In January 2021, I explored Ghana for nearly two weeks. I started in the capital city, Accra, before making my way to Cape Coast and Elmina and then heading north to its cultural capital, Kumasi. From there, I spent a few days in Mole National Park and nearby Tamale before heading back to the capital. Along the way, I tried some of the best food in Ghana, including dozens of Ghanaian foods and West African favorites.
Ghanaian cuisine is so underrated. It’s hearty, filling, and extremely flavorful, and it deserves to be more popular than it is. I fell in love with the cuisine and wanted to highlight these amazing, special, and unique dishes in this video. Here are a few of the dishes I eat in this video!
Fufu, often heralded as the best food in Ghana, is a beloved staple in Ghanaian cuisine. This hearty dish contains starchy ingredients like cassava, yams, or plantains. Cooks boil and pound the ingredients together until it becomes a smooth, elastic dough ball. It’s traditionally served with rich and flavorful soups or stews, as well as meats like chicken. Fufu’s neutral flavor perfectly balances the robust flavors of any food you eat it with. It’s typically served as a ball, and you eat it by pinching it off a bit and dipping it into the soup. It’s amazing!
Waakye, another contender for the best food in Ghana, is a popular dish that consists of rice and beans. It’s cooked with dried millet leaves, which impart a unique reddish-brown hue and earthy taste. Typically served with an array of accompaniments like boiled eggs, fried plantains, spaghetti, and a choice of protein such as fish, chicken, or beef, waakye offers a satisfying and hearty experience. Its rich, savory taste, enhanced by spicy shito sauce, makes it a favorite among Ghanaians and a must-try for visitors.
Kenkey, a traditional Ghanaian dish, is among the best food in Ghana. Cooks wrap this fermented cornmeal dough in banana leaves and steam it. The result is a dense and starchy dish with a unique, slightly sour flavor that pairs well with many dishes. Typically served with fried fish, spicy pepper sauce, or shito (a flavorful Ghanaian chili sauce), kenkey is dense and starchy. Its preparation process, involving fermentation and careful steaming, contributes to its distinctive taste and nutritional value, making it a beloved staple in Ghanaian cuisine.
Another dish that some consider the best food in Ghana is jollof rice. Ghanaian jollof rice is a vibrant and flavorful one-pot meal featuring long-grain rice cooked in a rich tomato sauce. Cooks typically add a medley of spices, onions, and bell peppers, among other ingredients. It’s often paired with fried plantains, grilled chicken, or fish. It’s also a somewhat controversial dish, as Ghana and Nigeria both claim to make the best jollof rice in West Africa. If you’ve tried both varieties, which one do you prefer?
One of the highlights of my culinary journey in Ghana was etor. This delicacy features boiled and mashed plantains combined with peanuts, shito, onions, eggs, chilies, avocado, palm oil, and black pepper. I only had the chance to savor etor once, at Kejetia Market in Kumasi, but its remarkable taste made it unforgettable. They top the dish with a mouthwatering peanut sauce, which adds a rich nuttiness that balances the sweet and savory elements. The chilies and shito add a nice kick of heat. It’s easily on my list of the best food in Ghana and one of my favorites in all of Africa!
Red red, a beloved local dish and considered among the best food in Ghana, is one of the country’s many vibrant culinary delights. Made from black-eyed peas cooked in red palm oil, this dish often comes with fried plantains, grilled chicken, and gari (crunchy cassava flour). It has a rich, creamy texture and savory flavor that perfectly complements the sweet plantains. The gari adds a crunchy texture, and the meaty chicken adds a tasty dose of protein.
I hope you enjoy the video. Please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already! And let me know…have you ever had Ghanaian food? If so, what’s your favorite dish? Tell me in the comments below!
Counter
101 Countries • 1432 Cities
