Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Ibitoke n'Ibiharage
Burundi's beans and plantains: red beans and green cooking bananas simmered together with onion and warm spice into a filling plate.
Burundian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 40 min
~480 cal · 17g protein · 90g carbs · 8g fat · 15g fiber · 25g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Ibitoke n'ibiharage, beans and , is about as Burundian as a dish gets, bringing together the country's two everyday staples: red kidney beans (ibiharage) and starchy green cooking bananas (ibitoke). Simmered together with onion, tomato, and a little warm spice, they make a filling, savory-sweet plate eaten from breakfast onwards.
grow all over Burundi's hills and, like the beans, anchor the daily table; cooked together the beans turn soft and saucy while the stay meaty and mild. A pinch of cinnamon or cumin, common in the region, gives the pot a gentle, toasty warmth.
Cheap, nourishing, and deeply homey, ibitoke n'ibiharage is the kind of one-pot plate that starts a working day and feeds a whole family from a single pot, in Bujumbura and the countryside alike.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- 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
1.5 cups dried red kidney beans, soaked (or 2 cans, drained)
3 green (cooking bananas), peeled and chunked
1 onion, chopped
2 tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin and a pinch of cinnamon
2 tbsp red palm or vegetable oil
to taste salt
Instructions
1
If using dried beans, simmer them in plenty of water until nearly tender, about 1 hour, then keep their cooking liquid.
2
In a pot, soften the onion, garlic, and tomato in the oil with the cumin and cinnamon until jammy.
3
Add the beans with a cup of their liquid and the plantain chunks, and season with salt.
4
Simmer covered 20 to 25 minutes until the plantains are tender and the sauce has thickened; serve warm.
Bujumbura household cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bujumbura. Lake Tanganyika supplies the names. Mukeke is the fish most associated with Burundian cooking, usually served with fried plantain, alongside sangala and the tiny ndagala, dried in the sun in great quantity and then cooked into sauces.
🗺️
Burundi. Lake Tanganyika supplies the protein that the hills do not. Mukeke and sangala are the large fish, and ndagala the tiny ones, dried by the sackful and fried or stewed with tomato. Ibiharage, beans fried with onion after boiling, is the everyday plate that beans mostly become.
🌍
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 Burundi
IbiharageBurundi's fried kidney beans with onion, garlic, and chili, served with plantain or rice.
NdagalaTiny silver fish from Lake Tanganyika pan-fried crisp with onion and tomato, a lakeside lunch of Bujumbura.
Igikoma cy'UburoBurundi's warming finger-millet porridge, whisked thin and smooth, sweetened, and often enriched with a spoon of roasted groundnut flour.
Browse all Burundi recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Burundi meal
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Date and Banana MixDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ibitoke n'Ibiharage?
Burundi's beans and plantains: red beans and green cooking bananas simmered together with onion and warm spice into a filling plate.
Where does Ibitoke n'Ibiharage come from?
Ibitoke n'Ibiharage is a Burundian dish from Bujumbura, Burundi.
Can Ibitoke n'Ibiharage be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ibitoke n'Ibiharage 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 Ibitoke n'Ibiharage 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 Ibitoke n'Ibiharage take to make?
About 55 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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