Recipe

Africa → 🇸🇳 Senegal → Dakar
Thieboudienne (Senegalese Fish & Rice)
Senegalese · advanced · serves 6
prep 40 min · cook 70 min
~955 cal · 50g protein · 104g carbs · 36g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Communal platter of red rice topped with stuffed fish and vegetables
🇸🇳 Dakar
Thieboudienne — "rice and fish" in Wolof — was refined in 19th-century Saint-Louis and is now the centerpiece of Senegalese hospitality, eaten from one great communal platter. UNESCO added it to its cultural heritage list in 2021.
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Ingredients
Serves 6 —
•
2 lbs firm white fish steaks (grouper, snapper)
•
1/2 cup, pounded parsley, garlic, scallion & Scotch bonnet paste (rof)
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3 cups broken jasmine rice
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4 tbsp tomato paste
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2 yellow onions, sliced
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4 cups total cabbage, carrots, cassava, and eggplant, large chunks
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2 dried bay leaves
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1/3 cup neutral oil
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1 lime, to serve
Instructions
1
Cut slits in the fish (or tofu) and pack them with the rof paste.
2
Brown the fish in hot oil on both sides; set aside. Fry the onions, then the tomato paste until brick-dark, 5 minutes.
3
Add 6 cups water, bay leaves, and the vegetables. Simmer 25 minutes until tender; lift out the vegetables and keep warm.
4
Return the fish to the broth for 10 minutes to finish cooking, then remove.
5
Pour in the rice, cover, and cook low 20–25 minutes until it has drunk all the red broth.
6
Mound the rice on a platter, arrange fish and vegetables on top, and serve with lime — everyone eats from the same dish.
Dakar and Saint-Louis communal cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Dakar. The Atlantic capital where thieboudienne simmers in every courtyard.
🗺️
Senegal. West Africa’s Atlantic table, where teranga means hospitality.
🌍
Africa. Fifty-four countries of tagines, stews, and fire-kissed grills.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩‍🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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