Nigerian food lovers and Nigerians all over the world depend daily on these foods to survive.

I will make a list of the top 21 foods in Nigeria and their recipe (How to make them).

There are lots of foods in Nigeria. Some are quite popular, while merely a section of Nigeria’s 200 million population knows and eats the rest.

Take Jollof rice for instance, everyone loves a plate of jollof rice and chicken because it is a popular Nigerian food. Alternatively, there are foods, like Abacha (African Salad) which is not loved by everybody. 😀

Because it is Igbo food, quite popular among the Igbos, but lots of Nigerians know little about it.

Here are basic Nigerian food names, pictures, and links to their respective recipes.

1. Jollof Rice

Jollof rice is unarguably the most popular Nigerian food. I advise folks that are just starting with Nigerian cooking to start with jollof rice.

The recipe is easy, and the required ingredients could be found in any country in the world. If you could lay your hands on tomatoes and chicken, you could make jollof rice.

Nigerian Jollof Rice Recipe Here

2. Soup and Swallow

Nigerian swallows include eba, fufu, Semo, pounded yam, tuwo shinkafa and quite a few others. In Nigeria, we serve swallow and soups as dinner or lunch.

The most popular soup in Nigeria is egusi soup, here for Egusi Soup Recipe

3. Porridge Yam (Nigerian Food)

I prepare yams in different ways in Nigeria. Porridge yam is like the number one way to eat yam in Nigeria. It is a major staple food in Nigeria.

You can click here to learn more about >> Yam Recipes

4. Nigerian Noodles

Noodle is food to millions of Nigerians, especially kids and young adults. Millions of tonnes of noodles are consumed monthly in Nigerian universities.

I could make it in less than 10 minutes, so lots of students are depending on noodles to stay full.

I have written about several noodle recipes in the past.

Click here For Nigerian Noodle Recipes

5. Nigerian Porridge Beans

Porridge beans is a popular Nigerian food. There is hardly any reputable eateries or restaurant in Nigerian that doesn’t serve cooked beans.

There are many ways to cook beans in Nigeria.

You could make beans and yam porridge combo or boil plain white beans and serve with stew.

Here is Porridge Beans Recipe

6. Tea and Bread

Tea and bread is a popular delicious breakfast from Nigeria. Lots of Nigerians eat this for breakfast. Often, it is combined with fried eggs.

Here is the recipe for Fried Eggs

7. Spaghetti – Nigerian food

Spaghetti is a popular Nigerian food, It doesn’t stay much in the pot when I prepare it this way. My kids love spaghetti this way, their dad too. 😀

You could also boil spaghetti and serve with stew or sauce.

Here is my Spaghetti Recipe

8. Unripe Plantain Porridge

Unripe plantain porridge is food to millions of Nigerians. I make this at least once every week in my home.

You can learn more about Plantain Porridge Here

9. Nigerian Vegetable soup

I combined vegetable soup with eba or fufu in Nigeria and served as either lunch or dinner. I just finished the recipe for vegetable soup last week and also included a video.

Learn how to make this Nigerian food here >> Nigerian Vegetable Soup

10. Nigerian Fried Rice

Fried rice is a very popular Nigerian food. There is a twist to the Nigerian version. Several recipes exist for fried rice across the nations.

Most times we serve fried rice, chicken and vegetable salad together.

Here is How to make Fried Rice

11. Rice and vegetable Sauce

We eat lots of rice in Nigeria. There are over 20 different rice recipes from Nigeria. This is one of them.

It make separately the vegetable sauce and then served with boiled white rice.

Here is the recipe for Vegetable sauce

12. Moi Moi

Moi moi (beans pudding) is a Nigerian food that is loved by many people from Nigeria, I could serve it with pap or custard for breakfast.

Moi moi can also be served as a main dish in Nigerian homes.

Here is Moi Moi Recipe

13. Agidi (Eko) – Nigerian food

I like to combine agidi and cooked beans and then serve with stew as you can see above. Agidi (eko) is food for the Yorubas, other ethnic groups in Nigeria also have a way of making this.

It made Agidi from corn (maize), the Igbos also loved it.

Another recipe is what we call agidi Jollof.

Learn how to make this Nigerian food – Agidi (eko) Here

14. Nigerian Pepper Soup

Pepper soup is a popular food in Nigeria. I serve peppersoup as a side dish or combined with yam and served as lunch or dinner.

Here is Pepper Soup Recipe

15. Home Made Bread

Bread could be store-bought or homemade, we eat lots of bread in Nigeria. I serve as a snack or pair with tea and served as breakfast. Bread is a well know Nigerian food.

I created a simple recipe here for >> Home Made Bread

16. Suya – Nigerian food

I make Suya from beef or chicken. I have also seen fish suya and some other recipes. We eat lots of suya in Nigeria.

Usually as a snack or side dish.

Here is Suya Recipe

17. Yamarita

Yamarita is food to millions of Nigerians. It is a very popular Hausa food. Unlike several other foods that take several hours to prepare, I could make this Nigerian food in just a few minutes.

It is just egg-coated yams that undergo frying.

How to make Yamarita

18. Rice and Tomato stew

A combination of rice and tomato stew is a popular Nigerian food. I served it exactly the way you see above.

Most times I pour the stew on top of the rice instead of being on a separate plate.

Lots of Nigerians eat rice and stew for dinner.

Stew is a big word in Nigeria food-osphere. There are unique twists to it.

Find How to make Tomato stew.

19. African Salad

African salad is a popular Igbo food. The key ingredient is cassava flakes. The rest is palm oil, peppers, etc.

Learn about (Abacha) African Salad Recipe

20. Ogbono Soup

Ogbono soup is certainly the second most popular soup in Nigeria. There is hardly any eatry or restaurant in Nigeria that doesn’t serve ogbono soup.

It is also easy to prepare.

Ogbono soup can be served with either eba, fufu or semo.

Here for >> Ogbono Soup Recipe

21. Fruits as Nigerian Food

We eat lots of fruits in Nigeria. We eat banana, papaya (paw paw), mango, watermelon, pineapple, orange but especially watermelons.

I think watermelon is the most popular fruit in Nigeria.

We also have pears, Guava, oranges and a plethora of others.

When you combine lots of fruit together, like the plate above, we call it a fruit salad – a popular Nigerian food.

More Nigerian food names and Pictures