Waakye Rice and Beans

Rice and beans are a staple of many countries and a go-to dish in times like these, requiring only a few staples (and cheap!) pantry items.

Waakye Rice & Beans is an incredibly popular breakfast. The best one you’ll ever eat can only be found in the streets of Ghana and each seller has its secret recipe – so no matter how much you try you’ll never be able to perfectly mimic it at home! Far more than just rice and beans, the dish here gets a ton of flavorful toppings, usually boiled spaghetti (Talia); cassava flakes (gari), shito (a hot sauce); boiled eggs; fried fish/meat; and my favorite, fried plantains.

The only ingredient unlikely to be in anyone’s kitchen is the dried red sorghum leaves, often called waakye leaves. They are boiled with rice and are what give it its characteristic reddish color on top of considerable nutritional benefits. You can find them at African markets or online.

Waakye Origin

Rumor has it that this meal originated from northern Ghana. However, it’s not clear which specific ethnic group is responsible for pioneering this national treasure.

This simple, nutritious meal can be found on sale all over the country, in restaurants, as street food in the marketplaces, and also made at home.

What Will You Need to Make This Dish?

• Beans: We usually use raw black eye peas. These are the indigenous bean variety in West Africa and are sold in a lot of grocery stores.
• Sorghum Stalk: The stalk of the red sorghum variety that grows in Northern Ghana is full of antioxidants. When beans and rice are cooked in this, you get a very beautiful bowl of red rice and beans. Sorghum stalks are found in Ghanaian grocery stores but it is not required. As mentioned above, traditionally, waakye is not made with sorghum stems; however, if you can, please do use the sorghum stalks. It adds a lot of nutrients,
• Baking Soda/Salt Petre (Potassium Nitrate): Baking soda or Salt Petre is essential in this recipe. It makes the beans cook faster and softer. It also darkens the rice.

How to Make Waakye

I came across a research paper (click here) from Ghanaian researchers on the variations of cooking time with the sorghum stem and saltpetre/potash to get the highest among of flavonoids (a group of antioxidants).

From what they wrote, the optimal cooking method is to soak the leaves with saltpetre for 12 hours then cook the beans in this solution before adding the rice. Unfortunately, since sorghum stems are a precious commodity at home we cannot afford to soak the stems that long because we save them to use for multiple batches of waakye.

Making Waakye With Sorghum Stems

1. The first step is to soak the beans overnight. Soaking overnight shortens the cooking time but it also starts the breakdown process for the phytonutrients that make beans hard to digest
2. The next day, the beans are washed and cooked with sorghum stems and baking soda. Once the beans are halfway cooked, add in more water, the rice, and salt to taste
3. Cover and cook till done

Making Waakye With Baking Soda

1. Soak the beans overnight.
2. The next day, wash well and boil in a lot of water and double the baking soda used with sorghum stems
3. When the beans are partly cooked, add in the rice, more baking soda, and salt to taste, and cook till the rice is tender.

How To Serve Waakye Rice and Beans

There are many ways of eating this typical Ghanaian dish, which can consist of spicy fried plantain, kelewele, smoked, and dried cowhide.

Also, with shitor (hot pepper sauce), spaghetti-like pasta called Talia, moist garri (also called attieke, typically made of cassava), boiled eggs, and fried fish or fried chicken.

Storage

You can store Waakye Rice and Beans in the fridge for about a week; however, I divide the amount in half and freeze it in portions; just so that I can have it available should the Waakye Rice and Beans craving hit.