Recipe Guide
How to Make Nigerian Ogbono Soup
Ogbono soup is a Nigerian soup built around ground ogbono (wild mango) seeds, which give it a distinctive thick, silky "draw" texture as it cooks. It's a regular feature on dinner tables across Nigeria and the diaspora, usually served with a swallow.
About 15 minutes to prepare, plus around 45 minutes to cook (longer if starting from raw meat) · Nigerian cuisine
Ingredients
- Safari Hub Tastebuds Ground Ogbono, mixed to a paste according to the pack directions or to your preferred thickness
- 500g assorted meat and/or fish (e.g. beef, goat meat, stockfish or dried fish), seasoned and cooked until tender, stock reserved
- 2-3 tbsp palm oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1-2 scotch bonnet peppers, to taste
- Ground crayfish, to taste (optional but traditional)
- Stock cubes and salt, to taste
- A handful of chopped leafy vegetable, such as spinach, ugu (pumpkin leaves) or bitter leaf
Method
- 1Season and cook your chosen meat and/or fish in a pot with a little water, the chopped onion, and a stock cube until tender. Keep the resulting stock.
- 2In a separate pot, heat the palm oil until melted.
- 3Mix the Safari Hub Tastebuds Ground Ogbono with a little warm water or stock to form a smooth, thick paste, following the pack directions or adjusting the amount to reach the consistency you like.
- 4Stir the ogbono paste into the hot palm oil, then gradually add the reserved meat or fish stock, stirring continuously — this steady stirring is what develops the soup's characteristic silky, drawing texture.
- 5Add the crayfish, scotch bonnet, and the cooked meat and/or fish, then simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally so the soup doesn't catch on the bottom of the pot.
- 6Stir in the chopped leafy vegetable in the last few minutes of cooking, and adjust the seasoning with salt and stock cubes to taste.
- 7Serve hot with your preferred swallow, such as pounded yam, eba, fufu or semovita.
Cooking Tips
- Stir gently but consistently once the ogbono paste goes in — this is what gives the soup its signature draw.
- Add the stock gradually rather than all at once, so you can control the final thickness.
- Ogbono soup is traditionally quite flexible with protein — use whatever combination of meat or fish you have on hand.
Serving Suggestion
Serve hot with a swallow of your choice, such as pounded yam, eba, fufu or semovita.
Make It With Safari Hub Tastebuds
