What is Ewa Agoyin Stew, and why should you make it in your home?
Believe it or not, Ewa Agoyin Stew is a crowd favorite in Nigeria. It has rich pepper sauce made from all-natural ingredients that are just bursting with flavor and aroma.
This dish is commonly showcased as street food, but there is no reason not to make it at home for your enjoyment! It truly has the perfect blend of flavors and textures!

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Ewa Agoyin Stew has such amazing qualities that you will find yourself craving more. Are you ready to try it?
How to Make Ewa Agoyin Stew
Despite the complexity of the flavors of the Ewa Agoyin Stew, it’s actually easy to make. You can make it from scratch for your family whenever you want to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner together!
Ingredients

How simple is the Ewa Agoyin Stew? Take a look at the ingredients first.
Ewa agoyin sauce
Nigeria boasts plenty of savory sauces, and the Ewa Agoyin Sauce is definitely on top of the list. It is also made up of bell peppers, sweet peppers, and onions.
This sauce has the sweetness, fragrance, and color for an appetizing meal. Once you get the perfect ewa agoyin sauce, your stew recipe will be 100% foolproof!
Grab your blender because you will need it for the sauce recipe. Remember that good quality sauce is the secret to the best-tasting stew!
Pepper seeds
Pepper seeds are non-toxic and spicy ingredients that can enrich the quality of the dish. These are usually used for sauces, dips, or even garnish.
Some may be bitter, but you can always balance them with other condiments. Whenever you use peppers for your recipes, don’t forget to set the seeds aside for your Ewa Agoying Stew!
It is perfectly safe to add pepper seeds to your meals. In fact, The Donut Whole mentioned that pepper seeds have health benefits of their own for digestion, weight loss, and blood pressure.
Chilies
Chili always makes any dish better. Use it moderately, depending on how spicy you want it to be. It also intensifies the color of the stew.
Onion
Adding the onion is a great way of giving the dish a pungent, sweet, and spicy flavor. Once it cooks into the stew, you will love how fragrant it can be.
I also add it to African recipes such as Jollof Rice, Moi Moi, and even Egusi Soup.
Seasoning
This recipe uses stock cubes (or all-purpose seasoning) and sea salt, but you are free to use other herbs and spices. Remember to balance the flavors for the best results.
Palm oil
Palm oil is one of the best ones to use for high-heat cooking. It also intensifies the flavor of the stew without compromising the taste.
You don’t have to use fancy and expensive ingredients for the best-tasting Ewa Agoyin Stew. It only takes these accessible and affordable fruits and vegetables, and seasonings – herbs and spices to achieve your own version at home.

Directions
It’s time for the exciting part – cooking the Ewa Agoyin Stew!
- Use a knife to deseed and chop the bell peppers, sweet peppers, and onion.
- Turn them into the sauce in a blender.
- Once smooth and runny, set it aside.
- Heat oil in a pot over medium fire.
- Sautee the onion until it caramelizes.
- Then, add the blended pepper sauce.
- Cover the pot with a lid to cook for a minute.
- Season it with crushed chilies.
- Then, cover the pot with a lid halfway to let the steam escape.
- Reduce the fire to low heat.
- Cook for 20 minutes with occasional stirring.
- Add in the sea salt and stock cubes and continue to cook it on low heat for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the pepper seeds with a wooden spatula.
- Let the stew cook for another 5 minutes until you get your preferred color.
- Once happy with the flavor, transfer the stew into a dish to serve!
Who knew something so delicious could be made with the simplest steps, right? Now, you get to taste how delicious and rich the Ewa Agoyin Stew is!

Tips
No-Blender Ewa Agoyin Sauce
If you don’t have a blender, you can always use a food processor, immersion blender, food mill, or other similar kitchen tools. Otherwise, chop it finely with a knife or slice it using a grater.
Pepper Seeds
Here’s what you need to do to extract the pepper seeds successfully:
- Slice off the stem.
- Then, cut the pepper in half vertically.
- Scrape off the seeds with a spoon.
Chili Flakes
Chili flakes are readily available in grocery stores, but why not make your own with spicy scotch bonnets?
First, rinse and shred the scotch bonnets with a knife. Remember to use gloves. Dehydrate them in a preheated oven at 85°c for at least two hours or until crisp.
Use a food processor, blender, mortar and pestle, or spice grinder to convert it into chili flakes. Store this in a jar to last up to several months.

Ewa Agoyin Stew Variations
The best thing about making Ewa Agoyin Stew is you can make your own version every time you cook it.
In this recipe, I showed you the traditional way of making the stew. But you can also add ingredients such as ground crayfish and other spices.
You can make the stew as spicy as you want! Aside from the peppers mentioned, you can also use scotch bonnet, jalapeño, habanero, and other kinds of peppers.
Recommended Tools
- Pot: Cook the Ewa Agoyin Stew in a pot.
- Blender: Make the pepper sauce using a blender.
- Spatula: Stir the stew with a spatula.
- Knife: Slice the ingredients using a knife.
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How to Serve Ewa Agoyin Stew
Savory Ewa Agoyin can be served with bread, rice, swallow foods, and lots more! Always consume it with food that can balance its taste.
Here are some of the best side dishes that can go well with the stew:
You can have this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even as a snack on a comforting day. Eat this in moderation to prevent adverse effects.
Take your dining experience to the next level with these drins:
- Pomegranate Juice
- Zobo Drink
- Pineapple Ginger Juice Cleanse
- Iced Tea
- Clementine Juice with Passion Fruit

Storage Tips
- At room temperature: Ewa Agoyin is best eaten within two hours of cooking.
Where does Ewa Agoyin originate from?
Ewa Agoyin is a popular Nigerian street a staple food in Lagos, derived from two words; Ewa, which means beans in Yoruba, and Agoyin, a group of people in the Benin Republic, beans sellers or hawkers, a general term used by Nigerians to refer to Beninese and Togolese.
History of ewa agoyin
Ewa Agoyin is a phrase coined by Nigerians to refer to the Togolese and Beninese people due to the type of beans they prepare. The term was first introduced into Nigerian cuisine in the 1960s by the first generation of Agoyin migrants and gained immense popularity in Lagos during the 80s before it spread across Africa. Key takeaways:
1) Ewa Agoyin is a phrase referring to Togolese and Beninese people;
2) It was first introduced by Agoyin migrants during the 1960s;
3) By the mid-90s, it had spread to other parts of Africa.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the English of Ewa Agoyin?
In English, the word “ewa” means beans! It is derived from the first recipes of Ewa Agoyin that used beans as the base. The term was popularized by Beninese and Togolese people to reflect the origins of the dish.
Where does Ewa Agoyin originate from?
Ewa Agoyin Stew originated from Western Nigeria. This dish has evolved and been modified by countries to adapt it to their cultures. This recipe is the traditional Ewa Agoyin Stew recipe.
How to make Ewa Aganyin sauce?
It is so easy to do the Ewa Agoyin Sauce. You just need bell peppers, sweet peppers, and an onion. Just blend these together for a smooth, pulpy, and rich sauce for the stew.
Is Ewa Agoyin a Yoruba food?
Yes, it is mostly! Yoruba is a melting pot of the best dishes, especially stews like the Ewa Agoyin Stew.

Ewa Agoyin Stew (Ewa Aganyin Stew) VIDEO
Equipment
Ingredients
For the ewa agoyin sauce
- 4 red bell peppers
- 2 sweet peppers
- ½ onion (medium-sized)
For the ewa agoyin stew
- Ewa agoyin sauce
- pepper seeds
- 1 tbsp chili flakes (crushed chilies)
- 1 cup palm oil
- ½ onion
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp all-purpose seasoning (2 chicken stock cubes)
Instructions
Blending the sauce
- Rinse the bell peppers, sweet peppers, and the onion. Slice and deseed the red bell pepper and the sweet pepper. Set the pepper seeds aside for later use.
- Chop the bell peppers, sweet peppers, and onion for easy blending.
- Put the sliced red bell peppers and sweet peppers in a blender. Use the pulse option to achieve a finely chopped consistency.
- Then, allow the contents to drain for several minutes in a colander. Set the pepper juice aside for drinking or for use in other recipes.
- Return the drained peppers to the blender and add the chopped onion.
- Blend until smooth. Once smooth and runny, set it aside.
Cooking the sauce
- Heat oil in a pot over medium heat.
- Sautee the onion until it caramelizes.
- Then, add the blended pepper sauce.
- Cover the pot with a lid to cook for a minute.
- Season it with crushed chilies.
- Then, cover the pot with a lid halfway to let the steam escape.
- Reduce the fire to low heat.
- Cook for 20 minutes, stirring at regular intervals.
- Add in the sea salt and stock cubes and continue to cook it on low heat for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the pepper seeds with a wooden spatula.
- Let the stew cook for another 5 minutes whiles stirring until you get your preferred color.
- Once happy with the flavor, transfer the stew into a dish to serve!
Video
Notes
- Use oil with high smoke points to prevent the ingredients from burning.
- Extract the pepper seeds with gloves and a spoon.
- Make chili by dehydrating peppers and blending them.