VEGAN NIGERIAN RED STEW - Plant-Based Passport (2024)

Our Vegan Nigerian Red Stew needs to be in your rotation, stat! This fiery, flavor-packed stew is not only addictive, it’s incredibly easy to make.

Our hometown of Houston is actually home to the largest Nigerian expat population in the U.S. There are many Nigerian restaurants throughout the city. And because West African food is a backbone of some of our favorite cuisines (Creole and Caribbean), it was destined we’d become OBSESSED with Nigerian food.

Red stew is not traditionally vegan or vegetarian. So it was a welcome surprise that a number of Nigerian restaurants in Houston served a vegan version of the dish. One taste, and we were HOOKED. We knew we had to learn how to make the dish at home.

If you love this recipe, make sure to check out our Air Fried Sweet Plantains or our Easy Vegan Shakshuka.

🇳🇬 WHAT IS RED STEW?

Red stew is a rich, fiery pepper-and-tomato-based stew. Every Nigerian household has its own recipe for this comforting staple dish. Red stew is typically served with white rice, plantains and/or yams.

Traditionally, red stew contains meat or seafood and is made with a meat-based stock and/or bouillon. Some recipes use crayfish (shrimp) powder as a seasoning. Red stew is also eaten as a dipping sauce. We’ve enjoyed it this way at Nigerian restaurants with fufu, which is a starchy dough-like delicacy made of pounded cassava and green plantain.

We veganized red stew by using water and vegetable bouillon and adding chickpeas for protein.

Our recipe is adapted from traditional recipes by Onyi Udeh of Tasty and Lois of Yummy Medley. Do check out their authentic (non-vegan) preparations.

We love to make red stew and do so often, because it’s ridiculously simple to cook and is composed of pantry staples.

❤️ WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE

• Spicy
• Bold
• Tangy
• Aromatic

📝 INGREDIENTS

• Red bell peppers, tomatoes and red onion: Make up the base of the stew and provide its characteristic bright red hue
• Neutral oil: To cook our stew
• Scotch bonnets (or habanero peppers): Add wonderful flavor and heat
• Garlic and rosemary: Fragrant aromatic elements
• Yellow curry powder (preferably Nigerian): Seasons our stew with an earthy, complex flavor
• Sweet paprika: Seasons our stew with mild sweetness and provides red color
• Tomato paste: Reinforces the tomato flavor of the tomato in the stew base and adds volume and thickness
• Water and vegetable bouillon: Used in place of the traditional meat-based stock and bouillon cubes to add umami and depth of flavor
• Salt and pepper: Season our stew
• Bay leaves: Infuses stew with floral, herby notes

🎥 RECIPE VIDEO

🔪 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

***Check out our recipe video below!***

• 1. In a food processor or blender, purée the tomatoes, bell peppers, half the sliced red onion, Scotch bonnet pepper, garlic, tomato paste, salt, black pepper and water.

• 2. Sauté remaining onion over medium-high heat until golden brown.

• 3. Add rosemary, paprika and curry powder and cook until fragrant.

• 4. Add the blended tomato-and-pepper mixture, bouillon, chickpeas and the bay leaf, bringing to a boil, covering,then reducing to a simmer for 20 minutes.

• 5. Remove bay leaves, garnish with green onions, and serve with white rice and fried plantains.

💡 RECIPE TIPS

1. Adjust your level of heat: If you’re sensitive to heat, remove the pith of your hot pepper, which is where the heat-producing compound called capsaicin is most concentrated. But if you are crazy for spice, feel free to add an extra Scotch bonnet or two. We do this when we’re feeling frisky!
2. Substitute habanero: Scotch bonnets can be trickier to find. Your best bet is to shop at an Afro-Caribbean or international grocery store. But habanero peppers make solid stand-ins.
3. Vegetable bouillon options: You can use paste or cubed vegetable bouillon. Our favorite brands are Better Than Bouillon and Edward & Sons. If you are using vegetable bouillon in cube form, substitute in 1 cube.

👩‍🍳 DID YOU MAKE OUR VEGAN NIGERIAN RED STEW?

Did you make this recipe? We’d love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. Share your dish with us on Instagram and tag us @plantbased.passport. We would love to seeing your delicious creations! Still hungry? Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest for more global vegan recipes and travel tips!🍴✈️

💕 MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE:

👩🏽‍🍳 RECIPE

MORE IDEAS

LATEST RECIPES