Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew)
Slow-cooked beef shank in a glossy okra sauce, a Chadian classic eaten with a ball of millet boule.
Chadian · medium · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 180 min
~665 cal · 62g protein · 13g carbs · 39g fat · 4g fiber · 4g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
Jarret de boeuf au gombo is Chadian comfort food at its most emblematic: beef shank slow-cooked until it falls from the bone in a sauce thickened and made glossy by . It pairs the cattle of the country's herders with , an African vegetable with ancient roots on the continent.
As the cooks down it releases the mucilage that gives the sauce its prized silky, clinging texture. The stew is spiced with onion, garlic, ginger, and chilli and eaten with boule, the stiff or ball that stands in for a spoon: diners tear off a piece and use it to scoop up the rich sauce from a shared bowl.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally 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 6
3 lb beef shank, bone-in, cut into chunks
1 lb , sliced
2 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
1 chilli
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Season and brown the beef in the oil in a heavy pot until deeply coloured on all sides, then set aside.
2
Soften the onion in the same pot, add the garlic and ginger, then stir in the tomato paste and cook until it darkens.
3
Return the beef, add water to nearly cover, drop in the bay leaf and whole chilli, and simmer gently until the meat is very tender, about 2.5 hours.
✎ Chef’s note
Keep the heat low and the pot barely bubbling so the shank turns tender rather than tough.
4
Stir in the sliced okra about 30 minutes before the end and cook until it breaks down and the sauce turns glossy and thick.
5
Season to taste and serve with a warm ball of millet boule or rice.
Chadian Sahel tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
N'Djamena. Daraba is defined by two things working together: okra and groundnut paste. The okra makes it slippery and the peanut makes it rich, with tomato, greens and sometimes sweet potato in among them, and the point of it is that a ball of boule can be dipped and pulled back out clean.
🗺️
Chad. Chadian cuisine is Sahelian, built on millet and sorghum porridges (aiysh) eaten with okra or meat sauces. Grilled meats, dates, and the fiery daraba stew reflect a crossroads of desert and savanna.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Chad
DarabaA silky Chadian okra-and-greens stew enriched with peanut butter and tomato, eaten with millet.
KisserChadian sourdough crepes: thin, tangy fermented millet pancakes griddled soft and lacy, torn and dipped into sauce or eaten with sugar.
NashifGround beef sautéed with tomato, onion, and warm spices into a quick, savory dish eaten with bread or rice in N'Djamena.
Browse all Chad 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 Chad meal
Bili-BiliDrink
Le Ouaddaï (Fried Millet Fingers)Dessert
NashifLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew)?
Slow-cooked beef shank in a glossy okra sauce, a Chadian classic eaten with a ball of millet boule.
Where does Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew) come from?
Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew) is a Chadian dish from N'Djamena, Chad.
Can Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew) 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 Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew) 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 Jarret de Boeuf au Gombo (Beef and Okra Stew) take to make?
About 200 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 180 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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