Nigerian
Daily
Breakfast Guide
CHEF TONYE
10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
Breakfast is fast-paced these days in Nigeria, with both parents working and
domestic staff being expensive and sometimes unreliable even unsafe.
There was a time when breakfast was more elaborate. The family could enjoy
a continental breakfast with all its trappings especially during the weekends.
Breakfast then could be toasted bread, butter, fried eggs, sausage, bacon,
kippers, baked beans, sardines etc. all laid out at the table. At my aunty’s
house, it was fried yam, fried plantains, thick red palm oil stew with huge
chunks of soft succulent beef. The beef seemed like it had been soaking in
that stew for ages because, with every bite, the stew was the meat juice that
sipped into your mouth.
That being said, there are some dishes that are common in most homes in
Nigeria. Some of these dishes will have variations depending on the
household and their preferences. For example, Fried yam and egg stew,
other homes might prefer boiled yam with their egg stew.
Here are 10 common Nigerian breakfast
dishes.
1) Bread Sandwich with a hot beverage
This is the most common breakfast dish in Nigeria. The ever-present Bread
and ‘tea’. In most homes, this is the go-to breakfast dish. It is loved by both
adults and children, it is quick and easy to throw together. Bread and ‘tea’
can be accompanied by boiled egg, omelette, sausage, bacon, canned
sardines, corned beef, mackerel in tomato sauce (geisha) etc. A lot of kids call
any hot beverage ‘tea’.
10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
2) Akara and Pap
This is another very common Nigerian breakfast dish. In most homes, both
the Akara and pap are bought from street vendors who fry the akara on the
spot, so you buy it steaming hot. Some people for different reasons, process
and fry theirs at home. Akara is a beans fritter made from beans paste while
the pap is a paste made from grains, mostly corn but also millet etc. It is
turned into a gruel to go with the akara using boiling water.
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
3) Instant noodles and egg
This is another ubiquitous breakfast dish. In fact, it can be served as
breakfast, lunch or dinner in most Nigerian homes. It is so common that
there are noodle stands at street corners dishing out delicious noodle dishes
all day, all night. Instant noodle is so convenient, cheap, easy to prepare that
it will give bread and tea a run for the money in Nigerian homes. It is mostly
served with boiled egg or omelette. In fact, in a lot of homes, this is the rst
dish children learn how to cook.
4) Moi-Moi with custard or pap
Moi-Moi is a type of steamed pudding made from beans. To serve it for
breakfast, one has to start very early if using whole beans because the
process is quite tedious. Alternatively, to cut down on prep time, beans
powder can be used or moi-moi can be bought already made.
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
It is served with pap or custard made from custard powder.
Moi-Moi
5) Cereal
Nigerians like their cereals too although due to the high cost of cereals,
especially imported ones, it’s going out of the reach of the average Nigerian.
Another minus to cereal is that it is not as lling as other breakfast dishes
unless there are other accompaniments. Corn akes is the most common
followed by coco pops.
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
6) Okpa
Okpa is the local name for Bambara nuts. It is also the name of the boiled
pudding made with the Bambara nut powder. Although okpa is very easy to
make, hardly anybody makes their own okpa, rather most people feel it’s not
worth the trouble to make it at home so they buy from the numerous okpa
vendors. It is mostly sold in the eastern part of Nigeria. Okpa is very lling
and can keep hunger away until lunch. It is excellent for diabetics.
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
7) Ewa Agoyin with Agege bread or any soft
and elastic bread
Ewa agoyin is a mashed up beans porridge served with a special stew
prepared by agoyin women of Togo. These Togolese women hawk this dish
on the streets. It is served with soft chewy bread, Agege bread. They are sold
mostly in Lagos, Nigeria.
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
8) Hausa Koko and Koose (Spicy millet
porridge and akara)
Hausa Koko is a gruel similar to Pap. It is deliciously spicy and is made from
millet. Koose is made from beans paste just like akara. This is a staple
breakfast dish in northern Nigeria.
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
9) Fried plantain and yam with egg stew
This combination is another awesome breakfast dish common in Nigeria, it
can also be eaten as lunch or dinner. For the fried plantain, ripe plantains are
used. Some households prefer boiled plantain and plantains that are not
totally ripe. Some people also include fried sweet potatoes.
The egg stew is not a stew as such, it is more like a scrambled egg with other
ingredients added.
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
10) Pancake
Pancakes are another staple breakfast dish in Nigeria. Most children love
pancakes. There is also the Nigerian pancake called Diet .
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10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
Leftover from dinner
In Nigeria, it is very common for the previous night’s dinner to be warmed up
in the morning and eaten as breakfast. This saves a lot of time and energy
especially for people who need to leave home early. In the olden days in rural
areas, it was the norm for breakfast to be leftover from dinner. There were no
refrigerators so it only made sense and saved time to nish off the leftover of
the previous day’s dinner to avoid spoilage.
If you enjoyed my 10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes, I will advise you get
the Nigerian Cooking Guide where you have access to over 200 recipes of
Nigerian foods, soups and other amazing stuffs including some great
bonuses.
YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT HERE
10 common Nigerian breakfast dishes
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