1
Color the cooking water
Rinse the sorghum leaves and simmer them in water until the water turns reddish-brown.
Steep leaves
20:00
Ghana | Rice dish
Waakye
A Ghanaian rice and beans dish cooked with dried sorghum or millet leaves for its signature reddish-brown color.
Country
Ghana
Region
West Africa
Time
95 min
Serves
6
Level
medium
Recipe overview
What to know before you cook
Waakye is one of Ghana's great rice-and-beans dishes, sold from street carts and cooked at home. The signature color comes from sorghum or millet leaves, with baking soda sometimes used as a substitute when leaves are unavailable.
What the dish tastes like
A Ghanaian rice and beans dish cooked with dried sorghum or millet leaves for its signature reddish-brown color.
When to cook it
Best for Best for breakfast, lunch packs, street-food plates, and weekend family meals., with a medium cooking level and about 95 minutes total.
What to serve alongside it
Shito, tomato stew, gari, spaghetti, boiled egg, fried plantain, salad, fish, beef, or chicken.
Regional lane
Rice, beans, and street table. Waakye, jollof, kelewele, and lunch-counter plates with many sides.
Chef watch-outs
- Adding too much liquid after the rice goes in.
- Stirring too often once the grains should be steaming.
- Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
How you know it is ready
- The grains should be tender but still distinct, with steam carrying the seasoning upward.
- 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
Each recipe supports one main image and up to four extra prep, serving, or step photos when they are available.
Chef board
Build the table around Waakye
Shito, tomato stew, gari, spaghetti, boiled egg, fried plantain, salad, fish, beef, or chicken.
Best route from here
Rice, beans, and street table
Collections to keep cooking
How to cook it
Step-by-step method
Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.
4 steps
95 min total
medium
2
Cook the beans
Add black-eyed peas to the colored water and simmer until nearly tender.
Cook beans
45:00
3
Add rice
Remove the leaves, stir in rice and salt, cover tightly, and cook on low until the rice is tender and the beans are cooked through.
Cook rice
25:00
4
Rest and serve
Let the pot rest covered, then fluff gently and serve with shito, stew, eggs, plantain, or protein.
Rest
10:00
Some cooks use red beans rather than black-eyed peas. Accompaniments vary from simple shito and egg to fully loaded street plates.