Celebration in an African home CANNOT happen without the presence of Jollof rice. I mean, come on, what are we (Africans) supposed to eat? Burgers? lol
Jollof rice is a very common dish prepared in many African countries and each recipe differs depending on the nation. I specifically prepare the Nigerian party jollof rice which I still feel is one of the best recipes out there (not being biased, just stating facts LOL)
Party jollof rice is commonly the most sort after type of rice, because of its very unique taste. Most people feel the unique taste comes from preparation using firewood, but that isn’t always necessarily the case.
For me, it’s impossible to make rice with firewood, since my apartment complex doesn’t necessarily allow one to grill, let alone smoke anything. But I’m going to give you a recipe that comes close to the wonderful taste of party Jollof without any firewood.
Since I was in the party mood yesterday, I decided to prepare myself this awesome dish to celebrate our independence. I posted a few pictures of my cooking on Snapchat and was completely blown away by the number of people who wanted my recipe.
So to not be stingy to my fellow Africans as well as my brothers and sisters of other races/cultures I decided I would put up a blog post showing you guys step by step on how I prepare this delicious dish.
I’ve been slacking lately on the food posts, but since its fall time, I guess its only right for me to jump back on the food post wagon. So expect to see more recipes in the future (fingers crossed).
RELATED POST: NIGERIAN COCONUT RICE RECIPE
PARTY JOLLOF RICE RECIPE | COOK & PREP TIME: ~ 1hour 15min
You will need:
- 4 Tablespoons of Canola oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 4 Fresh tomatoes or one 14.5oz can of diced (no salt) Hunts tomato (I seriously suggest using this brand If you decide to buy canned)
- 1 6oz can Tomato paste
- 4 Red onions
- 2 Red bell peppers (tatashe)
- crayfish (optional, but I love to use it)
- 4 Habanero pepper (scotch bonnet) (put as much or as little as you want, depending on how spicy you want your rice)
- 4 1/2 cups of long-grain parboiled rice
- 2 cups of chicken stock
Spices:
- Maggi or Knorr cubes
- salt
- cayenne pepper and black pepper
- white pepper
- Bay leaves
- curry powder
- garlic or onion powder
- ginger
- thyme leaves
Note: Quantity of spices depends on your preference. Be sure to use your judgment and avoid adding too many spices. A recipe card with exact measurement is also listed below.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat about 4 tablespoons of canola oil and butter in a medium-sized pot on medium heat and throw in some chopped red onions. Allow the onions to fry until the redness starts to slightly fade off.
- Next, pour in your tomato paste and let it fry with the onions. Make sure to stir the paste consistently to avoid burning. Do this for about 10 mins, or until the paste fully fries in the oil. Add in your crayfish for an extra tasty flavor.
- Blend some tomatoes, onions, habanero peppers, and red bell peppers together until you achieve a smooth consistency.
- Pour in the blended mixture into the pot and fry it together with the tomato paste.
- Add all your spices (BUT DON’T ADD SALT YET) and mix. Cover the pot and allow the tomato to fry in the oil. Add more oil if necessary. You really want to let the tomato fry to remove the slappy sour taste, so make sure you don’t rush this process. I would recommend letting it fry for about 20-30 mins. Be sure to continuously stir the mixture to avoid burning.
- At this point, while the tomato is frying, begin to wash your long grain parboiled rice. Make sure to get rid of as much starch as possible by washing the rice until the water used becomes very clear. This helps to prevent the rice from sticking together when cooking.
- Once the tomato is done frying, add your chicken stock to the mix and taste to see if it requires any salt. Add salt if necessary and mix.
- Now add in your washed rice (and a bit of water if necessary to cook the rice) and mix it together with the fried tomatoes. Turn down the heat to the lowest on your burner and cover the pot. I personally like to cover the pot with aluminum foil before putting on the lid just to make sure the heat stays within the pot without escaping from the lid hole.
- Allow the rice to cook for about 30 minutes.
- After about 30 minutes open the pot and properly combine all the ingredients together. Cover the pot again, and let it cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the rice has fully blended in with the mixture.
TIP: By the way, if you want the smokey taste of most party Jollof rice popular in Nigeria, cooking on firewood, or using a stainless steel pot would give that extra flavor as well
SERVE AND ENJOY!!
Let me know in the comments what you guys think of this recipe! And here’s a recipe card you can print of this.

Nigerian Jollof rice recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 14.5 oz canned hunts tomato unsalted
- 2 red bell peppers
- 6 oz canned tomato paste
- 3 large whole red onion
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup blended crayfish
- 4 Habanero peppers (based on how spicy you want)
- 4 1/2 cups long grain parboiled rice
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tbsp Maggi or knorr cubes
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and black pepper
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 3 single bay leaves
- 1/2 tbsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic/onion powder
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp ginger
Instructions
- Blend tomatoes, red bell peppers, habanero peppers, large red onions until consistency is smooth and set aside
- Wash the rice thoroughly to rid off starch and set aside.
- To a medium-sized pot on medium heat, heat canola oil and butter
- Throw in chopped onions and allow to fry for about 5 mins or until redness starts to fade
- Pour in tomato paste and allow to fry for about 10-15 minutes, stirring continuously to avoid burning.
- Add in your blended mixture, crayfish, Maggi, cayenne & black pepper, white pepper, bay leaves, curry powder, garlic, thyme. Mix and fry for about 30 minutes, continuously stirring to avoid burning.
- Add chicken stock and salt. Mix and allow cook for an additional 10 mins
- Add in washed rice and a bit of water (if necessary), and reduce heat to low.
- Cover pot with aluminum foil, to avoid heat from escaping through lid
- Cook rice on low heat for about 30 mins
- Once cooked, mix thoroughly to combine ingredients
- Cover and let cook for an additional 10 mins.
- To get the party Jollof flavor, turn up the heat and let the rice burn for about 3 mins. (Be careful with this step, so you don't burn the whole rice)
Notes
PLEASE FOLLOW BLOG RECIPE FOR EXACT INGREDIENTS. video has some errors
I dont even knw wt u mean by red bell and habenaro pepper
That’s what it is called over here where I live. In Nigeria, red bell pepper is called tatashe, while habanero is called scotch bonnet pepper.
Red pepper is tatashe.
You can google them to see what they are.
For the curry powder, are you using red curry or yellow curry?
yellow
Thank u so much. I have tried cooking jallof rice before and failed. But your method was so easy and detailed i suceeded. I am south african and my husban is Nigerian so i really needed to learn to make Jallof rice
You’re welcome. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Sorry but is tomato and tomato paste compulsory in a jollof rice preparation
I personally use tomato and tomato paste. I haven’t done it any differently before.
Very nice and well put together.
Thank You
Absolutely!
Yes Timi, that’s what gives it the perfect jollof rice colour.
Thank you for shareing your recipe, i have not tried cooking it yet, but its defo on my list…just looking for an occasion lol….i wanted to suggest for the “firewood” taste, you can use foil, make a little cup on top of your rice & heat a piece of coal…pop that in your foil cup & close the lid…let it smoke a little & take the coil out, guarantee you will love that…you can also do this with all the other smoky dishes.
oh wow, never tried that.. but it will be helpful to give it a shot in the future.
Yes! i can tell this recipe is delicious, just by looking at all the ingredients. I know its great, am from New Orleans, and my boyfriend is south African and Nigerian, so i have too cook this dish. Am a home chef-cook. So thank you, for your great recipes.
awww, thank you
This blog post is absolutely beautiful!
Thank You so much
Thanks my sis for a detailed explanation of how to make jellof rice.
Nice.
Thank you so much. I’m glad it helped
Tried this today and the recipe was perfect. First time and me and my family loved it
Thank you so much. I’m glad you love it!
This recipe is so easy to follow and it worked, even though I replaced some of your ingredients because I live in Canada. The rice turned out perfect and my roommates loved it!! I also love your energy!!!! Keep it up!!
Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I’m an American girl dating a Nigerian boy for a year now. I had never tried jollof rice, but he talks about how great it is all the time so I wanted to try to make it for him. I came across this blog/recipe and followed it as best as I could given the ingredients found locally. When my boyfriend tried it, he could not stop sighing in nostalgia and satisfaction! He said the flavor was just right and the texture was right right! 😌 Pretty impressive I’d say. This is an excellent recipe! Thanks!
awwww I’m glad you like it… Thank you so much.. hahahaha
That’s so sweet of you ❤
Thank you for this recipe. Mine turned out with great flavor but is mushy. I have made two other recipes that also turned out mushy so I know it’s me – I just don’t know what I’m doing incorrectly because I follow the recipes exactly. Do you have advice for mushy rice? Thank you.
The type of rice you use is Key as well as the quantity you use as well. I specifically use the long grain parboiled rice- which you can purchase HERE. You also want the quantity of rice you use to just be enough for the tomato sauce as well. I also find that some people tend to precook their rice first before adding it to their sauce. That process usually makes their rice very mushy. So I suggest buying already parboiled rice and washing with water (see recipe procedure) to remove any excess starch before adding it to the sauce. This makes it firm and less mushy. I hope this helps. God bless xo
how much tomato puree did you use? The recipe says one can but that isn’t really specific as different cans have different amounts.
I use a 6oz can of tomato paste. Sorry for any confusion. much love, xo
Wow I loved the recipe so I will make it tonight for dinner with roast chicken. 😋😋😋
I’m glad you enjoyed it.. God bless xx
How do I make Meat to go with this? Some goat meat or chicken?
I have a recipe for the meat here: https://elleyajoku.com/food/jollof-beef-and-chicken-stew-recipe-for-the-everyday-cook
Looks delish! How did you make the meat look so yummy? Did you mix it in a different stew? Thank you. x
Yes, I mixed the meat in a different stew. xo
Thanks for the jollof rice recipes. I follow your step to cook for my family last night.. It was superb.. Everybody enjoy the dinner.. God bless you
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. God bless xo
I can’t wait to try my hand at this! What size can of diced tomatoes do you recommend. Also, I want to make this with beef meat like my mum does. Do you have any recommendations on how to cook the beef with the rice at the same time? God bless@
Here’s the recipe for the beef: https://elleyajoku.com/food/jollof-beef-and-chicken-stew-recipe-for-the-everyday-cook
I can’t wait to try my hand at this next week! What size can of diced tomatoes do you recommend? Also, I want to make beef meat with the jollof rice like my mum does. Do you have any recommendations on how I cook the beef in the rice at the same time? God bless!
I use the 14.5oz can of Hunts diced tomatoes. I would be uploading a recipe soon for the beef. xoxo
Do I have to fry the onion at the beginning? My boyfriend really hates the texture of onions hahaha
Yes! you have to fry the onions. The frying actually gets rid of the texture the moment you finish the preparation, so he won’t really notice it.
God bless, xo
Can I bake it?
You could try. I personally haven’t tried that method. But I do know quite a few people who do.
I discovered your site from Google and also I have to claim it was a fantastic find.
Thanks!
Girlll this is a very detailed recipe and I’m so excited to try it. EVERYTIME I make jollof, it turns out okay (people like it) but I’m just not satisfied with it, almost like it’s missing something. Can’t wait to try this 🙌🏾
awww I’m so glad you like it. much love <3
This turned out great!!!
I’m very glad :)) xxx
Can I make this recipe without a blender? If so please explain what I do with the blended ingredients 🥰
i don’t think you can make it without a blender, unless you have an alternative way of blending the onions, tomatoes and peppers. There is a video in this post explaining how to make this recipe. I hope it helps.
Can you add chicken to the rice? And if you can, at which step should you add it?
Video had 4.5 cups of rice. Directions had 5.5. Now after all of this hard work i have to wait and see if it comes out ok. Directions are also a little different than the video.
Super sorry about the confusion and video error. I suggest following the directions in the blog post.
Just wanted to come back to say it still turned out perfectly! Will be making it again today. Thank you!
I’m glad to hear this!!! God bless you abundantly
Great recipe, my jollof rice came out with a bang😍😍. Thank you
Thank Jesus. I’m glad you loved it.
Don’t you have to put water in the sauce before putting the rice? So that the water will boil the rice…
it really depends on the quantity of rice you use.
Best Jollof drive recipe ever! I added extra of all the spices to give additional flavor. I soaked the rice and partially cooked it before adding it at the end. Overall, very authentic flavor. Fantastic!
Thank you.. I’m glad you loved it!
Do you ever add vegetables? I need to cook it for a potluck, but would rather do vegetables than meat….
you can add vegetables if you prefer.. however you do need meat stock to make the dish..
Hey
I’m a tad confused between the video and the 2 party and other jollof recipe below it. One calls for 6 cups rice one 5.5 and one 4.5 but it seems all the other ingredients mainly the tomato bits are the same?
Not the main issue hahah I basically dont have a pot as big as yours. Usually when I cook rice 1/2 a cup is enough for a portion for me so 4.5 on the video for 2 people lunch n dinner seems loadsssss. Can I half all the ingredients do you think it would come out okay. If so how many cups shall I use 3, 2.75 or 2.25 x
It really depends on the number of people you’re cooking for as well as the size of the pot you’re using. Each time I use a smaller pot size, I often halve my ingredients so the rice wouldn’t become hard.
In your case, I would suggest using half the quantity of rice suggested. If you’re just cooking for yourself, 2 cups should be okay (depending on how much you eat lol).
Just Pay attention to your sauce and make sure you have enough sauce for the quantity of rice you intend to cook with.
Thanks so much hun will give it a shot x
Sumptuous and real sizzling
Thank you very much
That’s interesting! I’ve been hunting for a place like this for quite
a long time.
Nice
beautiful
Thank you
Thank you so much for this beautiful piece..
Thank you very much
In the video, it’s 1 cup of chicken stock, but in the blog, it’s two. How many should I use? Thanks!
Follow the blog!
Not sure what you meant by parboiled rice or washing it – that’s not available here as far as I know! We tried undercooking rice and adding it to the tomato mixture and it turned out quite gluggy.
You’re not supposed to precook the rice. If you do so, it will be soggy. That’s why the recipe calls for long grain parboiled rice specifically. It’s a particular brand of rice. If they don’t sell it where you’re from, you can substitute it for Basmati rice. I don’t personally cook my jollof with Basmati rice, but some people do and have no issues with it.
Excellent recipe, after trying many different versions this really hit the spot!
I used a Dutch oven pot to seal the dish and golden sell a basmati rice as had a big bag in the cupboard.
I’ll check out one of your chicken or beef dishes to cook up soon!
Thanks for the great work Eleanor.
You’re welcome.
I’m glad it turned out great for you.
God bless.
This was my first time and omg it came out So perfect👌👌. Thank you so much. I love Nigerian jollof and I’m
Glad I used your recipe. I just didn’t add the crayfish.
Thank you. I’m so glad you loved it.
easy to follow instructions and i now have perfect jollof rice, thank you!
glad you like it
Hi, I want to try this recipe. Would you say to follow the blog post directions or the video directions?
Blog directions, please.
Thank you
Thank you! Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
unsalted
Awesome…just tried this right now, but modified it….I parboiled the rice then I added the sauce and baked it…turned out awesome…….Thanks
great. I’m glad you liked it.
Going to make this soon. Can you explain the curry powder part? Is there a recipe for West African curry powder?
The generic curry spice found anywhere in world is the same type used in West Africa.
Do you put the crawfish in whole? Do you peel them first or leave the shells on?
Hi. I’m going to cook this soon. Can you tell me more about the curry powder? Is it a West African spice blend?
curry is a spice that can be found in most grocery stores.
I don’t have red onions pls but it looks perfect and delicious what should I do
you can try using another type of onions.
I have tried this recipe twice and my jollof rice came out nicely. Thank you
WOW, that’s great to hear. I’m glad you love it.
Thank you for his educative recipe
Thank you
Just made this and it tasted so good. I’m so happy rn🥺
yay, I’m glad you loved it
🤯🥺🥵🤩😘🥰😍
Oooh!! I can’t wait to try this.. one question , could I sub fresh tomatoes for the can diced tomatoes? 🙂
yes you can..
I’ve been trying to perfect my jollof recipe for the past few months and I’m so glad I found your blog. I made this last week and it was soooo good! I even used canned tomatoes when I usually use fresh and it still came out delicious. The blended crayfish added so much flavor. Thank you, I have finally found my jollof recipe!
I’m glad you enjoyed it…
I plan on trying this recipe, but I will need to substitute some ingredients based on what is on hand. So I have two questions:
Can I sub the ginger (which I assume is the ground powder) with fresh ginger? Ordinarily, I wouldn’t ask but with ginger, the dried and the fresh have much different flavors.
And can I sub the crayfish with dried shrimp or Thai shrimp paste? If not, can you give more detail about the crayfish? I assume it’s not a whole crayfish thrown in, haha, but here I have only seen whole ones and shelled meat. Is it a paste? Fermented? Anything I need to know that you can tell me. (Or a link to the right type would be even better.)
Yes, you can use fresh ginger and blend it with your peppers. And this recipe calls for crayfish alone. Substituting it could change the overall flavor of the dish. And it calls for blended crayfish, not whole crayfish. Here is a link to the crayfish
Will vegetable stock suffice instead of chicken stock?
It won’t have the same flavor, but it can still work if you don’t mind a change in flavor. I honestly feel that vegetable stock gives jollof rice a completely different taste than the original taste of jollof rice. However, the taste is still great overall! So it all depends on you.
Impeccable! I’ve been sharing with all of my friends and we’re addicted. The smokey flavor is everything <3
awesome, i’m so glad to hear that
Just cooked your Jollof Rice with the Jollof Chicken and beef. It was so delicious!
Dosnt found the crayfish but it was good!
Thanks for sharing this!
I also made Puff-Puff to complete the nigerian feeling here 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Greets, Imara
thank you so much, i’m glad you loved it.
Simple and delicious, simply delicious 🤤 I loved the heat. Did ancestry last year found out according to them im 48% 🇳🇬 so I had to.
That’s awesome!!! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
The recipe is amazing, I tried it and it exactly as is should be, I’m Eastern European and I cooked it with oxtail stew to my Nigerian friends and the didn’t understand how is it possible I could cook it perfectly like that, so thank you very much for this recipe. On Saturday I cook again this rice with Jerk wings to my Nigerian partner🤤
yay! I am so glad you loved it Karoline. I have a jerk wings recipe on the blog if you would like to give it a try HERE
Yum! So good! I’ve always wanted to learn to make jollof rice; thanks to you, I now have! My family loved it. They told me to add it to the regular dish rotation, a pretty high compliment! Shocked to have made a rice dish that wasn’t mushy OR undercooked!
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I have made this dish 5 times now – each time it comes out beautifully with such rich flavour. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.
Wow! 5 times! I’m so thrilled to know that you love it. And I will continue to share more amazing recipes.
Yes Timi, that’s what gives it the perfect jollof rice colour.
If I was to halve this recipe (This is my first time trying it out), could i half the recipe. So could I use
1/2 of the 4.5 oz canned hunts tomato unsalted
1 red bell peppers
1/2 of the 6 oz canned tomato paste
1 medium onion or half of a large whole red onion
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 scotch bonnet pepper
2 1/4 cups long grain parboiled rice
1 cup chicken stock
2 maggi cubes ?
Thank you.
I am just learning about all the amazing African foods and checking out recipes. Can you use palm oil for this in place of the canola oil?
No you can’t use palm oil. However vegetable oil is another great option.
Haven’t watched it yet but looking at the Jollof rice it looks so fantastic good 👍 job😘😜😜
Please, are you saying that you do not recommend parboiling of the rice, first?
Also, have you used caprice long grain to cook this meal because that is the kind of rice I have
Yes, I do not recommend parboiling the rice first as it will become very soft and sticky after mixing it into the sauce. I also haven’t used caprice long grain to cook jollof before. But I don’t think it would be a problem.
I love this. I tried it and my family said it was amazing! (Keep in mind I’m only 14)
Thanks for the recipe 😘 😋
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Proud of you for putting your cooking skills to the test. Keep it up!!
Is it necessary to use canola oil? What about other oils? I don’t know where I can get canola oil
yes, you can use any oil you like. It doesn’t have to be canola oil. Vegetable oil is a great alternative.