Vegetarian Egusi Soup

This vegetarian egusi stew is a meat-free alternative to the popular Nigerian Egusi Soup. This recipe is simple, absolutely delicious and a perfect introduction to Nigerian food and West African ingredients.

Egusi soup and fufu took social media by storm when the #fufuchallenge was all over Tik Tok. Many rushed to their local West African restaurant to try this combination, and boy were there lots of reactions. Food is always an opportunity to learn about a different culture and the #fufuchallenge certainly got people interested in African food. Although some of the reactions were not kind, they definitely got a conversation going about cultural appreciation. For my plant-based/vegetarian and vegan friends that felt left out of this challenge, this recipe is especially for you. This soup takes the traditional recipe and makes it plant-based friendly, with some sneaky plant-based protein, and the same amazing flavours.

What is Egusi Soup

Egusi soup is a spicy sauce used to eat a variety of swallows in Nigeria. The soup has three main components — the red soup base, the melon seeds, and the greens.

• The red base is made of a spicy pepper bled using a mix of scotch bonnet or habanero peppers with bell peppers or Portuguese peppers. Traditionally, people do not use tomatoes for the pepper base but I do because #ghanaian. This gives the sauce a really deep colour, which is amplified after frying in some red palm oil.
• The melon seeds are locally known as egusi (Ghanaians refer to them as agushie). These melon seeds are traditionally found in indigenous West African melons. They may look like pumpkin seeds but they are part of the watermelon family.
• The greens can really be a variety of leaves. Some will use uziza leaves, which are the greens for the Ashanti pepper plant. Others use bitter leaves or ugu leaves. But most people in the diaspora use spinach.

Like many Nigerian soups and stews, there is an assortment of protein. To keep this vegan-friendly, we will be using a combination of mushrooms and tofu.

There are many renditions of this stew across West Africa. If you want to check out the Ghanaian version, please click here.

What Ingredients you will need to Make Vegetarian Egusi Soup

• Red Palm Oil: This adds a really nice buttery flavour. If you are concerned about the use of red palm oil, please check my blog post on red palm oil (click here)
• Aromatics: This recipe is quite simple and only requires onions
• Pepper Base: I am using a mix of red bell pepper and scotch bonnet pepper for flavour and heat. I am also including one tomato to cut the sweetness of all the peppers.
• Spices: The spices are quite minimal but the most important one is the fermented locust beans/dawa dawa. For more details on iru, please check out my blog post on Important Spices. These add an authentic flavour and smell to the dish. I am also using a nori + mushroom blend as a crayfish substitute.
• Greens: I am using primarily spinach but I also added some dried uziza leaves (not required)
• Melon Seeds: I get my melon seeds WHOLE from my local West African store as I like to grind them myself.

How to make Vegetarian Egusi Soup

• Cook down the onions in red palm oil till soft
• Add in the pepper purée and spices

• Cook down the sauce
• Mix in the mushrooms and tofu
• Cook the egusi mix: The Egusi will cook and feel almost eggy when ready.

• Add the greens
• Serve

FAQ + Substitutions

• Can I substitute the palm oil for another oil? Yes, you can. Any vegetable oil works (not coconut oil). HOWEVER, red palm oil is almost like a flavouring ingredient in this recipe.
• Can I make this soy free? Yes, you can. To add more protein, you can mix in some boiled black-eye peas. We make this combo a lot in Ghana for our version of egusi stew.
• Can I substitute the melon seeds? You can substitute with raw pumpkin seeds. The flavour and color will be slightly different as raw pumpkin seeds are green but they are a great substitute.
• Can I substitute the dawa dawa? This is a hard one because it is soo unique. You can remove it if you want but it will not smell or taste the same. For an umami substitute, you can add miso.
• Are there other greens I can use? Kale works well here but frozen spinach is quite inexpensive so no need to make any big substitutions.

What Can I serve this dish with?

• Most often, I see that egusi soup is served with pounded yam. For more details, check out my blog post on how to cook yam (click here)
• Others also eat this with eba which is made by mixing gari with hot water.
• A non-traditional option is to eat it with plain rice, boiled yam, or boiled plantains. This is how we eat it in Ghana.

If you like this recipe, please make sure to leave a comment below. You can also tag me in your creations (@eatwithafia on Tik Tok and Instagram)

Print Recipe

Vegetarian Egusi Soup

This recipe is simple, absolutely delicious and a perfect introduction to Nigerian food and West African ingredients.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Nigerian

Keyword: egusi, Nigerian Soup, soup

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup red palm oil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 scotch bonnet
• 1 tomato
• 1.5 red bell pepper
• 1.5 tsp iru/dawa dawa/ fermented locust beans powder
• 1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder I use the Knorr brand
• 1 tbsp of vegetarian better than bouillon paste
• 1 tsp mushroom+nori powder
• 1/2 tsp uziza seeds
• 1 cup egusi
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 cup of dried shiitake mushrooms
• a few fresh oyster mushrooms
• 1/2 block of extra firm tofu
• 1.5 cups of hot water
• 3/4 cup room temperature water
• A few dried uziza leaves optional
• 1 box of frozen spinach

Instructions

• Soak your dried shiitake mushroom in the cup of hot water with the uziza leaves till soft
• In a pot at medium heat, heat your red palm oil
• Add in your diced onions and let it cook till soft.
• As the onions are cooking, blend the bell pepper, scotch bonnet and tomato into a purée.
• Once the onions are soft, add in your pepper mix and your spices (uziza seeds, iru, mushroom + nori powder + vegetable bouillon powder).
• Mix everything well and let it cook for 15 minutes. This fries the pepper base well and the oil will start to separate.
• While the stew is cooking, grind your melon seeds and mix with the salt and 3/4 cup room temperature water.
• At this point, add in your better than bouillon paste, pour in your mushroom, uzziza leaf, water mix and crumble the tofu into the stew. Cover and cook for a 2-3 minutes.
• Add in your fresh mushrooms then pour in your egusi mixture.
• Reduce the temperature to medium-low and let your egusi cook for 25 minutes till it is nice and eggy. I cooked it uncovered for about 10 minutes to let the water evaporate. Do not mix!!. Reduce the heat if you find that the bottom might be burning.
• After 25 minutes, mix in the frozen spinahc and cook till thawed.
• Serve with Eba, pounded yam or boiled yam