Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Sukuma Wiki & Ugali
Collard greens braised with tomatoes and onion beside firm maize ugali, Kenya’s daily bread and greens.
Kenyan · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 30 min
~360 cal · 8g protein · 57g carbs · 11g fat · 4g fiber · 4g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Sukuma wiki is the everyday green of Kenya, collard greens (or kale) sliced thin and down with onion, tomato, and a little oil until tender and savory. Its Swahili name translates memorably as 'to push the week,' a nod to its role as the affordable dish that stretches a family's food and money from one payday to the next.
It is almost always served beside ugali, the firm cooked maize-meal that is the staple carbohydrate across much of East Africa. Together they form the backbone of the Kenyan plate: a mound of ugali broken off by hand and used to scoop up the greens, with grilled or stewed meat added when the budget allows.
Though humble, sukuma wiki is eaten daily in homes across Nairobi and the countryside alike.
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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 4
2 big bunches collard greens (sukuma), ribboned
2 cups white maize flour (for ugali)
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp mild curry powder or royco-style seasoning
3 tbsp
1/2 lemon
Instructions
1
Make the ugali: bring 4 cups water to a boil, rain in the maize flour while stirring, and beat over medium heat 8-10 minutes until stiff enough to hold a spoon upright. Shape into a mound and keep warm.
2
Fry the onion in oil until golden; add garlic and the seasoning for 1 minute.
3
Add tomatoes and cook down 5 minutes into a soft sauce.
4
Pile in the greens with a splash of water and braise 8-10 minutes until tender but still deep green. Season and finish with lemon.
5
Serve beside the ugali, pinch off a piece, roll it, dent it with your thumb, and scoop.
Kenyan everyday home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Nairobi. Nyama choma is an afternoon rather than a course. Meat is bought by weight at the counter, taken away to be grilled slowly over charcoal, brought back on a wooden board, chopped with a cleaver and eaten by hand with kachumbari, raw tomato and onion sharpened with lime, and ugali. It is a social form organised around waiting.
🗺️
Kenya. Kenyan food centers on ugali (maize-meal staple) paired with sukuma wiki greens and nyama choma grilled meat. Swahili-coast dishes bring coconut, spice, and Indian influence to a warm, communal table.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Kenya
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.
KaimatiCrisp cardamom-scented dumplings tossed in sugar syrup, a Swahili-coast sweet loved across Kenya.
Browse all Kenya 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 Kenya meal
Kenyan ChaiDrink
KaimatiDessert
GitheriLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Sukuma Wiki & Ugali?
Collard greens braised with tomatoes and onion beside firm maize ugali, Kenya’s daily bread and greens.
Where does Sukuma Wiki & Ugali come from?
Sukuma Wiki & Ugali is a Kenyan dish from Nairobi, Kenya.
Can Sukuma Wiki & Ugali be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Sukuma Wiki & Ugali 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 Sukuma Wiki & Ugali 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 Sukuma Wiki & Ugali take to make?
About 40 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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