Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Githeri
Boiled maize and beans finished in a tomato and onion masala, one of the oldest and most dependable Kenyan home meals.
Kenyan · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 90 min
~209 cal · 10g protein · 27g carbs · 7g fat · 9g fiber · 4g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Githeri is one of the oldest dishes in Kikuyu cooking, born in the fertile highlands around Mount Kenya where maize and beans grow side by side. At its simplest it is nothing more than the two boiled together until tender, the food of farmers and labourers who needed something filling to carry them through long days on the shamba.
Most Kenyan homes now finish the boiled base in a mchuzi, a tomato and onion sauce fried up with garlic, cumin and turmeric, sometimes with potatoes, carrots or a handful of sukuma wiki stirred through. That step is what turns a plain pot of grains into the version sold in vibandas and eaten across the country.
Cheap, wholesome and endlessly adaptable, githeri feeds schoolchildren, workers and guests alike, and it is naturally vegan when the masala is built on oil rather than .
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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 6
1.5 cups dried white maize kernels, soaked overnight
1 cup dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight
1 large onion, chopped
3 tomatoes, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 cups sukuma wiki (collard greens), sliced
Instructions
1
Drain the soaked maize and beans, cover with fresh water, and simmer until both are tender, about 90 minutes, topping up the water as needed.
✎ Chef’s note
Use dry field maize, not sweetcorn. Githeri wants a chewy, hearty kernel that holds up to long cooking.
2
Fry the onion in the oil until golden, then add the garlic, cumin and turmeric and cook a minute more.
3
Add the grated tomatoes and cook down to a thick sauce, about 8 minutes.
4
Stir the drained maize and beans into the sauce with a splash of their cooking water and simmer 10 minutes so the flavours meld.
5
Fold in the sukuma wiki, cook 3 minutes until just tender, season with salt and serve.
Central Kenyan home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Nairobi. Nairobi eats ugali with sukuma wiki greens and nyama choma grilled meat, plus Swahili-coast and Indian influences. Kenya's capital cooks hearty, communal, and grill-loving.
🗺️
Kenya. Sukuma wiki means push the week, which is exactly what the dish is for: collard greens chopped fine and fried with onion and tomato to stretch a household's food to payday. Nyama choma is the counterweight, goat as often as beef, roasted slowly over coals and eaten standing up over an afternoon rather than plated as a meal.
🌍
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 Kenya
Sukuma Wiki & UgaliCollard greens braised with tomatoes and onion beside firm maize ugali, Kenya’s daily bread and greens.
UjiA smooth, slightly sour fermented millet-and-sorghum porridge, sipped warm to start the day.
Nyama ChomaSimply salted goat or beef slow-grilled over charcoal and eaten with kachumbari and ugali, Kenya's social feast.
Browse all Kenya recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.
Make it a Kenya meal
Kenyan ChaiDrink
KaimatiDessert
Mukimo (Mashed Greens, Maize and Potatoes)Dinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Githeri?
Boiled maize and beans finished in a tomato and onion masala, one of the oldest and most dependable Kenyan home meals.
Where does Githeri come from?
Githeri is a Kenyan dish from Nairobi, Kenya.
Can Githeri be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Githeri 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 Githeri 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 Githeri take to make?
About 105 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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