What Is Waakye? The Ghanaian Rice and Beans Explained

For Ghanaians in Britain, waakye is the taste of home in its most everyday, comforting form. It is the morning plate from a favourite seller, the smell of the rice and beans, the heat of the shito, and the familiar ritual of choosing your toppings and building a plate just the way you like it. It carries the memory of school mornings and busy streets, of a beloved waakye woman whose spread everyone knew, and of the easy, generous abundance of a proper Ghanaian plate, and cooking it far from home brings all of that back.

There is real affection and identity wrapped up in it too. Waakye is a genuinely Ghanaian dish, from its Hausa-derived name to its sorghum-leaf colour to the shito that finishes it, and to eat it is to taste a piece of daily Ghanaian life. Making a good pot, with the right colour and a proper array of accompaniments, and sharing it with family who grew up on it or introducing a friend to their first loaded plate, is an act of welcome and belonging. That everyday generosity, piled high on one plate, is the quiet gift of waakye.

What is Waakye?

Waakye, pronounced wah-chay, is one of Ghana's most popular everyday dishes, a comforting plate of rice and beans cooked together in one pot. At its simplest, it is exactly that, rice and beans, usually black-eyed beans or cowpeas, simmered together until tender. But what makes waakye instantly recognisable is its colour: the rice and beans take on a reddish-brown hue, and the dish has a subtle earthy flavour that sets it apart from plain rice and beans elsewhere.

More than the base itself, waakye is really about the whole plate. It is rarely eaten alone, and part of its joy is the array of accompaniments piled alongside it, which turn a simple bowl of rice and beans into a generous, varied meal. It is affordable, filling and adaptable, which is exactly why it became such a fixture of Ghanaian street food and daily eating, enjoyed from early morning onwards.

Waakye is a favourite of Ghanaian cooking, and you can see the wider table it belongs to in our guide to Ghanaian food.

The leaves that give the colour

The secret behind waakye's signature colour is a natural one: dried sorghum leaves, widely known as waakye leaves. These reddish dried leaves are added to the pot as the rice and beans cook, and they release their colour into the dish, turning it the characteristic reddish-brown and lending a mild, distinctive flavour. It is a completely natural colouring, one of those clever traditional techniques that uses a plant to transform a dish. Some cooks also add a pinch of food-grade potash, which helps the leaves release their colour and deepens the hue.

This is a lovely example of how a regional ingredient defines a dish. Without the waakye leaves, you simply have rice and beans, but with them you have waakye, with its unmistakable look and taste. The good news for cooks abroad is that the dried leaves travel and store well and are sold in African food shops, so the unique colour is within reach. If you cannot find the leaves, the dish can be approximated, but the real waakye leaves are what give it its true character.

What goes with Waakye

The accompaniments are where waakye really comes alive, and a proper plate is a thing of beauty. The rice and beans form the base, and onto or beside it go a whole range of toppings, each adding texture and flavour. Common additions include spaghetti, which might sound surprising but is a much-loved part of the classic plate, boiled egg, gari, the dried cassava granules that add a little crunch, and fried plantain for sweetness. You can read about that plantain in our guide to plantain.

For protein, waakye is served with options such as fried or grilled fish, chicken, beef or wele, which is cooked cow skin, and it is almost always finished with shito, the dark, spicy Ghanaian pepper sauce made with dried fish and chilli, and often a little tomato and pepper sauce or gravy too. Every waakye seller has their own spread, and part of the fun is choosing your combination. Because it so often includes fish, both in the toppings and in the shito, anyone with a fish or shellfish allergy should check what is on the plate.

How Waakye Is Eaten

Waakye is, above all, casual, everyday food, and it is eaten throughout the day, though it is especially loved as a hearty breakfast or lunch. Traditionally it is bought from a waakye seller, often a woman with a well-known stall, and served wrapped in leaves or packed into a takeaway container, piled high with the customer's chosen accompaniments and a spoonful of shito. Eating waakye from a favourite seller is a daily ritual for many Ghanaians, and stalls build loyal followings based on the quality of their rice, their shito and their spread.

At home, waakye is cooked in a big pot and served family style, with everyone building their own plate from the toppings on offer. However it is eaten, it is meant to be filling and satisfying, a complete meal on one plate. Its combination of carbohydrate, protein, a little vegetable and that all-important shito is what makes it so beloved, and it is a genuine taste of Ghanaian daily life rather than special-occasion food.

Where can I Buy the ingredients in UK?

Making waakye at home in Britain is very achievable, and the key ingredients are found in African and Caribbean food shops. The most important are the dried waakye leaves, or sorghum leaves, which are sold in packets and give the dish its colour, and the same shops stock the rice and the black-eyed beans or cowpeas that form the base. On the same shelves you will find gari, ready-made shito, dried fish and the seasonings you need, and the plantain to fry alongside.

The shopkeeper can point you to the waakye leaves if you are new to the dish, since they are the one ingredient that really makes it unique. You can find African food stores near you or look up Caribbean food stores near you. If you would rather taste it first, look out for waakye at Ghanaian restaurants and takeaways and at community events, where it is a regular and popular feature.