How to Make Egusi Soup
Egusi soup is a West African soup thickened with ground melon seeds, cooked in red palm oil with meat, dried and smoked fish, and leafy greens. It is one of the most widely cooked soups in Nigeria, and it appears in Ghana, Cameroon and across the diaspora with regional variations.
The thing that separates a good egusi from a flat one is not a secret ingredient. It is letting the egusi lumps fry undisturbed until they set, and letting the soup cook long enough for the oil to rise.
Prep 20m · Cook 1h · Serves 6
What you need
- 2 cups ground egusi (melon seeds)
- ½ cup red palm oil
- 500g beef or goat meat
- 1 piece stockfish, soaked
- 2 pieces smoked fish, cleaned
- 3 tbsp ground crayfish
- 1 tbsp iru (fermented locust beans)
- 2 onions
- 2–3 scotch bonnet peppers, blended
- 2 stock cubes
- 2 handfuls ugu (fluted pumpkin) or bitterleaf
- Salt to taste
How to make it
- Season and boil the meat with one chopped onion and a stock cube until tender. Keep the stock — it is the backbone of the soup.
- Soak the stockfish until softened and clean the smoked fish carefully, removing bones.
- Mix the ground egusi with a little water or stock to form a thick, stiff paste. It should hold its shape on a spoon.
- Heat the palm oil in a pot, add the remaining chopped onion and the blended pepper, and fry for 5 minutes.
- Drop the egusi paste into the pot in small lumps. Do not stir immediately — let the lumps fry and set for 8–10 minutes, which is what gives egusi soup its characteristic texture.
- Add the reserved stock gradually, stirring gently between additions until the soup reaches the consistency you want.
- Add the stockfish, smoked fish, ground crayfish, iru and remaining stock cube. Cover and simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the oil rises to the surface.
- Stir in the ugu or bitterleaf, simmer 5 minutes more, and taste for salt. Serve hot.
What to serve with egusi soup
Pounded yam is the traditional partner, but eba, fufu and semolina are all at home beside it. Serve the swallow on the side, tear a piece, dip, and do not use a fork.
Shop the ingredients: ground egusi and dried leaves, red palm oil, ground crayfish, stockfish and smoked fish.
Questions people ask
What is egusi?
Egusi is the seed of a melon in the gourd family, dried and either sold whole or ground. Ground egusi thickens soup and gives it a nutty, savoury body; it is the defining ingredient of egusi soup, and is also used to thicken other West African soups.
Should I use ground or whole egusi?
Ground egusi is ready to use and is what most cooks buy. Whole egusi keeps longer and can be milled at home when you want it fresher. The finished soup is the same dish either way.
Why is my egusi soup smooth instead of lumpy?
Because it was stirred too early. Drop the egusi paste in as lumps and leave them undisturbed to fry and set for several minutes before adding stock. Stirring straight away dissolves them into the liquid.
Can I make egusi soup without palm oil?
You can cook it in another oil, but it becomes a different dish. Red palm oil supplies the colour and the particular richness that make the soup recognisable as egusi.
What do you eat egusi soup with?
Any swallow — pounded yam, eba, fufu or semolina. The soup is designed to be eaten with the hands, torn and dipped rather than spooned.