Simple Vegetarian Jollof Rice

What is Jollof Rice

Jollof Rice is a spicy tomato based rice dish found across Western Sub Sahara Africa. From Senegal to Nigeria, each part of this region has their own unique twist of the recipe. Jollof is known to have originated in the Senegambia region and made its way across West Africa. Now is collectively known as one of the most iconic West African dishes. And therefore, the subject of intense debate across the region for who has the best Jollof Rice. Jollof Rice across the region differ in their components — sauce, spices, rice varieties and many more.

If you want to learn more about Jollof rice, check out these blog posts.

• Jollof Rice History: How a Dish Took Over West Africa – This post covers the history of Jollof Rice across the region
• Who Has the Best Jollof Rice – This post describes the unique jollof rice varieties you can find accross West African countries

Why I have updated this recipe?

If you have been around for a while, you would know that I have already published a very popular Jollof rice recipe. But as a food blogger, my techniques and cooking style change over time. Over the years, I have been learning and making tweeks to my recipe. I love this new recipe because;

1. Easier and less complicated: Jollof rice is already a complicated dish; having many steps and moving parts makes it hard to follow so I wanted to make a recipe that required less oversight and fewer steps.
2. Less volume of jollof rice: Jollof rice is usually a meal cooked for large gatherings, but that doesn’t mean Jollof should always be made for large gatherings. This jollof rice is roughly half of that in my previous post and is suitable for fewer people or a week’s worth of meals.
3. Just as delicious

What you will need to make this simple vegetarian jollof rice

• Aromatics: Garlic, Ginger, and Onions are the base for a savoury, sweet and flavourful Jollof. The key to a delicious tomato stew base is onions and lots of it.
• Tomato + Red Pell Pepper: Traditional Ghanaian jollof rice uses only tomatoes; however, here in Canada, it is hard to get good quality tomatoes so adding red bell pepper adds colour and sweetness.
• Spices: I reduced the number of spices in this recipe because too many can make a dish bitter. All you really need are a few good quality spices and some patience with the aromatics.
• Vegetable Bouillon: Maggi cube is the flavouring agent for many West African jollof rice. To keep this recipe Maggi-free, I am using better than bouillon vegetable base, which has to be the tastiest veggie bouillon paste I have ever had. Because of the salt content, the Jollof does not need much additional salt.
• Rice: Perfume long-grain jasmine is the only rice you need for this recipe. It is starchy; it is delicious and has the perfect consistency.

How to make the perfect jollof rice

1. Cook your tomato and pepper base: This helps to start the breakdown of the tomato and peppers as well as evaporate as much water from the stew as possible.
2. Cook your onion base: Onions sauteed in oil gives it time to cook and caramelize
3. Add in your tomato paste: Cooking the tomato paste before adding the rest of the mixture allows the tomato flavour to concentrate while removing any canned flavour
4. Make the tomato stew: the rest of the aromatics, tomatoes and peppers go in to start the stew making process. This is an essential step for Jollof rice
5. Season the stew: A well-seasoned stew makes or breaks Jollof, adding anise seeds, coriander seeds, curry powder and the bouillon cube adds flavour that will set this jollof rice apart.
6. Add the rice: the rice and water go in after the stew has been cooked. The less volume of water, the better — as this helps consentrate flavour
7. Serve

What to serve with Jollof Rice?

Jollof rice is traditionally served with coleslaw/Ghanaian salad, a side of shito and grilled protein. For my perfect vegetarian jollof rice plate, here are a few recommendation oin what I serve my jollof with.

• Suya Meatballs
• Spice Crusted Tofu
• Mishkaki Skewers
• Kelewele
• Ghana Salad
• Shito

Other recipes to try

If you want try some African inspired rice recipes, makes sure to check out these amazing recipes

• Ghanaian Fried Rice
• Mushroom Pilau: East African inspired one pot mushroom rice
• Waakye: Ghanaian red rice and beans

FAQ + Subsititutions

• What is the best pot to use? I use a deep pot that is non stick. The rice will triple in size so something that can contain all the rice is important. This also allows the rice to cook evenly.
• Can I switch the spices? You are welcome to switch up the spices, just make sure to add enough. For this recipe I went a bit overboard with the spices because the rice will triple in size, and if you are too conservative on the amount of spices you use, the rice might be bland.
• Can I make this recipe oil free? You are more than welcome to sub the oil for water. But, oil does bring out the sweetness of the onions when sautéed. I have made it without oil and its tastes great.
• My rice did not cook evenly; what did I do wrong? There are few reason why the rice might not have cooked evenly. 1. The heat is not evenly spreading through the pot. I will suggest using a big pot to make sure that there is enough heat going through the rice to cook it well. 2. You did not fold/stir the rice well. Stirring and turning the rice at the bottom to the top ensures that the heat transfers easily in the pot and the bottom is not burned/cooked leaving the top raw
• What is the perfect consistency of the final product? Well cooked pot of rice. You should see each grain separately. It is not mushy and evenly cooked. Please refer to the video
• How can I avoid mushy jollof? To avoid mushy jollof, please do not add more water than specified. Please be patient with the recipe. The more time you allow the rice to cook at LOW heat, higher chance it will cook properly. Jasmine rice also requires less water than most long grain rice varieties so if you add too much water, it will be soft.
• Can I cook this in the instant pot? This recipe has not been tested for the instant pot and I will not recommend it. Jollof requires a lot of attention, which you cannot do using the instant pot. Plus the stew will not combine well with the rice and rather separate to the top of the pot.
• Can I bake this jollof? Once you are done making the stew, you can mix in the rice and water and place it in the oven at 400°F for 45- 50 minutes, checking halfway. I suggest using an oven-safe pot to cook the stew to smoothen the transition. Also, preheat the oven before baking the jollof for a seamless transition.
• Can I use brown rice? This recipe has not been tested for brown rice. Since we are cooking it on the stove, the amount of water required to properly cook brown rice differs from the amount of water needed to cook white rice. Please do not substitute brown rice for this recipe as the results will be so much different, most likely the rice will not cook well. For a brown rice alternative (click here)
• Can I use another type of white rice? To make this type of rice, I will only stick to long grain jasmine rice. Jasmine is a unique rice and one loved by Ghanaians. It is a very starchy rice so even using another long grain rice might give a different outcome. This type of rice is readily available in many grocery stores but for the best quality rice, the Asian supermarket is your best bet. Please do not use short-grain white rice; they require a different amount of water. Basmati can work.
• My rice is taking a long time to cook, will it burn? Unlike simple plain white rice, jollof rice takes time and patience. Remember we are steaming the rice not boiling it so it will take time.
• I do not have access to scotch bonnet pepper, what can I use instead? you can swap for habanero pepper or jalapeno. You can use cayenne pepper and adjust accordingly to your heat tolerance

If you like this recipe, please make sure to leave a comment below! Thank you!