Snack Attack: Ghana’s Best Street Food

At any time of the day (or night), you can be sure of finding some tasty street food in Ghana. In fact, much of Ghanaian cuisine is focused around regular street food snacks, rather than around big dishes to eat at meal times. As such, a visit to Ghana is not complete without sampling some of these famous light bites!

Street food is very popular in Ghana, both in the rural and urban areas. It is said that most Ghanaian families eat at least three times in a week from a roadside vendor – which makes it seem like they love their street food! Almost all kind of foods can be bought from street vendors in Ghana, including staples such as rice, porridge, meat skewers and deep-fried goodies. So in the latest edition of my Snack Attack series, let’s take a look at a dozen of the very tastiest Ghanaian snacks:

Fufu

Tilapia is the favourite fish of Ghanaians

Yams can be purchased whole or already mashed

Fufu is a staple food with deep roots in Ghana’s history. It is often made with cassava flour and served alongside Groundnut Soup. As well as a popular street food, Fufu is also considered one of Ghana’s national dishes.

Tilapia is arguably the most popular fish species to be eaten on the streets of Ghana. It is cheap to buy in wholesale and therefore cheap for the consumer. Although not eaten on its own, tilapia is nevertheless a good accompaniment to rice or soup.

Yams must be cooked to be safely eaten, because natural substances in raw yams can cause illness. The most common cooking method in Ghana is by boiling, frying, or roasting the yam. On markets in Ghana, you can purchase your tasty yams whole or already mashed.

Jollof rice is eaten with almost everything!

Chichinga

Kelewele

Jollof Rice is the name of the Ghanaian dish that is similar to Spanish Paella. The dish consists of rice, tomato paste, onions, salt, spices, and chili peppers. Due to the tomato paste and palm oil, the dish is always red in colour. As you can imagine jollof rice is eaten by the bucket load as street food in Ghana.

Chichinga are delectable kebab skewers that are sold as street food in Ghana. The meat of choice is usually lamb or chicken, but often, something more exotic is on the menu (this is Ghana, after all)!

Kelewele is a popular Ghanaian snack dish of fried plantains seasoned with spices that is commonly sold by street vendors, usually at night. It is sometimes served with rice and stew, peanuts, or alone as a dessert or a snack.

Koko

Bofrot

Tsofi is the local name for turkey tails

Koko is a very popular Ghanaian porridge that is eaten at any time of the day (not just for breakfast). It is a simple dish to prepare which makes it a great option when sampling the local street food!

Bofrot (sometimes called Puff-Puff) are the Ghanaian versions of doughnuts. These are made of dough containing flour, butter, salt, water, and eggs which is deep fried in vegetable oil until golden brown.

Tsofi are turkey tails that provide people with a very fattening street snack right across Ghana, but especially in Accra.

Kenkey is sold by the bucket load in Ghana

Waakye

Pitoo

Kenkey is a large ground corn dumpling that is usually eaten with soups in Ghana, but it can be found sold in markets all over the country.

Waakye is a dish of cooked rice and beans, commonly prepared in the home, but is also sold by roadside vendors. It is prepared by boiling the beans and rice together. It is a popular dish in Ghana and mostly eaten as a morning or lunchtime snack.

Pito is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented millet or sorghum in northern parts of Ghana. It can be served warm or cold. It is never found bottled or canned, and is purchased directly from the household at which it was brewed.