Africa → Côte d’Ivoire → Abidjan (Lagunes)
🥔 SIDE
Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava)
Boiled plantain and cassava pounded together while hot into a smooth, elastic, faintly sweet dough, shaped into balls and served with sauce graine or peanut sauce.
Ivorian · medium · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 45 min
~420 cal · 3g protein · 105g carbs · 0g fat · 6g fiber · 29g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Foutou banane is the pounded dough of Côte d'Ivoire, the Ivorian member of the large West and Central African family of pounded pastes that includes Ghanaian . and are boiled until soft and then pounded together in a tall wooden mortar until they form a smooth, elastic dough, which is shaped into balls and served beside a sauce.
Its natural partner is sauce graine, the palm-nut sauce, and it is equally good with peanut sauce, sauce or a light soup. It is eaten with the right hand, a piece pinched off and dipped. In Akan and Baoulé homes it is a dish for family gatherings, and the pestle technique is still learned in family kitchens and in the markets.
Pounding it is hot, rhythmic work, and it has to be done straight away: the dough is easy to work while hot and hard to smooth once it cools. Some cooks pound the first to get rid of any fibres before adding the , and many now use a food processor.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
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
- 4 , firm and just ripe, Ivorian cooks use anything from green to black-speckled; riper plantain gives a sweeter, softer foutou
- 500 g fresh , peeled, cored and cut into chunks, firm, white, with no dark streaks
- about 2 litres water, enough to cover
- 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
Instructions
- 1Peel the plantains and cut them into large pieces. Cut the woody core out of the cassava chunks.
- 2Put the cassava in a large pot, cover with water, add the salt if using and boil for 15 minutes. Add the plantains and boil for 20 to 25 minutes more, until both are completely soft. Drain, keeping a cup of the cooking water.✎ Chef’s noteCassava takes longer than plantain, so it goes in first.
- 3While it is all very hot, pound the cassava alone in a mortar until smooth and free of fibres, then add the plantain and pound, fold and press for 5 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and evenly coloured. Wet the pestle with a little cooking water if it sticks.✎ Chef’s noteNo mortar: pulse in a sturdy food processor, then beat hard with a wooden spoon. Work fast, because the dough stiffens as it cools.
- 4Wet your hands and shape the foutou into smooth balls. Serve hot with sauce graine, peanut sauce or okra sauce.
Ivorian home tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Abidjan (Lagunes). Attieke is cassava fermented, grated and steamed into loose grains, and UNESCO added the practices around making it to its intangible heritage list in December 2024. The lagoon version carries its own protected geographical designation, which is a fair description of the ground this city sits on.
🗺️
Côte d’Ivoire. Kedjenou is cooked without stirring. Chicken or guinea fowl goes into a canari, a sealed clay pot, with tomato, onion, ginger and chilli and no added liquid, and the pot is shaken from time to time rather than opened, so everything cooks in the juices it gives up. It is served with attieke or rice.
🌍
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 Côte d’Ivoire
Kedjenou de PouletChicken slow-cooked sealed in a pot with peppers, tomato, and aromatics, with no added water, cooking in all its own juices.
Bouillie d'ArachideA creamy Ivorian peanut-and-millet breakfast porridge sweetened and scented with nutmeg.
Attiéké PoissonFermented cassava couscous served with grilled fish and a fresh onion-tomato relish, Côte d'Ivoire's national plate.
Browse all Côte d’Ivoire recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Mortar and pestle.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Côte d’Ivoire meal
GnamankoudjiDrink
Gâteau Coco (Fried Coconut Cakes)Dessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Funge (Angolan Cassava Flour Porridge)Angola
Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough)Central African Republic
Lituma (Congolese Mashed Plantain)DR Congo
Pounded Yam (Iyan)Nigeria
Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava)Sierra Leone
Angu de Banana (Santomean Mashed Plantain)São Tomé and Príncipe
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava)?
Boiled plantain and cassava pounded together while hot into a smooth, elastic, faintly sweet dough, shaped into balls and served with sauce graine or peanut sauce.
Where does Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava) come from?
Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava) is an Ivorian dish from Abidjan (Lagunes), Côte d’Ivoire.
Can Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava) take to make?
About 60 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.