How to Make Ewa Agoyin: A Simple and Delicious Nigerian Dish

May 2, 2025 Odiraa

How to Make Ewa Agoyin: A Simple and Delicious Nigerian Dish

Ewa Agoyin is a Nigerian dish of boiled beans with a flavorful pepper sauce.

It’s the perfect meal for anyone who isn’t fond of beans but still wants to enjoy them—trust me, I’m not a big fan of beans, yet I can never resist Ewa Agoyin.

What makes it so irresistible? It could be the caramelized onions, but all I know is that it tastes amazing.

Ingredients for the Ewa Agoyin Sauce

2 cups (roughly 500g) of brown or black-eyed beans
5 tablespoons of red palm oil
5 large plum tomatoes
A handful of crayfish
1 large onion
Salt and pepper (to taste)
2 stock cubes

Preparation Steps

Soak the Beans: Start by soaking the beans in cold water for 5 hours. After soaking, boil the beans for 5 minutes, then discard the water. Rinse the beans under cold water and set them aside. This process helps reduce the gas-inducing compounds in beans. (For tips on minimizing bloating from beans, check out “How to Reduce Bean Bloating.”)
Prep the Ingredients: Chop the onion, grind the crayfish, and pound the pepper.
Cook the Tomatoes: Blend the tomatoes and cook the puree until all the liquid has evaporated.
Caramelize the Onions: Pre-cook the diced onions in a dry pot until they start to soften and caramelize. This helps them cook more quickly when added to the sauce later.

Cooking Instructions

Cook the Beans: Cook the beans until they’re very soft. For quicker cooking, consider using a pressure cooker—it cuts down on the time.
Season the Beans: Once the beans are done, add salt to taste. Allow the beans to cook off any excess water, then set them aside.
Prepare the Agoyin Sauce: In a separate dry pot, pour the palm oil and heat it over medium heat until it starts to smoke and the color turns clear. (Note: You’ll want to do this gently, as you don’t want the oil to heat too quickly.) Turn off your smoke alarm before getting started!

To minimize smoke while still achieving that signature flavor, I use vegetable oil, and when it’s hot, I add a small amount of palm oil. Check out the video below to see how I do this.

Caramelize the Onions: Add the pre-cooked onions to the hot oil and stir continuously until they become dark and fully caramelized.
Add the Tomato Puree: Now add the parboiled tomato puree to the pot, stirring until it blends seamlessly with the onions.
Season the Sauce: Add the pepper, crayfish, stock cubes, and salt to taste. If you prefer a slightly thinner sauce, you can add a bit of water here.
Simmer: Stir well and allow the sauce to come to a boil.

Once your sauce is ready, you can serve it! Scoop the soft, cooked beans onto a plate and generously top with the Agoyin stew.

Ewa Agoyin can be enjoyed on its own, paired with soft, stretchy bread (known as Ewa ati Bread), or served alongside crispy fried plantains.

Enjoy!