beans.
This bean recipe could be made with just about six to eight simple Nigerian food ingredients, sounds simple right?
Here are the ingredients for preparing beans porridge recipe, you can increase/decrease the quantity of each one of them depending on the number of persons you are looking to serve and of course their stomach capacity.
Nigerian beans porridge can turn out differently depending on the method you employ. You will get the exact image that I have below if you follow the steps I have outlined or you can follow the video below if you have a fast internet connection.
Pick the beans, precook for 3 minutes. Wash and set aside in a bowl.
Fry the ground tomato/pepper in a frying pan: Set a frying pan on the heat, allow [our in the palm oil, allow to heat for 3 minutes then pour in the ground tomato/peppers.
There are plenty of ways to cook Nigerian beans porridge, but what I will show you today will blow your mind! This one-pot beans porridge recipe will save you time â hands down the easiest and foolproof way to cook and enjoy this delicacy. No more trying to cook stew till thy Kingdom comes. Then you start to cook the beans, and afterward, you cook both together! Hereâs how we roll.
First, beans are a fantastic way to fill up on fiber; and they are easily affordable so you cannot beat that. Secondly, beans are made up of high-quality protein, and they are also vegetables as well. What? Well, YES!
As you know, there are different kinds of beans such as black beans, black-eyed peas, navy beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, brown beans, etc., plus additional ones I have not mentioned. In other words, there is much variety of this food so choose your type.
Weight loss: If you are eager to lose weight, then beans is your buddy. Secondly, beans are said to promote good heart health.
Noteworthy: It is also important to realize that beans have had its share of drawbacks; from certain beans causing bloating and flatulence to some people among other things. It is essential to read beyond food labels and ensure that your beans product is fully cooked and prepared correctly.
There is this misconception that beans take forever to cook. Though there is some truth to that, I am here today to help you enjoy this delicacy like a pro.
This West African beans recipe was perfect with white rice. I have had it plenty of times with Garri. Annnnnnd, my current obsession is to serve this stewed beans with avocado. So good! Love the creaminess of beans and avocado.
2 lbs. of black-eyed peas or two 16 oz. Precook beans in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Then add 5 cups of water.
For the longest time, I thought of comfort food as familiar and mostly unhealthy food that makes us feel good. I have recently adjusted my idea of what comfort food should be⦠you just need to feel good eating it. Whether you get comfort from the cold bland crunch of an iceberg lettuce salad, or the juicy and greasy bite of a perfectly deep fried chicken, comfort food can be anything for anyone.
For me this Nigerian beans porridge is the definition of complete comfort, especially on a cold fall evening.This beans porridge holds a dear place in my heart because once upon a time, I used to hate beans. In my home growing up, we ate beans Tuesday afternoon with our choice of garri (cassava flakes), bread or ogi (a local fermented corn starch porridge, similar in texture to custard). As I got a little older, I fell in love with our Tuesday afternoon beans especially when my mom will make it spicy. It was always perfect on its own, but because my mom turned our back-house to a bread bakery, the aroma of fresh baked bread would beckon me and I could not resist supping up the delicious beans with the warm bread that had only been out of the oven a couple of minutes.
There are three main varieties of beans that my mom uses to make this dish: â honey beans (aka oloyin beans or ewa oloyin), black eyed peas, and Nigerian brown beans. The best beans to use in this recipe are the honey beans because they have a unique and slightly sweet flavor that really elevate your dish, but either of the other beans would do just fine. The Nigerian brown beans look almost identical to the honey beans, so be sure to ask specifically for honey beans if you decide to pick it up at an African market.
If you do not have access to Nigerian brown beans or honey beans, black eyed peas are fine, they just take a little longer to cook and might not be as rich in flavor. Think of the difference in flavor like the difference between grocery store bought tomatoes and vine ripened tomatoes grown at the back of your house⦠Hopefully this flavor difference this gets you to explore an African store near you.
This recipe can be made vegan, but I wanted to share the original recipe as is made in my home to bring you into my comfort. The only non-vegan ingredients are crayfish and shrimp bullion, and they can be omitted without too much of a flavor difference.
This recipe goes perfectly with my Agege bread by the way if you want to share my childhood experiences with me.
How To Fry Plantain | 1 Minute Tips | Shay Ola
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