Red Red
Black-eyed peas stewed in palm oil with tomatoes and peppers, served with fried ripe plantain — Ghana's beloved vegetarian dish.
Ingredients
- •Black-eyed peas
- •Palm oil
- •Tomatoes
- •Onions
- •Scotch bonnet
- •Tomato paste
- •Ginger
- •Salt
- •Stock cube
- •Ripe plantains (for frying)
Instructions
Cook beans
Soak black-eyed peas overnight. Boil until tender, about 30–40 minutes. Drain.
Make tomato base
Fry blended tomatoes, onions, and scotch bonnet in palm oil with tomato paste for 15 minutes.
Add beans
Add cooked beans to the tomato base. Season and simmer 10 minutes to combine flavors.
Fry plantain
Slice ripe plantain and fry in oil until golden and caramelized.
Serve together
Serve the bean stew alongside the fried plantain.
Red Red gets its evocative name from the two things that make it red: palm oil and tomatoes. A simple but deeply satisfying stew of black-eyed peas cooked in a rich palm oil and tomato base, Red Red is served with fried ripe plantain — creating a combination that balances the savory, slightly earthy beans with the sweet, caramelized plantain.
Red Red is one of Ghana's most beloved everyday dishes and is considered excellent budget food — nutritious, filling, and inexpensive. It is a naturally vegan dish (when made without stockfish or salted fish additions) and has gained international recognition as a wholesome plant-based meal. The palm oil gives it a distinctive richness and a warm orange-red color.
The dish is particularly popular as a lunch or light dinner and is sold by street food vendors across Ghana. Some versions add smoked or salted fish for extra depth. Red Red is also associated with Sunday family meals and is one of the first dishes many Ghanaian children learn to cook.