Kenya Food
The taste of ethnic Kenyan food
One delightful element about the Kenya food is it's diversity in taste. Kenyan cooking draws upon a variety of ethnic traditions merged with flavors and taste from outside countries. Because of Kenya's long-time linkage with foreign settlers and colonization by the British, the Kenyan foods have been greatly influenced in taste, cooking and presentation by the Indian, Arabs, European, Pakistani and some western countries.
Kenyan food is mainly traditional with almost all Kenya tribes boasting a meal they can truly call their own staple food. Typical Kenyan cuisine is readily available in almost every Kenyan eatery. You can find it in restaurants, hotels, clubs and entertainment places with an African flair. Alternatively you can buy a Kenya recipe book and try Kenya authentic cooking at home.
Ingredients in a Kenyan Cuisine
The most popular foods in Kenya are fresh foods from the country's vast resources of farm lands, lakes and the Indian ocean that provide readily available vegetables, fruits and meats. Often, the Kenyan dish ingredients are fresh, very cheap and make a quick meal. The vegetables include kales, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, avocado and other leafy greens while beef and goat meat are the common meats in a Kenyan meal. Fish, chicken, mutton is available but more expensive.
Tropical fruits such as mangoes, oranges, pineapples, bananas, papaws, pears are cheap, plentiful and popular on Kenyan tables as dictated by the season changes. Other ingredients for typical Kenya dishes and recipes include rice, corn meal, wheat flour and millet flour. Kenyans are avid tea drinkers thus hot beverages such as Kenya tea and Kenya coffee are often served with a meal. Cold beverages like soda, juice, Kenya-brewed and international beers are found in restaurants, hotels, pubs and entertainment spots. Tusker, a Kenyan beer, is the relaxing beer of choice for most Kenyans.
What about other foods?
Adventurous meat eaters can also indulge in safe wildlife game meat such as crocodile and ostrich served in specialized restaurants. Game meat is rarely eaten in Kenyan homes. While most of the food ingredients are used for ethnic food preparations, western foods such as French fries, burgers, pizza, pasta, spaghetti are readily available in some restaurants and fast-food places.
Common ethnic foods in Kenya
- Ugali - a semi-hard cake made of maize(corn) flour or millet flour. It's a favorite meal for all Kenyans and usually accompanies fish, meat, nyama choma, meat stews, sukuma wiki or other greens. See Ugali recipe»
- Sukuma Wiki - a vegetable stew of leafy green vegetable, mainly collards or kale and is the foundation of many Kenyan meals. The word ´sukuma wiki´ means ´to stretch the week´ implying that sukuma wiki is a food used to stretch the meals to last for the week. See Sukuma Wiki recipe»
- Nyama Choma - The most popular dish in Kenya is this roasted beef or goat meat. It is mainly cooked over an open fire and served with Ugali and Kachumbari or mixed vegetables. See Nyama choma recipe»
- Kachumbari - a fine mixture of chopped tomatoes, onions, pepper, parsley, lemon juice and in some cases Avocado. Usually served with nyama choma and ugali. See kachumbari recipe»
- Chapati - a round flat unleavened bread cooked on a griddle to a soft brown color and served with meat stew and vegetables. See chapati recipe»
- Githeri - a mixture of boiled maize(corn) and beans and can be lightly fried with onion. It is a popular meal among the Kamba and Kikuyu tribes. See githeri recipe»
- Ingoho - chicken cooked "Luhya style" by the Luhya tribe of Western Kenya. It is their signature meal served to an important visitor.
- Pilau - rice cooked as rice pilaf, with Indian flavor of spices. Pilau is a common dish in Kenya parties, celebration and festive season. See pilau recipe»
- Wali - rice boiled in coconut milk. Along the Kenyan coast, Wali is a popular meal of the Swahili and Mijikenda tribes. Palm trees are grown all across the Kenya's coastline thus fresh coconut is always readily available. See wali recipe»
- Karanga - is a meat and potato stew, usually served with Ugali or rice. See Kenya beef stew recipe»
- Kienyeji / Irio - potatoes mashed with either beans/peas or maize and pumpkin leaves, then sautéed with onions and served with either beef stew or vegetables. An alternative is mashing boiled maize and beans to make Irio. See kienyeji / irio recipe»
- Maandazi - deep fried sweets (similar to doughnuts) served for breakfast with tea or coffee. They also serve well as a snack for late afternoon tea/coffee. See maandazi recipe»
- Chai - tea boiled with milk and sugar. It's served hot and is the beverage of choice for most Kenyans. See chai recipe»
- Samosa - a deep fried square shaped meat filled dough that is deliciously served as a snack or appetizer
- Uji - is porridge traditionally made from fermented millet, corn flour mix or mixture of millet flour, maize meal and powdered milk. Because of its high nutritional value, Uji is a popular drink prepared for the infants, adolescents, nursing mothers and those who are sick. See uji recipe»
Where can you enjoy ethnic Kenyan food?
Everywhere in Kenya! in restaurants, hotels and lodges, elaborate buffets and à la carte menus of Kenya food are part of the food offering. If you are new to Kenya food and want to experience the true ethnic food in Kenya, you should visit eating places frequented by Kenyans. Nyama choma and ugali tops the list of popular Kenyan cuisine that are a "must eat".
Where can you enjoy other foods in Kenya?
If you're not in for a Kenyan taste, international foods are available in fast-food restaurants, cafés, hotels and world-class specialty restaurants across major cities of Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and Kisumu. You will always find a meal that you recognize and enjoy in an Italian, American, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, European, French, Mexican, Korean, Lebanese and other western restaurants. There are enough choices of food to delight a vegetarian too. The world-famous and one-of-a kind game meat restaurant in Africa; the Carnivore, is popular for its tasteful wildlife game meat. At the Carnivore restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya, you can savor bountiful taste of antelope, crocodile, gazelle and other wild meat.
Top Restaurants in Nairobi
If you are in Nairobi and wondering where to find a good restaurant, take a look at this Restaurant Guide of some top restaurants for eating out in Nairobi. From Kenyan, Chinese, Continental, Ethiopian, French, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Indian, seafood, game-meat grills to organic restaurants, the famous and powerful people have eaten out there. You too can dine like one of them in Nairobi.
(The Restaurant Guide is a downloadable .pdf file courtesy of Business Daily - www.bdafrica.com)Kenya recipes - popular ethnic Kenya food you can cook at home
Kenya dessert recipes
Find Kenya recipe books - Kenya ethnic food recipes and desserts you can try at home. Includes books by Kenyan authors and all types of books/music about Kenya
What makes Kenya Coffee so great and popular?
About Kenya Tea
