Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Madesu
White beans simmered in a savory palm-oil, onion, and tomato sauce, an everyday staple of the DR Congo table.
Congolese · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 90 min
~468 cal · 21g protein · 64g carbs · 15g fat · 16g fiber · 7g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Madesu, simply meaning beans in Lingala, is an everyday staple across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a humble and nourishing dish of white beans in a savoury sauce. Cheap, filling, and satisfying, it feeds millions.
Dried white beans are simmered until soft, then cooked down with onion, garlic, and tomato in red , which lends the dish its characteristic colour and rich, distinctive flavour. Seasoned with a little chili and , it thickens into a rich stew. Served with rice, , or chikwangue ( ), it is dependable, plant-based nourishment at the heart of Congolese eating.
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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 dried white beans, soaked
2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup red
1 tbsp chili and vegetable cube
Instructions
1
Simmer the soaked beans until soft and tender.
2
Fry the onion and garlic in the palm oil, add the tomato, and cook to a sauce.
✎ Chef’s note
Let the beans cook down until some break apart and thicken the sauce; madesu should be rich and creamy, not watery.
3
Stir the sauce into the beans with the chili and stock and simmer to thicken.
4
Season and serve with rice or fufu.
Congolese home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kinshasa. Cassava gets used twice over in the same household. The root is fermented and pounded into fufu or wrapped and steamed into chikwangue, while the leaves off the same plant are pounded fine and simmered for hours with palm oil into pondu, which is the vegetable half of the meal.
🗺️
DR Congo. Poulet a la moambe is often named the national dish and is the same palm-nut preparation Gabon calls nyembwe, the pulp of the palm fruit boiled and pressed into a thick orange sauce. Pondu, pounded cassava leaves, has cousins under other names across the region, saka-saka, Rwandan isombe, Sierra Leonean plasas, so it belongs to a wide belt rather than to one country.
🌍
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 DR Congo
Pondu (Saka Saka)Cassava leaves pounded and simmered with palm oil, eggplant, and smoked richness, the Congo’s daily green.
MikateSweet Congolese fried dough balls, golden, pillowy, and dusted with sugar, for breakfast with tea.
Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk)Ripe plantains simmered gently in spiced coconut milk until soft and creamy, a sweet from the DR Congo table.
Browse all DR Congo recipes →
Good to know
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 DR Congo meal
Tangawisi (Congolese Ginger Tonic)Drink
Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk)Dessert
Makayabu (Salted Fish in Tomato Sauce)Dinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Madesu?
White beans simmered in a savory palm-oil, onion, and tomato sauce, an everyday staple of the DR Congo table.
Where does Madesu come from?
Madesu is a Congolese dish from Kinshasa, DR Congo.
Can Madesu be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Madesu 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 Madesu 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 Madesu take to make?
About 105 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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