Red Red (African Stewed Black-Eyed Peas)
This hearty, no-fuss red red recipe is an African-style black-eyed pea stew. Rustic yet flavorful and simple with tomatoes, it’s enjoyed widely throughout Ghana and the rest of West Africa.
Here, in the United States, black-eyed peas are best known in the South as a good luck and prosperity meal. In Africa, it is an everyday, year-round meal, used in all forms, ground, dried, and fresh. They’re a good source of protein and, may I add, very affordable.
Lately, there has been more interest in them, and many home cooks and chefs are transforming these nutritious legumes into exquisite meals. Don’t quote me on this, but rumor has it that the red palm oil and tomato sauce are why we call it red red.f
These beans always make everything better for me, especially after a rough week. I happily eat them for breakfast with puff puff (one of my all-time comfort breakfasts) or serve them with fried plantains for lunch. When I’m on a health kick, I grill or roast the plantains. Their mild taste, smooth texture, and slightly smoky flavor complement their meaty flavor. And they really do have a nice bite compared to other beans.
Are They Peas or Beans?
For those who get upset when we call these little guys beans, let’s set the record straight. Black-eyed peas are, in fact, beans. True peas, though still part of the legume family, are a different genus.
That means, if you can’t find them where you are, you can make this recipe with black, red, white, or any other type of bean you have on hand. Just don’t forget to adjust the cooking time.
How to Make African Stewed Black-Eyed Peas
- Soak the black-eyed peas for 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse. (Photos 1-2)
- Simmer the beans, covered with water, until tender. They usually take 50-60 minutes on the stovetop and 8-12 minutes in a pressure cooker.
- Drain the cooked beans and set aside. If using canned beans, start from here.
- Sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes, stirring often and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste, ginger, garlic, paprika, and bouillon. Cook while stirring for about 60 seconds. Toss in the dried crayfish and simmer for 10-15 minutes, adding water or stock as needed to prevent burning. Continue to cook the sauce, stirring occasionally. (Photos 3-4)
- Add the beans, green onions, and remaining stock or water, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. (Photos 5-6)
- Serve: Adjust seasonings, add water if it’s too thick, and enjoy!!!
Recipe Notes
- While I absolutely love smoked meat or fish in my beans, it’s more about the flavor than protein. So if you can’t get it, smoked paprika will replace the flavors that are missing.
- I couldn’t resist the crayfish, but you can replace it with mushroom powder for a vegan version.
- Dried shrimp will work if you can’t find crayfish.
What Goes With Red Red Stew
Serve stew with a plate full of white rice, a side of fried plantains (a must), avocados, and boiled or pounded yams make a complete meal. For a non-traditional meal, try Southern cornbread and collard greens.
More Black-Eyed Pea Recipes to Enjoy
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”25KfoV5l” upload-date=”2019-04-25T14:02:31.000Z” name=”Red Red” description=”Red Red Recipe- A hearty tasty and no fuss vegetarian black-eyed peas stewed beans- African Style.”]
This blog post was originally published in December 2016 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Red Red (African Stewed Black-Eyed Peas)
Ingredients
- 1 pound (450g) black-eyed peas (four 14.5-ounce cans)
- ¼-½ cup (60-120ml) palm oil or canola oil (see notes)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) grated ginger
- ½ tablespoon (7-8g) minced garlic
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 2 tablespoons (30g) tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon (9g) smoked paprika
- ⅓ cup (15g) dried crayfish (optional)
- 2-3 cups (470-700ml) stock or water
- 1 tablespoon (10g) bouillon powder (beef, chicken, or vegetable－optional)
- 2-3 green onions, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 habanero pepper or hot sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse dried black-eyed peas, picking through and discarding any foreign objects. Add them to a large pot, covering them with 3-4 inches of cold water. Cover and let them soak for 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Drain the soaked beans, rinse, and place them in a Dutch oven or pressure cooker. For the Dutch oven, cover the beans with fresh water and simmer until tender (adding water as needed to prevent burning). They usually take 50-60 minutes on the stovetop. For the pressure cooker, follow your pressure cooker instructions. They’re usually done in 8-12 minutes.
- Drain the cooked beans and set aside. If using canned beans, start from here.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes, stirring often and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste, ginger, garlic, paprika, and bouillon. Cook while stirring for about 60 seconds.
- Toss in the crayfish and simmer for 10-15 minutes, adding water or stock as needed to prevent burning. Continue to cook the sauce, stirring occasionally.
- Finally, add the beans, green onions, and remaining stock or water, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
- Adjust seasonings, add water if it’s too thick, and serve.
Tips & Notes:
- Red palm oil is NOT the same as the controversial palm oil used in ultra-processed foods. However, if you want a lower fat content, feel free to reduce the quantity or omit it altogether.
- How long it takes to cook beans depends on their age, your altitude, and your stove temperature. The fresher the beans, the faster they cook.
- There is quite a debate about when to add salt. I’ve tried it three ways: soaking, cooking, and after. And honestly, I prefer adding it to the soaking water. The beans cook up tender and flavorful, but feel free to add salt when you want.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
This was new to me and lovely comfort food. It will go into our regular rotation, for sure!
Smoked paprika was great and I didn’t miss the crayfish. I used 1 teaspoon of dried ginger since I assumed you were using fresh – was that right?
I’m so happy you liked it. The beauty of this recipe is how versatile it is, so ground or fresh ginger both work great.
I lived in Sierra Leone a few years and they have a similar dish cooked with chicken that I loved very much. Do you use over ripe plantain or slightly ripened ones? I have tried but need some guidance here.
Adding chicken to this recipe sounds great. You can use either ripe or overripe. It depends on what you have and what you like. The overripe are a little harder to peel and fry. Here’s my recipe for frying sweet plantain if you want to give it a whirl. https://www.africanbites.com/fried-plantains/
I have never used palm oil before. I got a bottle buy it comes out so thick, it’s solid. Is that normal? The bottle says palm oil put ingredients say palm fruit pulp.
It’s hard to tell without seeing the jar. Palm oil is semi-solid at room temperature, so you may need to spoon it out if the weather is chilly. It’s extracted from the fruit pulp, but it is oil, not fruit pulp. Hope that clarifies it.
This was so easy to make any made loads which we consumed over a couple of days. Proper comfort food, I used tinned beans but I’m looking for dried so I don’t have to make so much next time lol
Great to hear about your experience. Thank you for your love!!!
I was looking for a new twist on black-eyed peas, so I decided to try this recipe. My husband and I really enjoyed it! I used frozen black-eyed peas instead of dried or canned. I added 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, but I think I’ll cut back t 1/4 tsp next time. Didn’t have green onions (would have looked really pretty). I served with brown rice and hot sauce–would have really been good with a slice of cornbread. My husband said to give this 5 stars. Delicious!!
Thank you, Susan (and hubby), for the wonderful feedback. Please stay tuned for more wonderful recipes like this. 😉
Yeah, so this is basically a spiced black eye bean stew in tomato sauce, which is a great thing. But I bet some kielbasa or smoked sausage would be good in this too, for our European friends? Yum… Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Sean. Oh yes, kielbasa or smoked sausage would work perfectly.
Loved it! Thank you for this recipe! When I first visited Ghana, Red red was my favorite food and I have been wanting to make it ever since! Using red palm oil and a smoked turkey wing for the meat definitely contributed to the delicious, authentic taste! From now on, this is my go-to dish for an Afrocentric New Year’s dinner!
! I have been wanting to make it ever since! I used the palm oil and a smoked turkey wing, which definitely enhanced the flavor! recommend using palm oil for both the flavor and the color! This recipe reminded me of my first taste of Red Red in Ghana!
Looking forward to cooking this for my family
Thank you so much for this recipe. My first time making this was a slam dunk! My daughter loved it, and my neighbor had seconds when we had an impromptu dinner visit. Any advice on what to season with when you’re trying to decrease your salt intake? Thanks again for this recipe. I’ve been learning how to make African food.
Glad to hear it worked out well. If you can cut back on the salt .
I’ll be making this for the first time tomorrow. My suggestion for cutting back on the salt would be to omit the bullion powder and be sure to use a good broth rather than water for the liquid.
This was delicious. I used whole dried crawfish and smoked paprika. Because all of the ingredients are so flavorful used water not stock but was sparing with it.
This is the only way I truly enjoy eating black-eyed peas. Thank you for sharing this deliciousness.
It looks super healthy, I wonder whether I could roll em up into sandwiches or so
You sure can.
This was so delicious! I’m so happy I was able to find red palm oil, it added flavor and color. I left out the crayfish powder to keep it vegetarian. I will definitely make it again…especially since I have a huge bottle of red palm oil to use. 🙂
Glad to hear it worked out well for you.Enjoy.
Wowie, this recipe hit the spot! I didn’t have onions and it was still fantastic. I added some liquid smoke for a vegetarian friendly boost though this was so flavorful that I wonder if I even needed it. I can’t wait to make this quick, simple, and DELICIOUS recipe many more times, thank you so much for sharing it!
Is this crayfish powder or fresh crayfish?
It is crayfish powder.
This recipe was so good. I made this as my first African for Kwanzaa food item to compliment other dishes. Omg!!!!! Thanks.
So glad to hear it worked out well for you. Happy New year!!
AWESOME recipe!!! I gave you a 5 star rating.
Thanks.
I modified it a bit the recipe by adding two heap full tablespoons of black strap molasses. Hmmmm! Miam Miam!
Do you have a suggestion to substitute crayfish? I follow the precepts of Leviticus 11:9-10 (and other dietary restrictions in the Bible).
I follow kosher law as well, I substitute anchovy paste if you can find it, otherwise you can even add can tuna, like many shito recipe use it also
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing.
how do u grill or roast plantains? i’m on a health kick as well. or trying to be.
By slicing it in half in a slanted way and place in the oven
This is excellent. Made exactly to the recipe. I had country ham that I added. It is the perfect meal.
I had all the ingredients except for the tomatoes so i added about a 1/4 cup or a little more of crushed tomatoes. It’s delicious!!! My husbands mom and dad are Nigerian and he loved it!
I absolutely love this dish! I just discovered this recipe a month ago and so far I’ve made it about 3-4 times already. My husband and toddler love it too. I made it vegetarian and used a 1 tsp of liquid smoke.
Thank you!
I love this recipe! I’ve made it a few times now and it’s amazing every time. I add some cayenne for extra heat. Is even better the next day! Thanks for a great recipe 🙂