Nigerian Food Names
We coin Nigerian food names based on the basic ingredient for making them and sometimes; it can be based on the recipe proceedings also. Like Porridge yam or fried eggs.
Other foods like egusi soup, tomato stew, and okra soup got their names from the basic ingredients which are egusi, tomato, and okra respectively.
In this article, I will list some of the most popular Nigerian food names and pictures, and would also include a link at the bottom of this page for their recipes.
1. Jollof Rice
Jollof rice tops the food chart in Nigeria. Several recipes exist among different Nigerian ethnic groups, and this also doubles as the national food of Nigeria. Every family makes and eats this food.
2. Egusi Soup and Fufu
Egusi soup is a popular food name in Nigeria, as you can see above, it is often paired with swallows.
This is a popular food combination in Nigeria and this is one of the most popular soups among Nigerians.
You can pair this soup with fufu, eba, or pounded yam.
Some other Nigerian soup names include – afang soup, Ogbono soup, Okra soup, ewedu soup, edikaikong soup, and numerous others.
3. Rice and tomato stew
This is a popular food item in Nigeria, we call it rice and stew, and it is either served as dinner, lunch or even breakfast.
4. Porridge Yam
Porridge yam is a popular Nigerian food name, this is one way to eat yam in Nigeria. There are several yam recipes, but this is unarguably the most common among Nigerians
5. Fried Rice
Fried rice is reserved for popular events and special family times. The next time you attend a Nigerian wedding or party, be sure to look out for this food.
6. Yamarita
This is one other way to enjoy yam. Boiled yam is immersed into a mixture of flour, egg, pepper, spices and then deep-fried. Yamarita is indigenous to a particular Nigerian ethnic group – The Hausas, Hence, it is not one of the popular Nigerian food names.
7. Rice and Beans
Rice and beans are combined in this recipe for that extra deliciousness. We call it rice and beans jollof, and it is very delicious.
8. Yam Chips and Sauce
First, I chop the yam to finger size using a sharp kitchen knife and chopping board, sprinkle some salt and deep-fry. I served yam chips and tomato sauce.
9. Tea and Bread
This is actually a combination of fried eggs, bread, and a cup of tea, this is a common breakfast idea among Nigerians.
10. Porridge beans
I pair porridge beans with fried or cooked ripe plantain and serve as a course meal in Nigeria.
11. Moi Moi (Beans Pudding)
Moi moi or beans pudding is one of the popular Nigerian food names. Usually, it is paired with pap, rice or served as snack as shown in the picture above
12. Spaghetti Jollof
The kids in Nigeria love pastas and noodles. Nigerians consume tonnes of this daily, and this is exactly how I prepare my spaghetti.
13. Akara and Akamu
This is another popular breakfast combination in Nigeria. Akara (beans cake) is made from beans and paired with pap or custard.
14. Ewa Agoyin
This is indigenous to the Yorubas. Ewa and bread are common food name in Southern Nigeria when combined the way it appears in this picture.
15. Puff Puff
The common name for this road-side snack is puff puff. From the looks, you can tell it is made from wheat flour and deep-fried in vegetable oil.
16. Suya
Basically, beef is sliced into flat and tiny fillets then garnished with some spices and grilled. We make suya out of different kinds of meats – beef, chicken and turkey.
17. Eba and Soup
A combination of eba and any Nigerian soup can serve as dinner or lunch in Nigeria. Eba is one of the popular Nigerian food names and can be paired with any soup. In this case, it is eba and nsala soup.
If you want to learn how to make these foods, I have a detailed article with recipes for Popular Nigerian foods.
Comments ( 7 )
I am Efik, most of the foods mentioned here are popular across Nigerian space. Among my ethnicity, there are things we eat that you will never find in other places. But thanks for the article though.
I have made and tasted every one of the foods which pictures are shown above. I am chef from Nigeria and just learning how to prepare foods from other ethnic group beside Igbo, my native ethnic group. There are hundreds of foods in this country Nigeria, these are just the popular ones.
There is this food I ate in Ghana but don’t know the name, they said it originated from Nigeria. It is like porridge beans, but it’s combined with corn and served as a course meal.
Thanks to these bloggers that are making Nigeria proud globally. Nigerian foods are currently being received overseas because bloggers like you chose to market them internationally. There is likely no country you will visit without finding a Nigerian restaurant with assorted cuisines.
These are just about 5%of the foods from Nigeria. We have more than 500 different foods recipes that are named differently by the numerous ethnic group sin Nigeria. In the north for instance, we have tuwo shikafa/miyan geda combination, that like eba and okra soup in the east… many more.
These are basically Yoruba and Igbo foods there is no mention of Hausa local foods and we have a lot like masa and yaji, we have many soups like miyan zogale, miyan taushe, miyan kuka and a lot more. Hausa have many good foods although they are not well advertised. thanks.
Wow! These are lovely looking foods. There are lots and lots of foods in Nigeria and I think this are just about 10%. Can you help me with the local names for Nigerian foods? I am just learning to speak Yoruba and don’t know Yoruba names for foods.