Best Shops to Buy Palm Oil in Liverpool (2026)
You can buy palm oil, the thick red-orange oil used in soups and stews, at most of Liverpool's African, West African and Caribbean food shops. The best rated are Ameta Essentials and Harvestfield Store around County Road, Temmy African store and Mj Unique Ventures on Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington and Granby shops.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
You can buy palm oil, the thick red-orange oil used in soups and stews, at most of Liverpool's African, West African and Caribbean food shops. The best rated are Ameta Essentials and Harvestfield Store around County Road, Temmy African store and Mj Unique Ventures on Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington and Granby shops. You can find African food stores near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Palm oil is a pantry staple in Liverpool's African, West African and Caribbean food shops, so it is easy to find once you know where to look.
- The best rated shops for it sit around County Road in Walton, Breck Road in Everton and Anfield, Old Swan, Kensington, Bold Street in the city centre and Granby Street in Toxteth.
- It is sold in bottles of various sizes, and it is worth knowing that it sets to a soft paste when cold and melts again when warm.
- To find a shop near you across the city, African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops wherever you are.
Nothing signals a proper pot of soup quite like that first slick of red oil going into the pan, the colour blooming as it warms. For many West African and Caribbean families in Liverpool palm oil is the ingredient you never want to run out of, the one that makes egusi, moi moi, ewa agoyin and a dozen stews taste like home. What we liked across the city is how many of these grocers are run by people who cook the same food themselves and keep the oil they trust on the shelf. That is worth more than any label.
1. Ameta Essentials African and Caribbean Superstore A County Road standout and one of the highest rated shops in the city at 4.8, with a broad African and Caribbean range that makes it a natural first stop for palm oil. Shoppers praise the choice and the friendly welcome, the sort of superstore where your bottle of red oil and everything else for the pot sit on the same trip. You will find it at 261 County Rd, Liverpool L4 5PQ.
2. Harvestfield Store Another County Road favourite, also rated 4.8, run with a clear Nigerian and West African focus, which is exactly where palm oil belongs. Shoppers rate it for fresh stock and hard to find staples, so the red oil is easy to pick up alongside the soup ingredients that go with it. You will find it at 165-169 County Rd, Liverpool L4 5PB.
3. Minara Farm A busy meat and fish market on Prescot Road in Old Swan with a strong 4.7, handy if you are buying the goat, tripe or fish for the pot at the same time as your palm oil. Reviewers rate it for freshness and value, so it makes an easy one stop for the whole dish. You will find it at 4-10 Stanley Building, Prescot Rd, Old Swan, Liverpool L13 3AS.
4. Temmy African Store A well loved Nigerian shop on Breck Road at 4.7, the kind of neighbourhood grocer where regulars come for their palm oil, dried fish and seasonings. Shoppers mention friendly service and a good, reliable range of Nigerian staples. You will find it at 292 Breck Rd, Liverpool L5 6QB.
5. Mj Unique Ventures A West African shop just along Breck Road in Anfield, rated 4.7, small but well stocked and rated highly by the people who use it. A good local call for palm oil and the greens and seasonings that go with it. You will find it at 82 Breck Rd, Anfield, Liverpool L4 2RD.
6. Matta's International Food The Liverpool institution, on Bold Street for around forty years and rated 4.6 across more than a thousand reviews. Its range runs well beyond African food, but the African and Caribbean pantry shelves are proper, and palm oil sits among them. If you are in the city centre, this is the easy one. You will find it at 51 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4EU.
7. Kensington Superstore A large, busy store on Kensington rated 4.5 across nearly three hundred reviews, with a wide African and Caribbean grocery range and the footfall to keep stock turning over. A dependable Kensington choice for palm oil and the rest of the dish. You will find it at 287 Kensington, Fairfield, Liverpool L7 2RG.
8. Granby Supermarkets An afro-caribbean community store on Granby Street in Toxteth at 4.5, long part of the neighbourhood and well used for everyday African and Caribbean groceries, palm oil among them. A friendly local call in the Lodge Lane and Granby area. You will find it at 83 Granby St, Liverpool L8 2XA.
How we picked this list We hold data on the African and Caribbean food shops across the city and ranked them by the rating real shoppers give them on Google, reading the reviews so the strengths we mention are the ones people actually value. For palm oil we leaned toward the African, West African and Caribbean grocers where the red oil is a regular buy and stock stays fresh. One shop worth a mention outside the top eight is GHM Foods on Kensington, whose shoppers name palm oil directly in their reviews, so it is worth knowing too. Grocers gather fewer reviews than restaurants, so we set a sensible review floor to keep the list fair. Small shops change their hours and stock, so it is worth a quick call before a big trip. And do not be put off if your bottle sets solid or cloudy in the cupboard, palm oil turning to a soft paste when cold is completely normal and it melts back when warmed.
Where to buy palm oil in Liverpool The main clusters are County Road in Walton, Breck Road across Everton and Anfield, Old Swan, Kensington and Toxteth around Lodge Lane and Granby Street, with Matta's as the city centre landmark. Wherever you are in the city one is rarely far. And if you want the nearest shop to home, African Stores helps you find African food stores near you, so you can pick up your palm oil, dried fish and greens close by.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy palm oil in Liverpool?
Palm oil is stocked by most of Liverpool's African, West African and Caribbean food shops. The best rated include Ameta Essentials and Harvestfield Store around County Road, Temmy African store and Mj Unique Ventures on Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street, and the Kensington and Granby shops. African Stores lists African food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks palm oil.
What is palm oil?
Palm oil is a thick red-orange oil pressed from the fruit of the oil palm, prized for its deep colour and flavour. It is used in soups, stews, moi moi, ewa agoyin and many West African and Caribbean dishes, and is sold in bottles of various sizes.
Why does my palm oil go solid, and is that a problem?
It is not a problem at all. Palm oil solidifies to a soft paste when it is cold and melts back to a liquid when it is warm, and both states are perfectly normal. Just stand the bottle somewhere warm or run it under warm water before you use it.
What is the difference between palm oil and palm kernel oil?
They are not the same. Palm oil is the red-orange oil pressed from the fruit of the oil palm and carries that deep colour and flavour, while palm kernel oil is pressed from the seed inside and is clear. The red palm oil is the one used for most West African and Caribbean soups and stews.
How do I find an African food shop near me?
African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks palm oil and the rest of your ingredients, wherever you are.
