Red-red
Ghanaian black-eyed bean stew cooked in red palm oil with tomato and ginger, served with fried ripe plantain.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 20 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 1 hr 35 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- Medium heat
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Red-red is black-eyed beans stewed in a palm-oil and tomato sauce, named for the two reds: the oil and the tomato. Onion is fried in palm oil until soft, then blended tomato, ginger, garlic and scotch bonnet go in and cook down until the oil separates. The cooked beans are added and simmered until the sauce clings. It is served with fried ripe plantain and, in many homes, flaked smoked fish or gari sprinkled over. This version is vegan unless you add the fish. The beans are cooked from dried, which gives a better texture than tinned, though tinned will do on a weeknight.
What you'll need
13 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Stew
- Plantain
Ingredients
Stew
- Black-eyed beans, dried, rinsed400 g
- Red palm oil80 ml
- Onion, finely chopped1 large
- Tomato, blended, fresh or tinned400 g
- Tomato purée30 ml
- Ginger, grated20 g
- Garlic, crushed3 clove
- Scotch bonnet, blended with the tomato1
- Salt7.4 ml
- Water1.2 l
- Mackerel, smoked, skinned and flaked (optional)100 g
Plantain
- Plantain, ripe, sliced on the diagonal 1 cm thick3
- Neutral oil, for frying300 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Boil the beans in the water until tender, 45 to 60 minutes, topping up if needed. Drain, keeping a cup of the cooking liquid.
55 min
Step 2
Warm the palm oil in a wide pan over medium heat until liquid. Fry the onion until soft, 6 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic for a minute.
8 min
Watch: Keep palm oil below smoking. It goes bitter and dark if pushed.
Step 3
Add the tomato purée and fry 2 minutes, then the blended tomato and scotch bonnet. Cook, stirring, until thick and the oil shows red at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes.
15 min
Tip: The sauce is done when it no longer tastes of raw tomato and has darkened a shade.
Step 4
Add the beans, salt and a splash of the bean liquid. Simmer 10 minutes so the beans take on the sauce. Fold in the smoked fish if using. The stew should be thick, not soupy.
12 min
Step 5
Heat 2 cm of oil in a frying pan to 175 °C and fry the plantain slices in batches until golden with dark edges, 3 minutes a side. Drain and salt lightly.
12 min175°C
Step 6
Serve the beans with the plantain alongside and a spoon of gari over the top if you have it.
2 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 912 kcal
- Protein
- 30.3 g
- Carbs
- 124.1 g
- Fat
- 37.4 g
- Saturated fat
- 11.4 g
- Fibre
- 17.2 g
- Sugar
- 36.3 g
- Sodium
- 1485 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- No major allergens flagged in the structured ingredients.
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Palm oil → Vegetable oil with a teaspoon of paprika
You lose the earthy flavour and most of the red. It is still a good bean stew.
Tips
- Two tins of black-eyed beans, drained, cut the cooking to 20 minutes. Simmer them in the sauce a little longer so they soften into it.
- Palm oil stains plastic and cloth permanently. Use a metal spoon and an apron.
History & culture
Red-red is lunch in Ghanaian chop bars and canteens, and a cheap, filling dinner at home. The plantain is not a garnish; the plate is half beans, half plantain. Street vendors sell it with gari for texture. It is one of the few Ghanaian mains that is naturally vegetarian, which has made it popular abroad.
Cowpeas and palm oil are both ancient West African foods, cultivated and pressed in the forest zone for millennia. Tomatoes and chilli came through Portuguese and Atlantic trade from the sixteenth century. The combination is old Akan and Ga cooking; the English name is from colonial-era Accra.
Traditional — Written vegan. Smoked mackerel or herring flaked in at the end is common and listed as optional; it changes the allergens.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Red-red take?
1 hr 35 min all in — 15 min prep, 1 hr 20 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
Medium heat.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
6 more questionsFewer questions
What equipment do I need?
Saucepan, Blender, Frying pan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1½ tsp.
What can I use instead?
Palm oil → Vegetable oil with a teaspoon of paprika. You lose the earthy flavour and most of the red. It is still a good bean stew.
What should I watch for?
Keep palm oil below smoking. It goes bitter and dark if pushed.
Any tips from this recipe?
Two tins of black-eyed beans, drained, cut the cooking to 20 minutes. Simmer them in the sauce a little longer so they soften into it. Palm oil stains plastic and cloth permanently. Use a metal spoon and an apron.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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