Nigerian Jollof Rice
Serves 5 Difficulty 2/5 Ingredients 18 Steps 10
Nigerian jollof rice is a dish of rice cooked with peppers, onions, and tomatoes, which gives the rice a red-orange color. With several layers of spices, vegetables, and flavors, Nigerian jollof rice is delicious, especially when served hot and garnished with fried beef or chicken.
Ingredients
- 5 large fresh tomatoes
- 4 large bell peppers
- 4 large scotch bonnet chile peppers
- 2 large onions
- 5–10 pieces beef or chicken
- 300 ml groundnut oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 150 g tomato purée
- 2–4 stock cubes
- 4 bay leaves
- ½ tsp curry powder
- ⅓ tsp thyme
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Ground crayfish
- 500 g raw rice
- Salt to taste
Steps
- Blend tomatoes, peppers and the 2 large onions. Set aside.
- Boil, then deep-fry meat. Set aside.
- Put 2-liter pot on heat. Dry out residual water. Add groundnut oil and heat.
- Add diced onion and tomato purée. Stir constantly 3–5 min. Add blended pepper mixture.
- Add about 200 ml reserved meat stock, stock cubes, bay leaves, curry powder, thyme, cinnamon, ginger, garlic and crayfish. Stir about 10 min.
- Add about 1.2 liters water. Boil.
- Wash rice 3–4 times until water is clear. Drain in sieve.
- When pot boils, add rice and salt. Mix with wooden spatula so rice does not rest in one spot. Add a little water if needed. Stir constantly to minimize sticking.
- At desired rice texture, reduce heat. Let residual water absorb.
- Serve garnished with fried beef/chicken.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Nigerian Jollof Rice” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-19, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. JOLLOF RICE.JPG by Ask4ugo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.