Find out how to make Nigerian fish stew with tomato! This stew is delicious, spicy and fresh! Serve with rice, plantain or swallow.
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Stew is one of the oldest recipes in the world, and we want to honour that with this timeless Nigerian classic: fish stew!
The reason stew is such an old dish is because it contains all of the hearty essentials you need to survive, but it is incredibly affordable. All you need is the basics: fish, some vegetables, and salt to taste. It’s an oldie but a goodie, as they say!
You'll also enjoy this Nigerian Beef and Chicken Stew, Best Nigerian Stew Recipe (Obe ata), Spicy Grilled Tilapia Recipe and Nigerian Jollof Rice Recipe.
Hearty Nigerian Fish Needed
Tilapia is our go-to choice when it comes to making fish stew; not only is it super affordable and available at most supermarkets, but it is also relatively easy to work with!
If you want a substitute, you could replace tilapia with another type of white fish. But just make sure that it is firm, like halibut or red snapper. A buttery, flaky fish won’t work well in a stew as it will likely just crumble apart in the mixture.
Making Nigerian Fish Stew with Tomato
We use a blender for the veggies because we love the thick, creamy texture of stew. Of course, you are welcome to cook the veggies separately if you prefer your stew to be more soup-like. Get creative!
1. Add 2 scotch bonnets, 2 red bell peppers, 2-3 onions, and 3 tins of plumbed tomatoes to a blender. Blend until totally smooth.
2. In a saucepan, add some vegetable oil and heat it up. Add the blended vegetable mix and heat it until the oil is boiling and bubbling. Add some salt to taste and a pinch of thyme, and stir the ingredients together. Turn the pan down to a low/medium heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
3. Lastly, add tilapia fish pieces (make sure you clean it first, of course) to the saucepan. You can cut it into pieces beforehand if you prefer. Slow cook this stew for about 20 minutes or until it’s nice and hot all the way through.
4. Serve with rice, bread or swallow!
Meal Tips
We recommend adding a side of rice with this stew. It adds some heartiness to the meal and gives you more textures to play with. However, it can totally be enjoyed on its own as well!
And although you’ve added plenty of blended vegetables, if you want to add more texture to your stew, you can chop up some fresh veggies and steam them with the stew as well. We recommend carrots, tomatoes, or bell peppers for a burst of flavour.
Remember to
freeze it in airtight containers if you want it to last a while. It can last in
the refrigerator for up to four days, but remember that the quality of fish can
degrade quite rapidly.
More Flavorful Nigerian Recipes
Nigerian Fish Stew with Tomato
Equipment
- 1 Blender
- 1 Saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 whole tilapia fish cleaned and sliced into 4-5 pieces
- 2 scotch bonnets
- 2 red bell peppers
- 2-3 onions
- 3 tins of plumbed tomatoes
- salt to taste
- A pinch of thyme
- vegetable oil
Instructions
- If going with the blender method: Add 2 scotch bonnets, 2 red bell peppers, 2-3 onions, and 3 tins of plumbed tomatoes to a blender. Blend until totally smooth.
- In a saucepan, add some vegetable oil and heat it up. Add the blended vegetable mix and heat it until the oil is boiling and bubbling. Add some salt to taste and a pinch of thyme, and stir the ingredients together. Turn the pan down to a low/medium heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Lastly, add tilapia fish pieces (make sure you clean it first, of course) to the saucepan. You can cut it into pieces beforehand if you prefer. Slow cook this stew for about 20 minutes or until it’s nice and hot all the way through.
- Serve with rice, bread or swallow!
Raiah Osagie
Love your recipes! I only have one question. When you say 1 or more cans of plum tomatoes what size are you referring to? Like the 10 oz or 15 oz? I made your Nigerian rice recipe and it came out soggy because I didn't know what size can of tomatoes to get and it was too much for the three cups of rice.
Jen Sim
Hi Raiah, thanks! The average size of the cans that I use ranges from 13-14.5 oz. I hope this helps! 🙂