20 Nigerian Foods Every Naija Person Abroad Misses
Leaving Nigeria does not only mean leaving family and friends behind. It means leaving the food. You can explain it to your new friends, you can cook it in your new kitchen, but some things just do not taste the same outside Naija.
Here are 20 Nigerian foods almost everyone abroad misses, and why they stay with us.
1. Ewa agoyin
Beans and a dark, burnt-pepper sauce. “Just” beans? Never. Burning that sauce right to the edge without ruining it is an art only our street sellers seem to have mastered.
2. Pap and akara
Saturday morning is not complete without hot pap, crunchy akara and a stream of evaporated milk. Oats and pancakes try their best, but they do not carry the same warmth.
3. Garri, sugar and groundnut
Cold soaked garri with sugar, groundnut or kulikuli, and milk if you are feeling rich. One bowl takes you straight back to hostel days and late-night gist.
4. Indomie, the way we make it
Fried with egg, pepper and onions, or loaded with vegetables. Noodles abroad are everywhere, but “our” Indomie is a whole experience.
5. Dodo
Sweet, golden fried plantain beside rice or beans, or on its own. And no, the plantain abroad does not always taste the same.
6. Party jollof
Not just jollof rice: party jollof. That smoky bottom-of-the-pot flavour, fried plantain, coleslaw and an oversized piece of well-fried beef. Wedding pictures online make the craving worse.
7. Egusi soup
Ground melon seeds, palm oil, leafy greens, assorted meat, stockfish and locust beans. You can cook it abroad, but it never quite tastes like your mother’s pot.
8. Edikang ikong
Rich, deep green soup with waterleaf and ugu, and more meat than vegetables. Cross River pride, and family Sundays in a bowl.
9. Amala, ewedu and gbegiri
This one divides Nigerians, but those who love it love it to death. Finding the right flour and leaves abroad can be a mission.
10. Masa (waina)
Soft rice cakes from the North, often eaten with suya or soup. Many people never try to recreate it, they just dream about the streets of Kano and Jos.
11. Yam pottage (asaro)
Yam cooked down with palm oil, pepper and crayfish until soft and rich. Finding good yam abroad feels like finding treasure.
12. Suya
Grilled meat abroad is not suya. Suya is smoky, spicy, wrapped in paper, with yaji that makes you sweat.
13. Boli and groundnut
Roadside roasted plantain with crunchy groundnuts. That burnt-sweet taste is one of the most Nigerian things there is.
14. Pepper soup
Our cure for everything: cold, fever, heartbreak. Without the exact spice mix, it is never the same.
15. Moi moi in leaves
Steamed in leaves, moi moi has a flavour foil can never match. The good news: many African shops abroad now stock moi moi leaves, so you can bring that taste back.
16. Abacha (African salad)
Cassava shreds with palm oil, crayfish and ugba. The ingredients are rare abroad, which is exactly why we miss it.
17. Agege bread
Soft, stretchy and slightly sweet. Tear it open, dip it in stew or beans, and you are home.
18. Gala and a cold soft drink
The official snack of Lagos traffic. You miss it most when hunger strikes between meals.
19. Okra soup
Slimy in the best way. With a good swallow, it is a meal that sticks to memory.
20. Ofada rice and ayamase
Local rice with green “designer” stew. The aroma alone is enough to make anyone homesick.
Bringing home to your table abroad
These foods are more than meals. They are family gatherings, school days, roadside sellers and everything in between. The good news is that you do not have to crave in silence.
- Find the African or international grocery stores near you. Many stock garri, egusi, palm oil, plantain, yam and even Gala-style snacks.
- Ask your local community WhatsApp group where people buy fresh leaves and meat.
- Check our Tokunbo Directory for African-owned grocery stores and restaurants.
- Cook one “home” meal a week, and invite someone new to share it.
Over to you: Which food on this list do you miss the most, and what did we leave out? Tell us in the comments or share your story.
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