Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Benachin
The Gambian one-pot: rice simmered in a rich tomato broth with fish and chunks of cassava, sweet potato, carrot and cabbage until it soaks up every drop, served family-style.
Gambian · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 60 min
~668 cal · 30g protein · 110g carbs · 11g fat · 6g fiber · 8g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Benachin means one pot in Wolof, and that name is the whole idea: fish or meat, vegetables and rice all cooked in a single pot so the grains drink up the flavour of everything above them. It is the Gambian cousin of jollof, rooted in the old Senegambia of the Wolof empire, and close kin to Senegal’s thieboudienne.
The method builds in stages. Fish is browned and set aside, a deep tomato broth is built in the same pot, then hearty vegetables such as , sweet potato, carrot and cabbage in it until just tender and are lifted out. Finally the rice goes into the broth to cook low and slow, and everything is arranged back on top to serve.
It is food for a crowd, brought to the table on one big platter and shared, the way Gambian meals are meant to be eaten.
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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
600 g firm white fish, in steaks or large pieces
3 cups long-grain rice, rinsed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 medium tomatoes, chopped or blended
2 large onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium , peeled and cut in chunks
1 medium sweet potato, in chunks
2 carrot, in large pieces
1/4 head cabbage, in wedges
1 , left whole
5 cups water or fish
Instructions
1
Season the fish with salt and pepper and brown it in the oil, then lift out and set aside.
2
In the same pot, soften the onions, then add the garlic and tomato paste and cook until darkened. Add the tomatoes, the whole scotch bonnet and the water or stock and simmer to a rich broth.
✎ Chef’s note
Frying the tomato paste until it deepens in colour is what gives benachin its savoury base.
3
Add the cassava, sweet potato, carrot and cabbage and simmer until just tender, then lift the vegetables out and keep warm.
4
Stir the rinsed rice into the broth, return the fish to nestle on top, cover tightly and cook on low until the rice is tender and has absorbed the broth, about 25 minutes.
5
Rest 10 minutes, then turn out onto a platter and arrange the fish and vegetables over the rice. Serve family-style.
Gambian national one-pot dish.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Banjul. Banjul sits at the mouth of the Gambia River and is devoted to superkanja, a thick okra stew with palm oil, smoked fish, and meat over rice. Groundnut stews, benachin one-pot rice, and river fish are everyday.
🗺️
The Gambia. The Gambia, wrapped around its river, cooks West African classics, domoda (groundnut stew), benachin one-pot rice, and abundant seafood. Peanut, fish, and fiery pepper define the smallest mainland African nation's table.
🌍
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 The Gambia
SuperkanjaThe Gambia's rich okra stew with palm oil, smoked fish, and meat, spooned over rice.
TapalapaThe Gambia's daily bread: a crusty, dense baton of mixed millet, maize, and wheat flours, baked in a clay oven and torn open for breakfast.
DomodaThe Gambian groundnut stew: meat simmered in a thick, tangy peanut sauce with tomato and pumpkin, served over rice.
Browse all The Gambia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a The Gambia meal
Bouye (Baobab Smoothie)Drink
ChakeryDessert
DomodaLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Benachin?
The Gambian one-pot: rice simmered in a rich tomato broth with fish and chunks of cassava, sweet potato, carrot and cabbage until it soaks up every drop, served family-style.
Where does Benachin come from?
Benachin is a Gambian dish from Banjul, The Gambia.
Can Benachin be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Benachin 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 Benachin 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 Benachin take to make?
About 90 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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