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Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava)
Cassava soaked for days until soft and sour, mashed, sieved and squeezed dry, then stirred over the heat into a smooth, stretchy, tangy dough, rolled into balls to eat with okra soup or krain krain.
Sierra Leonean · advanced · serves 4
prep 40 min · cook 20 min · plus 4 days hands-off time
~600 cal · 4g protein · 143g carbs · 0g fat · 7g fiber · 6g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Foofoo is Sierra Leone's great alternative to rice: balls of soft, sour dough made from , eaten with soups and stews. Its tang is the point, cutting through the richness of soup, krain krain, groundnut stew, sawa sawa and bitters in a way that rice does not.
It takes several days to make. roots are peeled and soaked in water, which is changed every day, until they are soft enough to crush between the fingers and have started to . The soft is mashed, strained to remove the fibres and excess water, then cooked into a bulky, wet paste with a lot of hard stirring, and finally rolled into balls.
Foofoo is not eaten on its own. A piece is pulled off with the fingers and used in place of a spoon to scoop up the soup or stew.
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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
- 1.5 kg (about 3 lb) fresh rootsHard to find? 1.2 kg frozen whole peeled cassava, thawed - soaks and ferments the same way; skip the peeling
- about 4 litres a day water, for soaking and sieving, changed daily
- 1 cup (250 ml) water, for cooking
Instructions
- 1Peel the cassava, cutting away all the brown skin and the pink layer under it. Cut it into chunks and put them in a large bowl or bucket covered with plenty of cold water.
- 2Cover loosely and leave at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, pouring off the water and replacing it with fresh every day, until the cassava is soft enough to crush between your fingers and smells pleasantly sour.✎ Chef’s noteChanging the water every day keeps the soak from spoiling. Soaking also draws out the natural toxins in the root, so do not cut this short.
- 3Drain the cassava and pull out the tough fibrous cores. Mash the soft pieces by hand or with a potato masher, adding water, and push the mash through a coarse sieve to leave any fibres behind.
- 4Pour the sieved mash into a clean cloth bag or a sieve lined with cloth, twist it tight to squeeze out the water, and hang or weigh it down for 2 to 3 hours, until it is a damp, crumbly dough.
- 5Put the dough in a heavy pot with the cooking water over medium heat. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring hard and pressing the paste against the side of the pot, until it turns smooth, stretchy and slightly translucent.
- 6Wet your hands and roll the foofoo into balls. Serve warm with okra soup, krain krain, groundnut stew or another soup.
Sierra Leonean home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Freetown. Cassava leaf here is distinct from its neighbours: groundnut paste goes in alongside the palm oil, which makes it thicker and richer. The same dish runs across the region under other names, plasas or palava sauce nearby and saka saka or pondu in the Congos, so it is a national dish rather than an invention.
🗺️
Sierra Leone. Cassava leaf is Sierra Leone's national dish but not its invention: the same preparation runs across the region as plasas, palava sauce, saka saka and pondu. What marks the local version is groundnut paste going in alongside the palm oil, and leaves pounded fine enough that the stew turns almost smooth.
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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 Sierra Leone
Cassava Leaf StewFinely pounded cassava leaves slow-cooked with palm oil, beef, and smoked fish over rice.
Sierra Leonean Fry FryA plate of assorted fried things with a peppery gravy to dip them in, the Freetown street breakfast.
Krain KrainChopped jute leaves stewed with red palm oil and smoked fish into a savory green sauce, served over rice.
Browse all Sierra Leone recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava)?
Cassava soaked for days until soft and sour, mashed, sieved and squeezed dry, then stirred over the heat into a smooth, stretchy, tangy dough, rolled into balls to eat with okra soup or krain krain.
Where does Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava) come from?
Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava) is a Sierra Leonean dish from Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Can Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava) take to make?
About 4 days in all: 40 minutes prep and 20 minutes cooking, plus 4 days of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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