The Tastiest Vegan Jollof Rice

I am finally bringing you this UNREAL, UNBELIEVABLE and INCREDIBLY TASTY vegan jollof rice. This recipe comes to your screens just in time for Canadian Thanksgiving too, and can serve as a perfect side dish, or main dish to wow your loved ones.

But before I get into the recipe, DISCLAIMER!!! I am not here to contest and shame any country’s jollof rice. The greatness of the jollof depends on the cook.

Jollof Rice has a special place in my heart! If someone asked me what meals i will live on for the rest of my life, I will say Oatmeal and Jollof Rice. I think it is the perfect way to prepare rice; it is absolutely fragrant, rich in colour with different textures (the crunchy, slightly burnt bottom of the jollof is actually an important part of the jollof, which complements the soft, perfectly cooked rice); what else can a girl ask for? Jollof Rice is a staple in every Ghanaian celebration and there is no party without jollof Rice. However, party jollof is full of animal fat, high in salt and oil and is not good for you.

A brief history about Jollof Rice

The name jollof originates from Senegal based on the Wolof people of Senegal. Legend has it, Penda Mbaye a chef hired in the colonial governor’s residence created Jollof. As a chef for the governor, she became familiar with foods that were brought from outside French West Africa. One day she was intending on creating a pot dish with barley, vegetables and fish but with a shortage of barley she could not complete this dish. So, she opted for an imported rice variety. Then the rest was history. Most people believe it spread across West Africa through trade. To read more check out this article (click here)

For this recipe, you are going to need

• Oil: to caramelize the onions and fry the tomato sauce
• Aromatics: Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Red Bell pepper and Scotch bonnet pepper are the most important base for any Ghanaian stew. Having the right balance of each gives the Jollof a really nice, rich flavour and most importantly the dark red colour, which you want
• Tomato Sauce: This is essential for the stew. I mean it is a tomato based recipe so of course
• Rice: In Ghana, we use perfume long grain jasmine rice (yes that is exactly how we say it), some people apparently use basmati but I do not even think I have had basmati rice jollof in Ghana before. Nigerians use par boiled rice. I know a lot of French West African countries like Senegal or Ivory Coast use short grain rice for their “jollof” which they call riz au gras or thieboudienne
• Veggie Stock: this gives the rice additional flavour. The non-vegan version usually uses chicken stock to cook the rice so we are trying to emulate that process here

How to make the Perfect jollof rice

• Caramelize onions: In a pot, you will sauté the onions in oil till it is nice and soft
• Prepare the stew: Once the onions are sautéed, fry the tomato paste, add the blended aromatics and tomato sauce. Cook down the sauce till the sauce is dry
• Spice it up: Add the spices along with the rice once the sauce is reduced,
• Steam the Jollof: The key to flavourful and well cooked jollof is to steam the rice in the sauce. After adding the rice, keep the rice at low heat to cook the rice with the steam generated from the cooking of the sauce. This is what makes the jollof flavourful.

What you can serve this recipe with?

• Kelewele/ Spicy Plantain Chops
• Suya Tofu Skewers (From my Ebook)
• Spice Crusted Tofu

Want an recipe with an alternative grain for Jollof?

• Jollof Fonio
• Brown Rice Jollof Rice
• Quinoa Jollof (from my Ebook)

FAQ + Substitutions

Please read through it before attempting to make this recipe, ESPECIALLY if this is your first time making jollof. It is a technically challenging recipe and I really do want you to succeed.

Print Recipe

The Tastiest Vegan Jollof Rice

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Ghanaian

Keyword: ghanaian recipes, jollof rice

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions 1 finely sliced to sauté, 1 roughly chopped for blending
• 1 thumb sized ginger
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper more if you like spicy food
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1 2/3 cup tomato puree I used the Kirkland Organic Tomato Sauce from Costco
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tbsp anise seeds ground
• 1 tsp each of whole cloves onion powder, garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 veggie bouillon cube I used the knorr vegetable broth powder**
• 4 cups dry Jasmine Rice
• salt to taste
• water specific water measurements are outlined in the steps

Instructions

• Before you start this recipe please make sure you have thoroughly reviewed the Questions and Answer section, especially if it is your first time making this recipe.
• PLEASE ALSO FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS VERY CAREFULLY; THIS IS A VERY TECHNICAL DISH
• Blend together the tomatoes, red bell pepper, ginger, garlic, roughly chopped onions and the scotch bonnet in 1/2 cup of water
• In a pot at medium heat, sauté the finely sliced onions with oil till brown. Add in a splash of water if the pot is getting dry
• After, add in the tomato paste, 1/4 cup of water and sauté for 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes, add in your blended mixture and the tomato purée, plus 1/3 cup of water. Cover the pot very well and allow the sauce to simmer and reduce for 20 minutes at medium heat.
• After 20 minutes, turn down the heat to low, and mix in the spices. We will be keeping the temperature at LOW (YOUR LOWEST HEAT SETTING) for the rest of the cooking process.
• Once the spices have been mixed in well, add the rice (please remember to wash the rice very well) and 1 2/3 cups of water.DO NOT ADD ANY MORE WATER BEYOND THIS POINT
• Make sure to taste the sauce for salt. You want it to be slightly salty because when the rice cooks it will dilute out the salt.
• Cover the pot well, turn the heat to LOW and keep an eye on the rice.
• After 10 minutes, fold over the rice (get the rice from the bottom to the top) to make sure it is not too burnt at the bottom, and place a parchment paper or tin foil on top of the pot before covering the pot. This traps steam in the pot and cooks the rice
• Let the rice cook for 25 mins at LOW. The point is to steam the rice. You will be tempted to open and check, please do not check. Leave it alone so that it cooks well
• After 25 mins, discard any water that has collected at the top of the parchment paper or tin foil and give the rice a quick turn. Cover let it cook at LOW for another 25 minutes.
• Once the 25 minutes has passed, check the rice again to check how well cooked it is, again discard any water that has pooled on top of the parchment paper or tin foil. Cover it and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes or till the rice is cooked
• The rice should be cooked in about an hour (calculated from the time you added the rice to the stew).

Notes

** If you do not have access to the veggie broth powder, you are more than welcome to use liquid veggie broth instead of water to give the same flavour. Low sodium is best because you can control the amount of salt in the rice