Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Wassa-Wassa
Steamed yam-flour couscous tossed with a spiced tomato and onion sauce, a northern Beninese lunch staple.
Beninese · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 35 min
~358 cal · 8g protein · 56g carbs · 11g fat · 3g fiber · 4g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Wassa-wassa is a specialty of northern Benin, a made not from wheat but from yam flour, the dried and ground form of the great tubers that are a pillar of Beninese cooking. The pale flour is moistened, rubbed into fine grains, and steamed until light and fluffy, a technique that turns humble yam into something delicate.
The steamed grains are then dressed with a warm, spiced sauce of tomato and onion cooked down in oil, sometimes enriched with wagashi, the local farmer's cheese. Eaten on its own or with grilled meat or fish, wassa-wassa is an affordable, satisfying lunch, and a good example of how Beninese cooks coax variety out of the yam that feeds their region.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups yam flour (elubo)
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red chili, minced
3 tbsp oil
Instructions
1
Sprinkle the yam flour with a little water and rub it between your palms into fine, even grains.
✎ Chef’s note
Add the water gradually while rubbing; too much at once turns the flour to paste instead of grains.
2
Steam the grains in a lined steamer for about 15 minutes, then tip them out and break up any clumps with a fork.
3
Rinse the grains in cool water to wash away the yam flour's natural bitterness, drain well, and steam a second time until light and fluffy, about 15 minutes more.
✎ Chef’s note
Don't skip the rinse; it is the step that rids wassa-wassa of the raw yam-flour bitterness.
4
Meanwhile soften the onion, garlic, and chili in the oil, then add the tomato and cook to a thick sauce.
5
Fold the steamed couscous through the sauce until evenly coated and season with salt.
6
Serve hot, on its own or with fried fish.
Northern Beninese home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Cotonou. Akassa is fermented corn dough wrapped in leaves and eaten cool beside a sauce, and it is the everyday counterpart to amiwo's occasion. The city sits between the sea and a lagoon, so fish is either grilled whole on the sand or smoked and dropped into the sauces.
🗺️
Benin. Vodun's centre is here, in the Fon kingdom of Dahomey in what is now southern Benin, but it spans Togo, Ghana and Nigeria and absorbed a great deal of Yoruba practice, so it is a regional religion with a Beninese heartland. The slave port at Ouidah carried it across the Atlantic to Haiti, Cuba and Brazil, where its descendants are still practised.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Benin
AmiwoCornmeal cooked directly in a spiced red tomato-and-pepper sauce, served with braised chicken.
AbloSoft, slightly sweet steamed rice-and-corn cakes eaten plain or with a spicy sauce for breakfast.
Yovo Doko (Sweet Fritters)Light, puffy sweet fried dough balls dusted with sugar, often called the national dessert of Benin.
Browse all Benin recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer.
Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.
Make it a Benin meal
TchoukoutouDrink
Yovo Doko (Sweet Fritters)Dessert
AmiwoDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Wassa-Wassa?
Steamed yam-flour couscous tossed with a spiced tomato and onion sauce, a northern Beninese lunch staple.
Where does Wassa-Wassa come from?
Wassa-Wassa is a Beninese dish from Cotonou, Benin.
Can Wassa-Wassa be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Wassa-Wassa recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Wassa-Wassa safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Wassa-Wassa take to make?
About 55 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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