Ghanaian Red Red
Creamy black-eyed peas, red palm oil and tomato make a deeply colored Ghanaian stew built for sweet fried plantain.
About this dish
Red red is a Ghanaian bean stew most often made with black-eyed peas or cowpeas, tomato, onion, chile and red palm oil. Its name is commonly linked to the reddish stew and the ripe fried plantain served beside it. The beans should be creamy but still recognizable, with oil visibly seasoning rather than flooding the sauce.
Why this dish matters
Red red is everyday food in Ghana and a strong example of the importance of cowpeas and palm oil in West African cooking. Street-food and home versions vary in smoked fish, chile and bean texture. This plant-forward version keeps the defining bean-tomato-palm-oil structure and serves plantain alongside.
Some Ghanaian versions include smoked fish or additional seasonings. This meatless version preserves the core bean and palm-oil character.
Preparation notes
It contributes both flavor and the characteristic orange-red color.
Undercooked cowpeas make the stew feel chalky.
Yellow skins with dark spots give the sweet contrast expected beside the stew.
Ingredients & detailed method
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked black-eyed peas
- 1/3 cup red palm oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Scotch bonnet, left whole or minced to taste
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup bean cooking liquid
- 2 ripe plantains
- Neutral oil for frying plantain
Method
- 1.Heat palm oil over medium and cook half the onion until softened and lightly browned.
- 2.Add ginger, tomato paste and chopped tomatoes; cook 10–12 minutes until the tomatoes collapse and oil begins to show around the edges.
- 3.Add chile, beans and bean liquid. Simmer 15–20 minutes.
- 4.Checkpoint: sauce should cling to beans and look glossy, not watery.
- 5.Taste for salt and chile, then keep warm.
- 6.Slice ripe plantains and fry in shallow neutral oil until caramelized brown on both sides.
- 7.Serve red red with fried plantain and remaining fresh onion if desired.
Worth finding before you cook
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links below are affiliate links; if you buy through them, Fringe Table may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
These links are included only for ingredients that can be meaningfully harder to find in a standard supermarket.