Ghana | Rice dish

Waakye

Name: Waakye
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 95 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Ghana, West Africa
Ingredients: 1 cup dried black-eyed peas, rinsed; 2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed; 5 pieces dried sorghum or millet leaves, waakye leaves; 6 cups water, plus more if needed; 1 tsp salt; ¼ tsp baking soda

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

Level

medium

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 6

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

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 6 servings

Rice dish

Base

1 cup dried black-eyed peas, rinsed 2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed 5 pieces dried sorghum or millet leaves, waakye leaves 6 cups water, plus more if needed

Pantry

1 tsp salt

Fallback

¼ tsp baking soda (optional) [Sub: use only if waakye leaves are unavailable]

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 Ghana

4 steps 20 min prep 75 min cook (check method) 95 min total medium

Color the cooking water

Rinse the sorghum leaves and simmer them in water until the water turns reddish-brown.

Steep leaves 20:00

Cook the beans

Add black-eyed peas to the colored water and simmer until nearly tender.

Cook beans 45:00

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

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.

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 breakfast, lunch packs, street-food plates, and weekend family meals.. Plan on a medium cook. Allow 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