Nigeria | Stew

Efo Riro

Name: Efo Riro
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Nigeria, West Africa
Ingredients: 600 g spinach or amaranth greens, washed, chopped, and squeezed dry; 3 large red bell peppers, chopped; 2 whole scotch bonnet peppers; 1 medium onion, half blended, half sliced; ¾ cup palm oil; 2 tbsp iru or locust beans; 2 tbsp ground crayfish; 500 g cooked assorted meat, beef, tripe, or goat; 200 g smoked fish, deboned; salt, to taste

A Yoruba spinach and pepper stew cooked with palm oil, locust beans, crayfish, and assorted meats or fish.

Country

Nigeria

Region

West Africa

Time

60 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 servings

Stew

A few kitchen essentials

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

Lidded pot

Blender

Knife & board

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 25 min prep 35 min cook (check method) 60 min total medium

Blend and reduce the peppers

Blend bell peppers, scotch bonnet, and half the onion into a coarse pepper base. Simmer until some water cooks off.

Kitchen noteA reduced base keeps the soup rich instead of watery.

Reduce peppers 10:00

Fry the aromatics

Heat palm oil gently, add sliced onion and iru, then fry until fragrant. Stir in the pepper base and crayfish.

Fry base 15:00

Add the proteins

Add cooked meat and smoked fish. Simmer so the pepper sauce coats the proteins and the oil rises slightly.

Simmer 10:00

Fold in the greens

Add squeezed greens in batches, stirring until just wilted and coated. Taste and season with salt.

Kitchen noteDo not cook the greens to mush. Efo Riro should still have body.

Wilt greens 05:00

Amaranth, efo shoko, efo tete, or spinach may be used depending on market access. Protein mixes vary widely.

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 family meals, swallow plates, and rice bowls.. Plan on a medium cook. Allow about 60 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Amala, eba, pounded yam, fufu, boiled rice, or plantain.

Regional lane

South-West and Yoruba table. Amala, ewedu, gbegiri, pepper stews, leafy soups, beans, and market foods from the Yoruba cooking orbit.

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 illustrations

See the dish before you cook

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

Efo riro leafy vegetable stew with meat pieces; recipe illustration — Efo Riro finished dish · Recipe illustration

Chef board

Build the table around Efo Riro

Amala, eba, pounded yam, fufu, boiled rice, or plantain.

Best route from here

South-West and Yoruba table

Collections to keep cooking

Nigerian Regional Table

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