DIY: Top 5 Tasty Nigerian Soup Recipes

Soup Recipes are very essential to Nigerian food. The center, the soul, the pulse of Nigerian food is in its soups.  Nigerian soups are among the most delicious in Africa.

Nigerian soup recipes are simple and easy to prepare. Nigeria is a country blessed with diverse cultures, customs and of course food recipes.  Speaking of Nigerian foods, there are a good number of tasty, delicious food recipes from the northern, western, down to the southern parts of the country.

If you are a Nigerian or have visited Nigerian at one point or another you may likely know that soups are usually served alongside swallows like Eba (Garri), Agidi, Amala, Semolina, Tuwo Shinkafa, Pounded Yam or Cassava Fufu.

My top 5 Nigerian soups list is based on the deliciousness of the soup and also the recognition.

I also included a video demonstration on how to prepare one of the soups. Now let’s check them out, trust me you will benefit from reading this.

1. Bitter Leaf Soup

The first on my list of Nigerian popular soups is bitter leaf soup. Forget the fact that there is bitter in the name, ofe onugbu (as the Igbo’s would call it) is one of Nigeria’s most delicious soups.

The soup is prepared with cocoyam and bitter leaf. Cocoyam is rich in Vitamin B6 and magnesium while the bitter leaf is highly medicinal.

Get the Video and soup recipes Here

2. Egusi Soup

Nigerian egusi soup recipes are made using melon seeds (egusi seed), palm oil, vegetables, and other condiments.

Egusi soup is best enjoyed with pounded yam, eba, semo/wheat, amala or Rice. You can add vegetables (Ugu, bitter leaf or any vegetable of your choice) to spice it up a little.

The melon seed (Citrullus lanatus) is rich in protein and fats. It also contains a sufficient amount of Vitamin A and C  which plays an important role in reproduction, vision, bone and teeth formation.

Get the Egusi soup recipe Here

3. Ogbono Soup

Also known as Draw Soup, Ogbono soup is thick and slimy in nature and helps your swallow slide down easily. It takes great handy skill to successfully wrap your eba around ogbono soup and swallow it neatly.

Some people prefer their Ogbono soup to be plain while others would add vegetables to it.

Get the Ogbono soup recipes Here

4. Vegetable Soup

Vegetable soup is a variation of Efo riro/ Edikang Ikong/and kale soup. It’s primarily made up of fresh vegetables. This soup is rich in omega 3 fatty acids which aids vision as well as reducing the risk of rheumatism and arthritis in older people. It also reduces the risk of stroke.

Get the Vegetable Soup Recipes Here

5. Pepper Soup

From the name, you can tell that it’s a highly spiced soup. Contrasting most other soups, this soup thrives well alone. It does not need any food to go with it.

Pepper soup can be eaten alone or with rice or cold pap (eko). This comforting soup can be prepared with different kinds of delicacies like fish pepper soup, beef pepper soup, and others.

Click Here for Pepper soup recipes.

Here are my top five soups every Nigerian or dating/married to Nigerian or foreigners looking to acquaint themselves with Nigerian culture should know how to prepare.