Cornmeal cooked directly in a spiced red tomato-and-pepper sauce, served with braised chicken.

Where does Amiwo come from?

Amiwo is a Beninese dish from Cotonou, Benin.

Can Amiwo be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Amiwo recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Amiwo take to make?

About 75 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 6.

Amiwo — a Cotonou, Benin recipe

Name: Amiwo
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Beninese
Ingredients: 2.5 lb chicken pieces; 2 cups white cornmeal (maize flour); 4 tomatoes; 1 red pepper; 3 tbsp tomato paste; 2 onion; 4 cloves garlic; 1 scotch bonnet; 1/4 cup red palm or vegetable oil

Africa → 🇧🇯 Benin → Cotonou

Amiwo

Beninese · medium · serves 6

prep 25 min · cook 50 min

~618 cal · 53g protein · 49g carbs · 22g fat (estimated, per serving)

🍽️

Reddish cornmeal slab beside a bowl of tomato chicken stew

🇧🇯 Cotonou

Amiwo is festive food in Benin, distinct from plain white cornmeal because the polenta is cooked right in a deep red sauce of tomato, onion, and pepper for extra flavor and color. It is the dish of celebrations along the coast around Cotonou, cut into slabs and served with a rich chicken stew.

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Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 6 —

•

2.5 lb chicken pieces

•

2 cups white cornmeal (maize flour)

•

4 tomatoes

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1 red pepper

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3 tbsp tomato paste

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2 onion

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4 cloves garlic

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1 scotch bonnet

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1/4 cup red palm or vegetable oil

Instructions

1

Blend the tomatoes, pepper, onion, garlic, and scotch bonnet into a sauce and fry it down in the oil until thick and deep red.

2

Braise the chicken (or mushrooms and tofu) in half the sauce with a little water until cooked and glossy; set aside.

3

Thin the remaining sauce with 3 cups water and bring to a simmer.

4

Rain in the cornmeal while stirring hard with a wooden spoon and cook 10–15 minutes until stiff and smooth.

5

Shape the red amiwo into mounds and serve with the braised chicken and its sauce.

Cotonou tradition.

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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Cotonou. Benin's bustling seaside city of red-sauced cornmeal.

🗺️

Benin. Birthplace of Vodun and of cornmeal simmered in red sauce.

🌍

Africa. Fifty-four countries of tagines, stews, and fire-kissed grills.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →