Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Egusi Soup
Ground melon seeds cooked into a rich, nubbly soup with greens and assorted meats, the pride of the Igbo southeast.
Nigerian (Igbo) · medium · serves 5
prep 20 min · cook 45 min
~550 cal · 44g protein · 14g carbs · 35g fat · 6g fiber · 4g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
soup is one of the most iconic dishes of southeastern Nigeria and the Igbo heartland around Enugu, a thick, richly textured soup built on ground (melon) seeds, which cook into soft, nubbly clumps that give the dish its characteristic body. Leafy greens, , and an assortment of meats and fish round it out.
The melon seeds are prized for their protein and their nutty richness, and the way they are cooked, either scattered to form little curds or bound into a paste, is a matter of regional and family preference. It is generous, filling food.
is almost always eaten with a 'swallow', pounded yam, eba, or , pinched off and dipped into the soup by hand. A staple of celebrations and Sunday tables alike, it is among the dishes Nigerians abroad miss most keenly.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally 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 5
1.5 cups (melon seeds), ground, a seed, not a nut, naturally nut-free
Hard to find? ground pumpkin seeds - the colour and the nuttiness are close, but egusi thickens into a curd-like texture when it fries in palm oil and pumpkin seeds do not quite manage that; this is one worth ordering online if you make the dish often
1.5 lbs total beef and smoked fish, assorted
1/3 cup red
4 cups spinach or bitterleaf, chopped
2 tomatoes, blended
1 red bell pepper, blended
1 onion, blended
1
2 tbsp ground crayfish
3 cups
for 5 pounded yam, eba, or rice, to serve
Instructions
1
Season the meats (or mushrooms and tofu) and simmer them in the stock for 20 minutes, keeping both the meat and the stock.
2
Fry the blended tomato, pepper, and onion in palm oil for about 8 minutes, until it darkens and the raw smell cooks off.
3
Mix the ground egusi with a little water into a stiff paste.
4
Add the egusi paste to the pot in spoonfuls and fry 10 minutes, stirring, until it curdles into golden nubs.
✎ Chef’s note
Let the egusi fry undisturbed for a minute between stirs so it sets into little curds rather than dissolving into the oil.
5
Add the reserved meats, stock, crayfish (or paprika), and Scotch bonnet, and simmer 10 minutes.
6
Fold in the leafy greens and cook 5 minutes more. Serve with pounded yam or fufu.
Enugu celebration tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Enugu (Southeast). Enugu is Igbo heartland in Nigeria's southeast, where egusi soup, thickened with ground melon seed and dark with bitterleaf, answers nearly every occasion. Pounded yam, fufu, palm oil, and smoked fish form the base, with ogbono and nsala as close rivals.
🗺️
Nigeria. A Nigerian meal is a pairing rather than a plate. On one side sits a swallow, starch pounded or milled smooth and rolled into a ball meant to be swallowed rather than chewed, made from yam, cassava, plantain, cocoyam or corn; on the other a soup, which might be egusi ground from melon seeds, ewedu from jute leaves, or okra.
🌍
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.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Nigeria meal
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Chin ChinDessert
SuyaLunch
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Themes
Frequently asked questions
What is Egusi Soup?
Ground melon seeds cooked into a rich, nubbly soup with greens and assorted meats, the pride of the Igbo southeast.
Where does Egusi Soup come from?
Egusi Soup is a Nigerian (Igbo) dish from Enugu (Southeast), Nigeria.
Can Egusi Soup be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Egusi Soup 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 Egusi Soup 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 Egusi Soup take to make?
About 65 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 5.
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