Red-red and kelewele
Two dishes, one hero ingredient: the humble plantain, turned into a rich bean stew by day and a spicy fried snack by night. Here is how to enjoy both.
The short answer
- Red-red is a palm-oil bean stew served with fried ripe plantain; the name comes from its deep red colour.
- Kelewele is ripe plantain cubed and fried with ginger, chilli and spices, sweet and hot at once.
- Red-red is a filling lunch or dinner; kelewele is an evening snack sold from roadside braziers.
- Both are naturally vegetarian, though red-red is sometimes served with fish or egg on top.
- Ripeness is everything: the plantain must be soft and spotty for the right sweetness.
- Prices are low and vary by portion and seller, so ask at the stall rather than assuming.
At a glance
| Red-red is | Bean stew in palm oil with fried plantain |
|---|---|
| Kelewele is | Spicy fried ripe plantain cubes |
| Shared hero | Ripe plantain, soft and well spotted |
| When to eat | Red-red for meals, kelewele in the evening |
| Diet | Both naturally vegetarian and vegan-friendly |
| Best source | Chop bars and roadside braziers with fast turnover |
Why plantain is a Ghanaian staple
Plantain looks like a big banana but behaves like a vegetable, changing character completely as it ripens. Green and firm, it is boiled or fried into savoury chips; yellow and spotted, it turns sweet and soft, perfect for frying. That single ingredient gives Ghana two of its most-loved dishes, red-red and kelewele, at opposite ends of the day.
As a team based in Kasoa who eat both most weeks, we think plantain is the friendliest way into Ghanaian food for a first-timer: familiar enough to feel safe, but cooked in ways you will not have met before. Both dishes feature in our wider Ghanaian food guide.
The rule for both is the same and worth repeating: the riper the plantain, the better. Spotty, almost-too-soft plantain is exactly what you want. It is also cheap and available all year, which is why you will see it on almost every plate, in one form or another, wherever you travel.
Red-red: the comforting bean stew
Red-red is a soft, savoury stew of black-eyed beans (or cowpeas) simmered with tomatoes, onions, chilli and, traditionally, red palm oil, which lends both the rich colour and the name. It is served alongside slices of fried ripe plantain, and often topped with a boiled egg, fried fish or a spoon of gari. The contrast of sweet plantain against the savoury, slightly smoky beans is what makes it sing.
It is a proper meal, filling and nourishing, and one of the best vegetarian plates in the country if you skip the fish. You will find it at chop bars and lunch spots across Accra and beyond, dished up hot from a big pot.
For a comfortable, plated version, several places in our best restaurants in Accra guide do red-red well, though the chop-bar version is hard to beat for value and flavour. Portions are generous and the beans are slow-cooked, so it keeps you going through a long afternoon of sightseeing without weighing you down.
Kelewele: the spicy evening snack
Kelewele is what happens when ripe plantain meets fire and spice. The plantain is cut into cubes, tossed with ginger, dried chilli, a little salt and often cloves, nutmeg or aniseed, then deep-fried until the edges caramelise. The result is sweet, hot, savoury and slightly crisp all at once, usually served in a paper cone with a scatter of roasted groundnuts.
It is an evening thing above all. As dusk falls, braziers appear at roadsides and market edges, and the smell alone will pull you in. It is the snack visitors ask us for by name after they have tried it once.
Kelewele is a star of our Ghana street food guide, and it pairs perfectly with a cold drink after a day of sightseeing. If you have a sweet tooth, it also sits nicely alongside the treats in our Ghanaian desserts and sweets guide. A first bag rarely lasts the walk home, so buy two if you have any distance to cover.
How to order and enjoy both
Ordering is easy. For red-red, you will be asked how much plantain and whether you want egg or fish; point at what you like. For kelewele, you buy by portion, and you can usually ask for it milder if you are chilli-shy. Both are cheap, but portions and prices vary by seller, so ask as you order.
Pay by cash or mobile money, and as with all street food, favour busy stalls with quick turnover for the freshest results. Choose ripe, spotty plantain and eat it hot; kelewele in particular is best straight from the pan.
Both dishes travel well around a day out, so they slot easily into sightseeing from our top things to do in Accra list, whatever the time of year you visit. If you are cooking-curious, ask the seller what spices go into their kelewele; recipes are closely held but people are usually happy to share the broad strokes.
Make plantain part of your trip
Red-red and kelewele are the perfect bookends to a day in Ghana: a hearty bean stew for lunch and a spicy plantain snack as the sun goes down. They are cheap, satisfying and deeply local, and the best versions are worth seeking out with someone who knows the good sellers.
Tell us you are a plantain fan and we will make sure your days include both, alongside everything else you want to see and do.
When you are ready, browse our tours, arrange an airport car, or message us on WhatsApp and we will build a food-friendly itinerary just for you. We will also flag the milder stalls if you are travelling with children or a chilli-averse companion.
Questions people ask
What is red-red in Ghanaian food?
Red-red is a Ghanaian bean stew made with black-eyed beans, tomatoes, onions and chilli, traditionally cooked with red palm oil that gives it a deep red colour. It is served with fried ripe plantain and sometimes topped with egg or fish.
Why is it called red-red?
The name comes from its colour, which is doubly red: the red palm oil used to cook the beans and the reddish tomato-and-pepper base. Some say the pairing of red stew and golden-red fried plantain adds to the name.
What is kelewele made of?
Kelewele is ripe plantain cut into cubes and fried with ginger, chilli, salt and warm spices such as cloves or nutmeg. It is sweet, spicy and slightly crisp, and is often served with roasted groundnuts.
Are red-red and kelewele vegetarian?
Both are naturally vegetarian and can be vegan. Kelewele is plantain and spices only, while red-red is bean-based, though it is sometimes served with fish or egg, so check if you want it meat-free.
When is kelewele usually sold?
Kelewele is mainly an evening snack, sold from roadside braziers as it gets dark. Some sellers offer it during the day, but the classic time to buy it is after sunset when the stalls fire up.
What plantain is best for these dishes?
Very ripe plantain with soft, spotty yellow-to-black skin is best for both, as it is sweetest and fries beautifully. Firm green plantain is used for savoury chips instead, not for red-red or kelewele.
What I know about Ghanaian travel comes from doing it: filing passport and visa applications, booking flights and hotels, collecting people from arrivals at two in the morning, and driving the Accra, Tema, Cape Coast and Kumasi runs week after week. Where this guide describes how something works, it is because we have done it.
Rules, fees and timetables in Ghana change. I have deliberately not quoted figures that go stale — where a number matters I name the office to confirm it with. If you spot something out of date, tell me and we will fix it.
Related guides.
Food & cultureGhanaian food, from jollof to kelewele
A plain guide to the dishes you will meet in Ghana, what is in them, how hot they are, and how to order and eat them without hesitating.
Food & cultureGhana's street food, explained
Some of Ghana's finest, cheapest and most joyful food is sold from roadside stalls and pans. Here's what to try, and how to eat street food with confidence.
Food & cultureGhanaian desserts and sweets
Ghana does not do puddings the European way, but it does sweetness beautifully, from hot bofrot bought at a roadside to iced atadwe milk on a warm afternoon.
Want this planned for you?
Send us the dates and who is travelling. You get an itemised quote and one named trip manager from first message to flight home.