African Recipes Without Seed Oils

These are all 36 African recipes on The Foodie Kitchen, each cooked with a traditional fat such as butter, ghee, tallow, lard, coconut or olive oil instead of seed oils. They are grouped by meal so you can jump straight to breakfasts, mains, sides or desserts.

Jump to: Dinner & Main Dishes · Sides, Soups & Breads · Desserts & Baking · Snacks, Dips & Sauces · Drinks

Dinner & Main Dishes

• Berbere Spiced Chicken in Niter Kibbeh — Ethiopian-Inspired — Ethiopian berbere-spiced chicken cooked in niter kibbeh — the spiced clarified butter that is the foundation fat of Ethiopian cuisine. A who
• Bobotie — South African Spiced Minced Beef Bake — Bobotie — South Africa's national dish. Spiced ground beef baked with an egg custard topping. Cooked in butter, seed oil free.
• Chicken Yassa — Senegalese Lemon Onion Chicken — Chicken Yassa — Senegalese caramelised onion and lemon chicken cooked in coconut oil. Seed oil free, 40 minutes.
• Doro Wat — Ethiopian Chicken Stew in Spiced Butter — Doro Wat — Ethiopia's most celebrated dish. Chicken slow-cooked in spiced niter kibbeh with berbere and hard-boiled eggs. Seed oil free.
• Egusi Soup — West African Melon Seed Stew — Egusi soup — West African ground melon seed stew with beef, smoked fish, and red palm oil. Seed oil free. Deeply satisfying.
• Ethiopian Doro Wat — Spiced Chicken Stew in Niter Kibbeh — Doro wat is Ethiopia's most celebrated national dish — chicken drumsticks and hard-boiled eggs slow-cooked in a deeply spiced berbere and ni
• Ethiopian Tibs — Ghee-Sautéed Spiced Beef — Ethiopian tibs — sliced beef sautéed in niter kibbeh or ghee with jalapeños and rosemary. Seed oil free, 15 minutes.
• Kenyan Nyama Choma — East African Roasted Meat in Tallow — Nyama choma means 'roasted meat' in Swahili — the East African tradition of slow-roasting goat or beef over charcoal and serving it with kac
• Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Olives — Moroccan chicken with preserved lemon, olives, and ras el hanout cooked in butter and olive oil. Seed oil free. One pan, 45 minutes.
• Moroccan Lamb Tagine — Slow Braised in Butter and Olive Oil — Slow-braised Moroccan lamb tagine in butter and olive oil with ras el hanout and preserved lemon. North African cooking the ancestral way.
• Moroccan Ras el Hanout Lamb Shoulder in Olive Oil — Ras el hanout is Morocco's master spice blend — a complex mixture of 20-30 spices bloomed in olive oil before lamb is added. Slow-roasted un
• Nigerian Chin Chin in Lard — West African Fried Dough — Chin chin is Nigeria's beloved fried dough snack — small, crunchy pieces of sweetened dough deep-fried in lard until golden. Made for celebr
• Nyama Choma — East African Grilled Beef in Tallow — Nyama choma — Kenya and Tanzania's iconic grilled beef, seasoned simply with salt and tallow, served with kachumbari and ugali. Seed oil fre
• Piri Piri Chicken — Mozambican Fire Chicken in Butter — Mozambican piri piri chicken — fire-grilled, butter-basted, no seed oils. The original before the bottled sauce versions arrived.
• Senegalese Thiéboudienne — Senegal's National Dish, the Mother of All Jollof — Senegal's national dish — rice and fish slow-cooked in a fermented tomato base. The mother of all West African rice dishes, made seed oil fr
• Slow Cooked Moroccan Lamb Tagine — Traditional Clay Pot Technique — Moroccan lamb tagine in a traditional clay pot — slow-cooked with butter and olive oil, ras el hanout, preserved lemon and saffron.
• South African Braai Chicken — Spiced Grilled Chicken in Tallow — South African braai chicken — peri peri and herb marinated chicken grilled over fire. Cooked in tallow, seed oil free.
• Suya Beef in Beef Tallow — West African Spiced Skewers — Suya is Nigeria's beloved street food — thin-sliced beef marinated in a peanut and spice paste called yaji, threaded on skewers and grilled
• Thieboudienne — Senegalese Rice and Fish — Thieboudienne — Senegal's national dish. Fish and vegetables slow-cooked in a tomato base then served over rice. Seed oil free.
• West African Groundnut Stew — Chicken in Peanut Sauce — West African groundnut stew — chicken braised in a rich peanut and tomato sauce with palm oil. Seed oil free comfort food.
• West African Suya Spice Beef — Grilled in Beef Tallow — The complete guide to suya spice — the peanut-based West African spice blend called yaji — and how to use it on beef, chicken, and vegetable
• What Is Niter Kibbeh — Ethiopia's Spiced Clarified Butter — Niter kibbeh is spiced clarified butter — ghee infused with onion, garlic, ginger, cardamom, fenugreek, and turmeric during the clarificatio
• Yassa Chicken — Senegalese Caramelised Onion Chicken in Butter — Senegalese yassa chicken — caramelised onion, lemon, and mustard braised low and slow in butter. One of West Africa's great dishes.

Sides, Soups & Breads

• Egusi Stew in Red Palm Oil — Nigerian Melon Seed Stew — Egusi stew is one of Nigeria's most iconic dishes — ground melon seeds fried in red palm oil with leafy greens, stockfish, and assorted meat
• Ethiopian Misir Wot — Red Lentil Stew in Niter Kibbeh — Misir wot is Ethiopia's beloved red lentil stew — cooked in niter kibbeh and berbere spice until thick, rich, and deeply flavoured. One of t
• Moroccan Harira — Tomato and Lentil Soup in Olive Oil — Harira is Morocco's traditional soup — tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, and fresh herbs in a spiced olive oil base, thickened with flour. Eaten
• Nigerian Groundnut Soup — West African Peanut Stew in Palm Oil — Groundnut soup is one of Nigeria's most beloved dishes — a rich, warming peanut-based stew cooked in red palm oil with chicken or goat, toma
• Nigerian Jollof Rice in Ghee — Authentic West African Recipe — Nigerian jollof rice cooked in ghee instead of vegetable oil — the fat the original was built on. Richer depth, better flavour, zero seed oi
• Nigerian Jollof Rice — The Full History, the Debate, and the Real Recipe — Seed oil free recipe from The Foodie Kitchen by Savannah Ryan.
• Senegalese Mafé — Peanut Stew in Red Palm Oil — Mafé is Senegal's rich peanut stew — slow-cooked lamb or beef with sweet potato, carrot, and cabbage in a red palm oil and peanut paste base
• West African Jollof Rice — Deep Flavor With Smoked Salts and Ancestral Fat — West African jollof rice cooked in ghee with smoked salts — a deeper, more complex version of the dish using the fat the original deserves.

Desserts & Baking

• Ethiopian Kitfo — Beef Tartare in Niter Kibbeh — Kitfo is Ethiopia's celebrated beef tartare — finest minced beef dressed in niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter) and mitmita (a hot chilli
• Moroccan Bastilla — Pigeon Pie in Butter and Filo — Bastilla is Morocco's extraordinary celebration pie — layers of thin warka pastry filled with slow-braised pigeon or chicken, eggs, and toas
• Moroccan Gazelle Horns — Almond Paste in Butter Pastry — Kaab el ghazal — gazelle horns — are Morocco's most elegant biscuit. Almond paste fragrant with orange blossom and cinnamon enclosed in a th

Snacks, Dips & Sauces

• Kelewele — Ghanaian Spiced Fried Plantains in Coconut Oil — Kelewele — Ghanaian fried plantains spiced with ginger, chilli, and cloves. Fried in coconut oil, seed oil free. Ready in 20 minutes.

Drinks

• Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony — Three Rounds in Clarified Butter — The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is one of the world's great coffee rituals — three rounds of decreasing strength coffee, served with popcorn a