Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Katogo
Green cooking bananas simmered in one pot with beans, tomato and onion, the everyday Ugandan breakfast.
Ugandan · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 40 min
~480 cal · 12g protein · 98g carbs · 7g fat · 15g fiber · 41g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Katogo is Uganda's great one-pot breakfast, a dish so ordinary and beloved that Kampala's many communities all agree on it before the day begins. Matoke, the green cooking bananas that are Uganda's staple, are peeled and stewed together with a sauce until soft, so the starch and the sauce cook as one rather than being served side by side.
Traditionally from the west and centre of the country, it comes in many guises: with beef and offal, with a groundnut sauce, or, as here, with beans, the version farmers can grow entirely in their own backyard. Whichever way, everything goes into a single pot and until the matoke is tender and beginning to break down.
Filling and cheap, katogo is eaten in the morning with a cup of sweet black tea, and a slice of avocado on the side is never far away.
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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
10 fingers green matoke (cooking bananas), peeled and halved
2 cups cooked beans
1 large onion, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Peel the matoke and keep the pieces in lightly salted water until you need them, so they do not discolour.
✎ Chef’s note
Rub a little oil on your hands before peeling matoke. The green skins give off a sticky sap that stains fingers and knives.
2
Soften the onion, garlic and bell pepper in the oil, then add the tomatoes and cook down to a sauce, about 6 minutes.
3
Add the cooked beans with a splash of their liquid and stir to combine.
4
Tuck in the matoke, add water to almost cover, cover the pot and simmer 25 to 30 minutes until the bananas are soft and starting to break down.
5
Season with salt and serve hot with sweet tea and sliced avocado.
Kampala home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kampala. Kampala runs on the Rolex, a chapati rolled around a fried egg and shredded cabbage, sold from street griddles all day. Matoke, steamed green bananas mashed to a soft gold, is the staple meal, usually under groundnut sauce, beans, or slow-braised meat.
🗺️
Uganda. Matoke is steamed rather than boiled, peeled green bananas wrapped in their own leaves and set over water until they collapse into something between a mash and a pudding, then eaten with groundnut sauce. Luwombo is the ceremonial version of the same technique, meat or chicken steamed in a tied banana-leaf parcel so nothing escapes.
🌍
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 Uganda
Ugandan RolexA fresh chapati rolled around a vegetable omelette, Kampala’s street breakfast, "rolled eggs" said fast.
Matoke with Groundnut SauceSteamed green bananas (matoke) mashed soft, served with a rich purple groundnut sauce.
LuwomboChicken or beef stewed in a rich groundnut sauce, steamed inside a banana leaf, a royal Ganda dish for celebrations.
Browse all Uganda 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.
Make it a Uganda meal
BusheraDrink
KabalagalaDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Katogo?
Green cooking bananas simmered in one pot with beans, tomato and onion, the everyday Ugandan breakfast.
Where does Katogo come from?
Katogo is a Ugandan dish from Kampala, Uganda.
Can Katogo be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Katogo 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 Katogo 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 Katogo take to make?
About 55 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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