Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Renga Renga
Sweet potato leaves simmered with red palm oil, onion, mint and smoked fish into a savoury Burundian greens stew.
Burundian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 45 min
~350 cal · 18g protein · 39g carbs · 14g fat · 7g fiber · 13g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Renga renga, sometimes written ringa ringa, is a Burundian greens stew built on sweet potato leaves rather than the leaves of neighbouring dishes, which gives it a milder, distinctly green flavour. The leaves are boiled down first, then simmered in a base of red and onion until the pot is savoury and glossy.
Green onions, tomatoes and mint sharpen it, and a piece of smoked or dried fish is often added to deepen the flavour, though many cooks keep it meat-free. Like most Burundian food it is honest, frugal cooking, making the most of the leaves that grow alongside the staple crop.
It is served alongside rice or ubugari, the smooth -flour porridge that anchors the Burundian table, and eaten by hand.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally 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 lb sweet potato leaves (or spinach), finely shredded
3 tbsp red
1 onion, chopped
3 spring onions, sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1 cup smoked fish, boned and flaked
1 cube
Instructions
1
Bring a pot of water with the crumbled stock cube to a boil and add the shredded sweet potato leaves. Simmer until they soften, about 20 minutes.
2
Stir in the red palm oil, onion, spring onions and tomatoes and continue to cook gently.
3
Add the smoked fish (or mushrooms) and the mint and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until a film of oil rises to the surface.
✎ Chef’s note
That sheen of palm oil on top is the sign the stew is done, the way Burundian cooks judge it.
4
Season to taste and serve hot with rice or ubugari.
Bujumbura home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bujumbura. Bujumbura sits on Lake Tanganyika, eating beans and plantain daily and grilling fresh lake fish over charcoal. Burundian cooking is starch-and-legume based, with cassava leaves, sweet potato, and groundnut sauces alongside.
🗺️
Burundi. Burundian cooking is simple and plant-forward, beans, plantains, cassava, and sweet potatoes, with the bean stew ibiharage a favorite. In this cattle-keeping culture, milk and communal meals hold deep meaning.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
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.
Ibitoke n'IbiharageBurundi's beans and plantains: red beans and green cooking bananas simmered together with onion and warm spice into a filling plate.
NdagalaTiny silver fish from Lake Tanganyika pan-fried crisp with onion and tomato, a lakeside lunch of Bujumbura.
Browse all Burundi recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Burundi meal
UrwarwaDrink
Date and Banana MixDessert
NdagalaLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Renga Renga?
Sweet potato leaves simmered with red palm oil, onion, mint and smoked fish into a savoury Burundian greens stew.
Where does Renga Renga come from?
Renga Renga is a Burundian dish from Bujumbura, Burundi.
Can Renga Renga be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Renga Renga 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 Renga Renga 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 Renga Renga take to make?
About 60 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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