Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Liberian Rice Bread
A moist, tender quick bread of rice flour and mashed ripe banana, spiced and baked into a golden loaf for breakfast or tea.
Liberian · medium · serves 8
prep 15 min · cook 45 min
~336 cal · 4g protein · 56g carbs · 11g fat · 2g fiber · 25g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Liberian rice bread is a moist, dense quick bread made with rice flour and mashed ripe or banana, sweetened and often spiced with ginger and nutmeg. Rice is the heart of Liberian cooking, and turning rice flour into a tender loaf is a distinctive local tradition.
The mashed fruit keeps the bread moist and naturally sweet, while ginger gives it a warm bite. It is a cherished breakfast and teatime bread, and one especially associated with home baking and hospitality.
Served in slices in Monrovia and across Liberia, rice bread is comforting, homey food that carries strong associations of family.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, dairy-, 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 8
2 cups rice flour
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
1
Heat the oven to 350°F and oil a loaf pan. Mash the bananas smooth in a large bowl.
2
Beat in the sugar, eggs (or flax), oil, ginger, and nutmeg until well combined.
3
Fold in the rice flour and baking powder just until you have a thick, spoonable batter.
4
Scrape into the pan and bake 40-50 minutes until set and golden; cool before slicing.
Monrovia coastal baking tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Monrovia. The bitterness in torborgee is fermented palm oil rather than a spice or a green. It is built on beans or on bitterball, the small African eggplant, and it is particularly associated with the Lorma of Lofa county up in the north rather than with the coast.
🗺️
Liberia. Torborgee is not a greens stew: it is built on beans or bitterball, the African eggplant, and what defines it is fermented palm oil rather than any leaf. Potato greens means the leaf of the sweet potato plant, not the tuber's, chopped fine and cooked down with smoked fish and meat.
🌍
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 Liberia
TorborgeeA pungent, spicy Liberian stew of red cowpeas and bitter eggplant with smoked meats and fish, slicked with red palm oil.
Palm Butter RiceChicken simmered in a rich palm-nut sauce with chili and greens, ladled over rice, one of Liberia's most cherished dishes.
Kanyah (Peanut and Rice Sweet)Ground roasted peanuts and toasted rice flour pressed with sugar into a dense, crumbly sweet, a Liberian classic.
Browse all Liberia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Mould or tin.
Storing it: Keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and reheats covered in the oven. Most bakes can be assembled a day ahead and baked when needed.
Make it a Liberia meal
Liberian Lemongrass TeaDrink
Kanyah (Peanut and Rice Sweet)Dessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Liberian Rice Bread?
A moist, tender quick bread of rice flour and mashed ripe banana, spiced and baked into a golden loaf for breakfast or tea.
Where does Liberian Rice Bread come from?
Liberian Rice Bread is a Liberian dish from Monrovia, Liberia.
Can Liberian Rice Bread be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Liberian Rice Bread 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 Liberian Rice Bread 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 Liberian Rice Bread take to make?
About 60 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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