Nigeria | Soup

Banga Soup

Name: Banga Soup
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Nigeria, West Africa
Ingredients: 800 g palm nut concentrate; 700 g beef, goat, or fresh fish; 150 g dried fish, rinsed; 2 tbsp ground crayfish; 1 tbsp banga spice blend; 2 whole scotch bonnet peppers, blended; 2 tbsp scent leaf or bitterleaf, sliced; 5 cups water or stock; salt, to taste

Nigerian palm nut soup with meat or fish, banga spices, dried fish, crayfish, chile, and fresh herbs.

Country

Nigeria

Region

West Africa

Time

105 min

Serves

Level

medium

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01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 6 bowls

Soup

Palm base

800 g palm nut concentrate [Sub: fresh palm fruit extract]

Protein

700 g beef, goat, or fresh fish 150 g dried fish, rinsed

Seasoning

2 tbsp ground crayfish 1 tbsp banga spice blend

Heat

2 whole scotch bonnet peppers, blended

Herbs

2 tbsp scent leaf or bitterleaf, sliced

Liquid

5 cups water or stock

Pantry

salt, to taste

A few kitchen essentials

Suggested from the recipe method. Use equivalent equipment you have.

Lidded pot

Wooden spoon

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Nigeria

4 steps 30 min prep 75 min cook (check method) 105 min total medium

Cook protein

Cook meat or fish with salt until tender, keeping the stock.

protein stock 40:00

Add palm base

Stir palm nut concentrate into stock with water and simmer until it loosens and starts to thicken.

palm simmer 20:00

Season deeply

Add dried fish, crayfish, banga spice, pepper, and salt. Simmer until the soup is glossy.

season soup 20:00

Finish with herbs

Add scent leaf or bitterleaf and simmer briefly before serving.

herb finish 05:00

Delta-style banga often uses banga spice blends and starch, while Igbo ofe akwu leans toward rice and a slightly different herb profile.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas

Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for starch, eba, fufu, rice, and weekend family meals.. Plan on a medium cook. Allow about 105 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Starch, eba, pounded yam, white rice, or fufu.

Regional lane

South-South and Delta table. Riverine soups, palm nut richness, seafood, afang, edikang ikong, and deeply seasoned broths.

Chef watch-outs

Adding too much liquid after the rice goes in.
Stirring too often once the grains should be steaming.
Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.

How you know it is ready

The grains should be tender but still distinct, with steam carrying the seasoning upward.
The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
Greens should be cooked through but still look alive and glossy.

Pantry lane

palm oil, crayfish, iru or ogiri, scotch bonnet, melon seed

Recipe photos

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

Banga Soup recipe from Nigeria — Banga Soup finished dish

Chef board

Build the table around Banga Soup

Starch, eba, pounded yam, white rice, or fufu.

Best route from here

South-South and Delta table

Collections to keep cooking

Nigerian Regional Table

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