Best Nigerian Foods To Try As A Foreigner Visiting The Country
Let me show you some of the best Nigerian foods to try as a foreigner visiting the country. Trust me, you will definitely enjoy these meals. They are the most recommended for non Nigerians.
Let’s get right into it.
Nigeria’s diversity is the foundation of the country’s uniqueness. With over 200 ethnic groups, the country has a rich culture that is seen in a multitude of feasts, dressing, and foods.
Make no mistake about it, Nigerian food is life. 🤣🤣🤣
Believe me, Nigeria has some of the most savory meals you can find and our unique selling point is the spiciness of those delicacies.
Also Read:
The Nigerian Cuisine
The Nigerian diet comes highly recommended if you’re going for proper nutrition. It contains less fried foods and sweets but it majors around:
- Staples such as rice, cassava, plantain, and yam.
- Soups that are rich in herbs, vegetables, and seeds.
- Spices, which are recipe clinchers.
- Proteins; our soups drown chunks of meat and fish which we call ‘obstacles’.
If you ever visit Nigeria and you want a recommendation on the best dishes to try, here we go:
1. Jollof Rice
This is the most popular Nigerian food. Although it is cooked by other African countries, Nigeria stands as the GOAT in this Jollof rice business.
The rice is cooked or baked with tomatoes, pepper, groundnut oil, and spices.
The meal can be eaten with side dishes like salad, dodo, moin moin and any protein of your choosing.
2. Moin Moin
It is a type of bean pudding made from black-eyed beans pureed with peppers, onions, and crayfish.
The dish is completed with eggs, prawns, corned beef, or fish.
It can be eaten alone or with rice, bread, pap, or custard.
3. Egusi Soup
The major ingredient is the ground melon seed, which is condimented with oil, crayfish, and vegetables.
It is eaten with pounded yam but can be eaten with eba or fufu.
If you ever visit Nigeria without having a taste of Egusi soup, walk up to the immigration office and demand a full refund of your money. 😂😂😂
4. Pepper Soup
Now, this food is first popular for its medicinal properties because of the spices it contains; but it is also a favourite in local bars.
It is a piquant soup made with herbs and beef, goat meat, assorted meats, catfish, or chicken.
5. Ogbonno Soup
The soup is a broth of meat, fish, and additional flavorings like crayfish and locust bean, and thickened with wild mango seeds which gives it a slimy consistency.
It is eaten with pounded yam or fufu.
See Photos of Ogbono Soup and how it is prepared in Nigeria
6. Yam Porridge
It is also called ‘Asaro’ by the Yorubas.
The dish centres around yam cooked in a tasty paste. Some people add potatoes to give a sweet undertone to the zest supplied by crayfish, prawns, and seasoning cubes.
See Photos of Yam Porridge and how it is prepared in Nigeria
7. Banga Soup
The soup from the Niger Delta was once listed among the tastiest soups in the world.
The main ingredient is the palm fruit extract, which is broiled with meat, and other proteins as periwinkle, catfish, fresh prawns, and beef and spiced up with beletete leaves and oburunbebe stick (licorice).
8. Afang Soup
The natives of Calabar and Akwa Ibom have a great way of cooking water leaves and okazi leaves with herbs to create the beauty that is the Afang soup.
Rich in fibres and crawling with proteins, you want to try this meal.
9. Ewa Agoyin
This meal is popular among the Yorubas.
It consists of beans boiled to extreme softness, and a complementary sauce.
You will be blown away by the extreme spiciness of the sauce.
10. Edikaikong Soup
Oh! Such a gastronomic miracle.
The soup is native to the Efik people.
It is created from a generous amount of Pumpkin and water leaves, oil, and a lot of ‘obstacles’
This meal is perfect with pounded yam and fufu.
11. Pounded Yam
Let me talk about this delight for a minute. Yam is boiled and pounded until it becomes a soft and sticky dough. It is eaten with any of the Nigerian soups.
12. Efo Riro
The soup is special from the Western region of the country. It is made from spinach leaves of ego and brought together by oil, peppers and locust bean.
Other delights are Akara, dodo, groundnut soup, oha soup, okra soup, boli, African salad, suya, ofada rice and stew, and many more.
These are the best Nigerian meals to try as a foreigner visiting the country.
I hope my recommendations bring you some fascinating experiences.
When you do try them, send us a review.
