Ghana Food Guide 2026
Ghanaian cuisine is bold, flavourful, and deeply connected to culture. From the world-famous jollof rice debate to humble street-side kelewele, food is at the heart of every Ghanaian experience. Here is everything you need to know about eating in Ghana.
Must-Try Traditional Dishes
1. Jollof Rice
Ghana's most famous dish and the subject of the great West African jollof debate (Ghana vs Nigeria). Ghanaian jollof is cooked with tomato paste, onions, and spices, often with a smoky flavour from the pot bottom (the coveted "burnt jollof"). Served with chicken, beef, or fish and a side of shito (hot pepper sauce) and salad.
2. Fufu with Light Soup or Groundnut Soup
The quintessential Ghanaian meal. Fufu is pounded cassava and plantain (or cocoyam) formed into a smooth, stretchy ball. It is swallowed -- not chewed -- with spoonfuls of soup. Light soup (tomato-based with meat or fish) and groundnut (peanut) soup are the most popular pairings. Eaten with the right hand.
3. Banku with Tilapia and Pepper
Fermented corn and cassava dough cooked into a smooth, slightly sour ball. Served with grilled tilapia (whole fish), fresh pepper sauce, and fried shallots. This combination is one of Ghana's great culinary experiences, especially when enjoyed at a chop bar near the coast.
4. Waakye
Rice and beans cooked together with millet stalks (which give the distinctive reddish-brown colour). Served with a range of accompaniments: shito, spaghetti, boiled egg, gari (cassava flakes), meat or fish, and salad. Waakye is the ultimate Ghanaian breakfast, sold from roadside stalls wrapped in leaves. Auntie Muni's in Labone, Accra, is legendary.
5. Kenkey with Fried Fish
Fermented corn dough wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves and steamed. It has a distinctive sour taste and dense texture. Served with fried fish and a raw pepper-onion-tomato sauce. Ga kenkey (from Accra) and Fante kenkey (from Cape Coast) are the two main varieties.
6. Red-Red (Bean Stew)
A comforting stew of black-eyed beans cooked in palm oil with onions, tomatoes, and peppers. Served with fried plantain (kelewele or plain). The "red-red" name comes from the red palm oil in the beans and the ripe red plantain. Popular as a weekday lunch.
7. Ampesi
Boiled yam, plantain, or cocoyam served with a kontomire (cocoyam leaf) stew or garden egg stew. A simple, wholesome meal that is a staple in many Ghanaian homes. The garden egg (African aubergine) stew is particularly delicious.
8. Tuo Zaafi (TZ)
The signature dish of northern Ghana. Made from millet or corn flour cooked into a thick porridge, served with ayoyo (jute leaf) soup or green leafy soup with dawadawa (fermented locust beans). Rich in flavour and deeply traditional.
Street Food & Snacks
Kelewele
Spiced fried plantain cubes. Ripe plantain is diced and seasoned with ginger, chilli, and spices before deep frying. Sold everywhere as an evening snack, often with roasted groundnuts (peanuts). Arguably Ghana's best street food.
Bofrot (Puff-Puff)
Sweet, deep-fried dough balls similar to doughnuts. A popular breakfast or snack, sold at roadsides in brown paper bags. Light, fluffy, and addictive.
Roasted Plantain (Kofi Brokeman)
Charcoal-grilled plantain served with roasted groundnuts or avocado. Named "kofi brokeman" because it is cheap and filling -- the working man's lunch.
Khebab (Suya)
Spiced grilled meat skewers sold at roadsides, especially in the evening. Beef, goat, and chicken are the most common. The spice mix (suya spice) includes groundnut powder, chilli, and ginger. Popular in the north and in Accra's Nima neighbourhood.
Hausa Koko with Koose
A spiced millet porridge from northern Ghana, served with koose (black-eyed bean fritters). The classic Ghanaian breakfast pairing, available from street vendors early every morning.
Meat Pie & Spring Rolls
Savoury pastries filled with seasoned minced meat. Available at bakeries and street stalls. Not traditional but hugely popular as a quick snack.
Drinks
Sobolo (Hibiscus Drink)
A refreshing drink made from dried hibiscus flowers, ginger, cloves, and sugar. Served chilled, it is deep red and slightly tart. Available everywhere from street vendors to restaurants. The ultimate Ghanaian thirst quencher.
Fresh Coconut Water
Sold by vendors who chop open green coconuts with a machete. Cheap, refreshing, and available along roads and beaches throughout the country.
Palm Wine
Naturally fermented sap tapped from palm trees. Sweet when fresh, it becomes increasingly alcoholic as it ferments. A traditional drink, especially in the Volta and Eastern Regions. Best consumed the day it is tapped.
Pito
A traditional millet beer from northern Ghana. Fermented and slightly sour, it is served in calabash gourds. An authentic cultural experience -- seek it out in Tamale or Bolgatanga.
Local Beers
Star Beer (Ghana's flagship lager), Club Beer, and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout are the most popular. Ghana's Guinness is stronger and more bitter than the Irish version. Castle Milk Stout and ABC Lager are also widely available.
Condiments & Sauces
Shito (Black Pepper Sauce)
Ghana's national condiment. A dark, oily, intensely flavourful sauce made from dried fish, shrimp, chillies, ginger, and oil. Goes with everything -- jollof, waakye, kenkey, rice, bread. Every Ghanaian household has a jar. Buy a bottle to take home.
Gari
Dried, grated cassava that can be sprinkled on food or soaked in water with sugar and groundnuts as a quick snack (gari soakings). A staple accompaniment to many meals.
Dawadawa
Fermented African locust beans used as a seasoning in northern Ghanaian cooking. Strong aroma, deep umami flavour. Essential in TZ and many soups.