Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Gboma Dessi
A rich Togolese spinach stew simmered with tomato, red palm oil, and beef or fish.
Togolese · easy · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 55 min
~359 cal · 29g protein · 12g carbs · 22g fat · 4g fiber · 4g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Gboma dessi is a rich spinach stew from Togo, built on 'gboma' (a local leafy green similar to spinach) simmered with tomato, onion, red , and beef or fish until thick and savory. Greens cooked in are a cornerstone of cooking all along the West African coast, and this is Togo's version.
The red gives the stew its characteristic color and earthy richness, while the greens provide body and the meat or smoked fish lend depth. It is everyday food in Lomé, nourishing and economical, cooked in home kitchens across the city.
Served with a starchy staple, rice, akume (cornmeal paste), or , gboma dessi is scooped up by hand and eaten communally. It represents the sort of vegetable-and-palm-oil home cooking that defines the daily table across Togo and its neighbors.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, 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 6
1.5 lb spinach or amaranth greens, chopped
1 lb beef
4 oz smoked fish
3 tomatoes
1 onion
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup red
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ginger
1-2
1 tbsp gbotemi spice (cloves, anise, ajwain and , toasted and ground with ginger)
2 cube
to taste salt and black pepper
Instructions
1
Soften the onion, garlic, and ginger in the palm oil, add the beef (or mushrooms) with salt, pepper and a stock cube and a little water, and cook covered until tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Season the meat with the gbotemi, then add the smoked fish (or smoked tofu) and boil 10 minutes more.
✎ Chef’s note
Gbotemi is the Togolese blend that makes this taste like gboma dessi rather than any other greens-and-tomato sauce: cloves, anise, ajwain and cardamom seeds roasted and ground, then mixed with dried ginger. Shrimp and crab are equally traditional proteins here, often alongside the beef and smoked fish.
2
Stir in the blended tomato, garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet, and tomato paste and simmer 20 minutes.
3
Add the red palm oil and let it cook into the sauce until it darkens and gleams.
4
Fold in the greens and cook 15 minutes until collapsed and silky.
5
Season and serve over rice, fufu, or pounded yam.
Lomé home cooking.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Lomé. Lome is a beachfront capital fond of gboma dessi, spinach stewed down with tomato, palm oil, and fish or beef. Togolese cooking shares West African staples of fufu, akple cornmeal, and groundnut sauces with a strong coastal seafood habit.
🗺️
Togo. Gboma is the leaf of Solanum macrocarpon, the African eggplant, and spinach is a working substitute rather than the same plant; the stew made from it, gboma dessi, is Ghana's and Benin's shoko under another name. The dough beside it is akoume, also called to, the same word used for the millet and sorghum staples further north in the Sahel.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Togo
AyimolouA one-pot of rice and beans cooked together and served with a spicy pepper sauce, Togo's breakfast.
DjenkouméA savory red maize-meal paste cooked with tomato and palm oil, served with grilled chicken, a Togolese celebration favorite.
Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert)Crunchy cassava gari soaked in cold sweet milk with roasted peanuts, a refreshing Togolese street dessert.
Browse all Togo 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 Togo meal
Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert)Dessert
Akume with Ademe SauceLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Cassava Leaf StewSierra Leone
NdoléCameroon
SuperkanjaThe Gambia
MaafeMali
Fungee and PepperpotAntigua and Barbuda
LocroArgentina
Cuisine
Diet
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Togolese Recipes
Gluten-Free Dinners from Around the World
Dairy-Free Dinners from Around the World
Nut-Free Dinners from Around the World
Egg-Free Dinners from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Gboma Dessi?
A rich Togolese spinach stew simmered with tomato, red palm oil, and beef or fish.
Where does Gboma Dessi come from?
Gboma Dessi is a Togolese dish from Lomé, Togo.
Can Gboma Dessi be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Gboma Dessi 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 Gboma Dessi 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 Gboma Dessi take to make?
About 75 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 55 minutes cooking), serving 6.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.