African Black Beans Stew – tasty and comforting bean stew flavored with garlic, ginger, onions, and intensified with crayfish for ultimate comfort food. 
Few dishes satisfy like beans cooked African style- flavored with garlic, ginger, onions, and intensified with crayfish for ultimate comfort food. Beans are all-time favorite comfort food in my family. It doesn’t matter how it is prepared; fried with onions and salt, stewed with tomatoes, or slowly cooked with smoked meat. It never fails to hit the spot!
Beans are a staple food all throughout Africa because they are versatile, packed with protein, fiber, and are loaded with flavor. It’s very common to find street vendors selling beans at the exit of most schools in Cameroon in the morning with puff-puff. You can also find them outside of the food markets in many cities and at most main plazas every day of the week. It is considered a breakfast or main meal depending on how it is prepared. 
The beans are cooked to their ideal consistency—a bit firm on the outside, meaty on the inside. They are sautéed in palm oil or canola oil with onions, tomatoes, meat(optional), and salt.
You can enjoy this meal with a starchy food like bread, yams, and plantains (fried or boil)- my childhood fave
Watch How To Make It
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Black Beans Stew
Ingredients
- 4 -14.5 ounce canned beans or 1 pound dried beans
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup palm oil or Canola oil
- 1 medium Onions
- 2 Tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon bouillon powder optional
- ½ pound Smoked Turkey/chicken
- 1 tablespoon ginger
- ½ tablespoon garlic
- 2 - 3 cups stock/ water
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- salt and pepper as needed
Instructions
- Rinse dry black beans and pick through and discard any foreign object.( I did not have to do this because I used the package beans,). Add black beans to a large pot covering with 3-4 inches of cold water.
- Cover and let sit overnight or 6 to 8 hours
- Drain the soaked beans, rinse, and place the beans in a Dutch oven or pressure cooker. Follow instructions for cooking beans in your pressure cooker. It takes roughly between 8 to 12 minutes to cook. If not using a pressure cook, cook the beans for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until tender.
- Drain the cooked beans and set aside.
- if using canned beans you should start from here.
- Heat oil (palm and canola) in large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Sauté the onions in the oil for 3-4 minutes, stirring often and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Add tomatoes, ginger, garlic, paprika, Maggie (bouillon) and cook stirring for about 60 seconds,
- Through in the Smoked meat, Cray fish and let it simmer, for about 15 minutes, add water/ stock if needed to prevent burns. Continue to cook the sauce, stirring occasionally
- Finally add the beans and the remaining stock/water and bring to a boil and then let it simmer for all the flavors to come together about 15 minutes.
- Adjust for seasonings and serve.
Nutrition Information:
AJ says
Stunning! I’m crazy about beans, be it carribean, Brazilian or indian. I’m new to African beans though, but after having cooked these I feel like they might just be the best! The addition of ginger just takes the flavour profile to the next level. I’m vegan so made without the crayfish or meat, but added 1 table spoon of smoked paprika and 1 table spoon of cayenne for some heat, and o’boy, was it a happy week having delicious leftover beans for lunch 😀 Thanks for the recipe!
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Aj!
It’s fantastic to hear that you enjoyed the African beans recipe and found a new favorite in your bean exploration! Your vegan adaptation with smoked paprika and cayenne sounds absolutely delicious and a great way to add depth and heat to the dish. The addition of ginger really does elevate the flavors, doesn’t it?
It’s always a joy to discover new culinary delights, especially when they align with your dietary preferences. I’m glad the recipe provided you with a week of tasty lunches. Keep experimenting and enjoying the diverse world of beans! Thanks for sharing your experience, and happy cooking!
Christina Marie says
I lived next to a Haitian family and they made unbelievable smelling food, I’m aGringa from South Florida, and just made this! Spectacular
Imma says
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it:)
rags says
Really excited to make this recipe, but ran into several issues. …
. tomatoes – should they be peeled? should they be added whole, roughly chopped, finely minced?
. ginger / garlic – should these be fresh or granulated? if fresh, should they be grated, minced, chopped?
. crayfish – if using, what is the quality?
ImmaculateBites says
I’m glad to hear you’re excited to try the African Black Stew recipe! I apologize for any confusion the recipe may have caused. Let me clarify your questions:
Tomatoes: The tomatoes should ideally be roughly chopped. Peeling is optional and depends on your preference. Some people like to keep the skin on for added texture, while others prefer it without.
Ginger/Garlic: Fresh is usually best for both ginger and garlic to get the most flavor. If using fresh, they should be minced or grated for better incorporation into the stew. However, if you only have granulated or powdered forms, you can use those as well; just be aware that the flavor might be a bit less vibrant.
If you’re using crayfish, it should be in dried, ground form. I used about 1/3-1/2 cup. This is a common ingredient in many West African recipes and adds a unique, seafood-like depth to the dish. Make sure it’s good quality, which usually means it should have a clean, fresh smell and not be overly salty or fishy.
I hope this helps clear up your questions. Enjoy making your beans stew , and I’d love to hear how it turns out! ✨
Sara cooke says
I made this for my husband’s family as a side to go with a beef stew. It was incredible. Everyone was very impressed with his Moroccan wife’s cooking! Thank you thank you
Imma says
You are more than welcome. And if there’s a recipe you’d love to see, please let me know. Thanks:)
Monique says
So excited to try this! Do you have an Instant Pot version?
Imma says
Thanks so much. The recipe includes instructions for a pressure cooker, so you can do the same process in an instant pot. And if you don’t have time to soak the beans, it will only take a few minutes longer to cook. Let me know how it goes.
Mo says
Do you have a recipe for the smoked turkey?
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Mo! Here is my recipe for Smoked Turkey. Enjoy! 🙂
john doe says
Dang, was my comment deleted? :[ that’s sad. This is false nutritional information.
John Doe says
This is not a hate comment, I love your recipes. They are tasty and I enjoy them from time to time. I’ve actually shared your website with a few people I know.
I just wanted to ask, how you did your nutritional calculations?
I know that this is an approximation when you are calculating nutritional values, however, just 1/2 cup of canola oil is about 960calories with 109g of fat. If you divide that by 5 that is 192 calories and 21.8g of fat per serving. The nutritional value for palm oil is not much off.
The serving size for a portion of black beans (1/2 cup) is approximately 114calories.
I am looking to cut weight and that means I have to find recipes that have a low fat percentage. I had to double check your calculations to ensure that the macros were correct but, at least for this recipe they are really off. A lot of your other healthy African recipes are also very high in just fat calories as well.
Kathryn Wonders says
This is a wonderful recipe and I have been meaning to leave a review for a while now. I found this on Pinterest when I had made a pot of black beans on a whim and needed a recipe to use them in. Wow! Such a great blend of flavors. I have made it several times now and although I have never tried adding the crawfish, mainly because they are hard to find, I have used different types of smoked meat. It always turns out amazing. Thanks so much, I love your website! Tonight, I am trying your ground beef curry. 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
YES! Thanks for the feedback.Enjoy!
Brian says
Can you sub Shrimp for Crayfish? I’m in Atlanta and shrimp is usually much cheaper and easier to find. Thanks!!!
ImmaculateBites says
Do you want to sub with dry shrimp ?
Oluwatoyin says
Can I use any kind of canned beans?Or it must be black canned beans…
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Oluwatoyin! This recipe will work well with other kinds of canned beans (not the white baked beans though 🙂 ). Happy cooking !
Ashley says
Hello,
Do you blend your tomatoes in a blender first?
imma africanbites says
Hi. No, I didn’t. But you may lightly pulse it for a few seconds.
Ashley says
Thank you.
4loaded says
Thanks i really learn alot from this site ..
Krissy says
You have saved my life lol!! I am an American girl who just moved to Nigeria from NYC and cooking African dishes is not something I’m used to and I was feeling quite intimidated before coming across your blog. I have made several of your recipes and I loved them(and so did my guy!). Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
ImmaculateBites says
HIGH FIVE!!! Thanks for letting me know Krissy! Happy Cooking!!!!
Lollly says
Hi,
How much crayfish did you use? Thanks
ImmaculateBites says
1/4 -1/2 cup ground crayfish.
Chiniqua says
Hi, Imma…
Where can I find crayfish? And, does it come ground?
ImmaculateBites says
Hello! At African Markets and some international markets , depending on location. Also check online African markets