9 Common Nigerian Groundnut Recipes

There are many ways to cook a meal, over a hundred perhaps, for a food as ordinary as groundnuts. Here are nine ways groundnuts are commonly prepared as food in Nigeria.

Boiled groundnuts

These are definitely the easiest to prepare. All it takes is about 10 minutes of boiling the nuts in their shells which may or may not be salted.

Roasted groundnuts

These are the most commonly prepared and perhaps the most favourite. It’s sold in bottles, in small nylon wraps or in measured quantities.

Roasted groundnuts in shells

Like boiled groundnuts, are seasonal and are distinct in taste because of the flavour conferred on them by dust and the roasted shells.

Groundnut soup

This soup is popular in northern Nigeria (as miyan gyada) and other states like Edo. The nuts are removed from their husks and made into a paste used in thickening the soup. Here is a recipe on how to make groundnut soup.

Ose oji

Peppered and seasoned peanut butter known as ose oji is a known staple in eastern Nigeria and served at most occasions with garden eggs.

Kuli kuli

This is a favourite Nigerian snack made from labu, a paste made from roasted groundnuts and seasoned with spices, salt and pepper. After excess oil is removed from the paste, it is molded into different shapes and fried till they are solidified. Its origins can be traced to northern Nigeria.

Suya

Suya, kilishi and kuli kuli recipes are said to have their origins from the Hausa people of northern Nigeria. Though not the main item, groundnuts are one of the ingredients used in spicing the suya kebab.

Kilishi

This is a dried form of suya. Here dried thin sheets of sliced meat are immersed in the spiced labu paste and then sundried for hours.

Kunun Gyada

Perhaps no tribe knows how best to make use of groundnuts than those in northern Nigeria. Kunun gyada is a drink made from a blend of rice and groundnuts. There are also different kunun recipes and here is another worth trying. Are there other groundnut recipes indigenous to your locality? Please share in the comment box below.