Ghana | Stew

Red Red

Name: Red Red
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 65 min
Total time: 85 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Ghana, West Africa
Ingredients: 2 cups dried black-eyed peas, soaked if possible; 5 cups water, for boiling; ½ cup red palm oil; 1 large onion, sliced; 3 medium tomatoes, chopped; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated; 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper, minced; 3 large ripe plantains, sliced; salt, to taste

A Ghanaian black-eyed pea stew cooked with red palm oil and served with fried ripe plantain.

Country

Ghana

Region

West Africa

Time

85 min

Serves

Level

easy

Start cooking Explore Ghana recipes

01 / Get ready

Everything you need

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

Servings 5

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

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 5 servings

Stew

A few kitchen essentials

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

Lidded pot

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 Ghana

4 steps 20 min prep 65 min cook (check method) 85 min total easy

Cook the beans

Simmer black-eyed peas in water until tender but not collapsed. Reserve a little cooking liquid, then drain.

Cook beans 45:00

Build the stew base

Heat palm oil, then cook onion, garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet, tomatoes, and tomato paste until the sauce thickens.

Cook sauce 20:00

Stew the beans

Stir beans into the sauce with a splash of reserved cooking liquid. Simmer until glossy and well coated. Season with salt.

Simmer beans 15:00

Fry the plantain

Fry ripe plantain slices in oil until caramelized and golden. Serve beside the beans.

Fry plantain 10:00

Some cooks add fish powder, smoked fish, or shrimp powder, while vegan versions keep the stew bean-forward.

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 lunch, vegetarian plates, street-food style meals, and hearty weekday dinners.. Plan on a easy cook. Allow about 85 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Fried ripe plantain, gari, rice, avocado, or boiled egg.

Regional lane

Rice, beans, and street table. Waakye, jollof, kelewele, and lunch-counter plates with many sides.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Pantry lane

shito, palm oil, sorghum leaves, fermented corn dough, groundnut

Recipe photos

See the dish before you cook

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

Red Red recipe from Ghana — Red Red finished dish

Chef board

Build the table around Red Red

Fried ripe plantain, gari, rice, avocado, or boiled egg.

Best route from here

Rice, beans, and street table

Collections to keep cooking

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