This Nigerian beans pottage is made with honey beans, plantain, yam and garnished with dried shrimps and fish; with simple and easy to follow directions.

Nigerian beans pottage is not a regular on my table these days, I would normally just cook honey beans and serve it with bread or fried plantain. But if you have a leftover yam what do you cook? Beans pottage of course!  I made boiled yam and eggs a few days ago, and as you know leftover yam doesn’t last for long once it’s been cut open, so I decided that yam, plantain and beans pottage was the solution to salvage the remaining yam.

This recipe is quite simple and has little ingredients compared to other beans pottage recipes. You can also substitute some of the non-essential ingredients and also make your own twist without either yam or plantain.

Ingredients in Nigerian beans pottage

You can be flexible with what to include in beans pottage after the main ingredients, this makes it easier to cook with what you find. The main ingredients in this recipe are honey beans, yam, plantain and palm oil. Other ingredients are scotch bonnet (can be subbed for chilli pepper of grounded dry pepper), dried shrimps and fish, onions, Knorr cubes and salt to taste.

Honey beans is the best beans to use for beans pottage, the natural sweetness means you wouldn’t have you use a lot seasoning, but you can definitely use the usual Nigerian brown beans as well. For vegan/vegetarian version, remove fish and shrimps.

Preparation

There is little preparation needed when cooking Nigerian beans pottage, but preparing the ingredients ahead makes cooking easier. Chop onions, scotch bonnet and plantain and set aside. The plantain can be sliced into big chunky round slices, double the size if you’re frying it.

Usually, I slice yam into round slices if I am boiling it, so for this recipe the yam slices are divided into four which makes it easier to blend well with the beans and plantain. Also, I always soak dried food stock like fish and shrimps in hot water before using to get rid of any dirt.

How to make Nigerian beans Pottage

One thing to note before you start cooking is that Nigerian beans requires a lot of water to cook so you might want to make sure that is readily available.

1. Place saucepan on hob and add 400mls of water and bring to boil. While the water is coming to boil, wash 300grams of Nigerian honey beans under cold water and toss into the hot water.
2. Add half of the chopped onion and cover the saucepan. More often than not, the water will boil over so you may want to cover the pan with half the lid or leave it uncovered completely so the steam can escape.
3. Cook for 30mins. Keep checking the beans and add more water when needed. It takes about 2litres of water to cook the 300g of Nigerian beans but be careful not to add too much water at a time. Add yam, plantain, scotch bonnet, dried shrimps and fish. Add more water and mix gently before covering. Cook for another 15mins on medium heat.
4. Add the other half of chopped onion, 75mls of palm oil, 2 Knorr stock cubes and 2 teaspoons of salt. Add about 50-100mls of water and stir together gently (If you already added too much water, just stir without adding extra water) and simmer for 15min on medium-low heat.
5. Taste and add more salt or pepper as desired. You can stir it gently half way through to ensure that ingredients are properly mixed.

What type of plantain can you use for beans pottage?

The best plantain to use for Nigerian beans pottage is ripe and yellowish plantain. It gets soft easily and it is more tasty than the unripe one. The idea behind beans pottage is for all plantain (and yam) to blend easily with the beans.

Simple Nigerian beans pottage Recipe

Recipe by Oluwaseyi O’shea

5.0 from 4 votes

Course: MainCuisine: NigerianDifficulty: Fairly Easy

Servings

7

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

55

minutes

Calories

550

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

15

minutes

Looking at making Nigerian beans pottage recipe with no fuse? Look no further!

Ingredients

• 300 grams Honey beans

• 900 grams Yam

• 3 ripe Plantain

• ½ cup Dried shrimps

• ½ cup Dried stock fish

• 2 Scotch bonnet

• 1 large Onion

• 75 mls Palm oil

• 2 (small) cubes Knorr stock cubes

• 2 teaspoons Salt

Directions

• Place saucepan on hob and add 400mls of water and bring to boil. While the water is coming to boil, wash 300grams of Nigerian honey beans under cold water and toss into the hot water.
• Add half of the chopped onion and cover the saucepan. More often than not, the water will boil over so you may want to cover the pan with half the lid or leave it uncovered completely so the steam can escape.
• Cook for 30mins. Keep checking the beans and add more water when needed. It takes about 2litres of water to cook the 300g of Nigerian beans but be careful not to add too much water at a time.
• Add yam, plantain, scotch bonnet, dried shrimps and fish. Add more water and mix gently before covering. Cook for another 15mins on medium heat.
• Add the other half of chopped onion, 75mls of palm oil, 2 Knorr stock cubes and 2 teaspoons of salt. Add about 50-100mls of water and stir together gently (If you already added too much water, just stir without adding extra water) and simmer for 15min on medium-low heat.
• Taste and add more salt or pepper as desired. You can stir it gently half way through to ensure that ingredients are properly mixed.

Notes

• PS: Nutrition information is estimated using an online nutrition calculator and based on ingredients used.

Utensils and tools

Saucepan, Chopping board, Spatula and Knife (You can buy any of the items on Amazon by clicking the link. This opens a new tab on your browser so you will still remain on this page).

Other Nigerian beans recipe

• Honey beans porridge
• Nigerian beans fritters (Akara)
• Nigerian baked beans (Moimoi)

Frequently asked questions about beans pottage

Can you freeze beans pottage?

Yes! Like beans porridge, you can freeze beans pottage. To freeze, let it cool completely and store in a lidded plastic container, freeze for up to three months. The more time you freeze it for the less tasty it becomes. When you’re ready to serve, bring it out and thaw before microwaving on high heat for 4mins.

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