Here is a list of 20 Kenyan favorites to help you get excited about eating Kenyan food!
1. Ugali (Cornmeal Staple)
The undeniable most common Kenyan food staple is ugali – usually made from cornmeal that is added to boiling water and heated until it turns into a dense block of cornmeal paste. Ugali has the consistency of a grainy dough and the heaviness of a brick.
For many Kenyans, ugali along with a small amount of cooked vegetables or saucy stew is a normal meal.
Kenyan Food - Ugali
2. Irio (Mashed Peas and Potato Mix)
Irio is one of the most famous dishes in Kenya, a food that originated as a Kikuyu staple and spread throughout the country.
Green peas and potatoes are boiled and then mashed up before whole kernels of maize (corn) are added to give the mash some extra starch and texture. This hearty and heavy Kenyan food is famous to eat with roasted nyama choma meat (nyama na irio) or just some Kenyan style stew.
photo credit kiplagat
3. Githeri (Beans and Corn)
It’s not too complicated, a Kenyan dish that consists of boiled beans, corn kernels, and possibly mixed in with a little bit of vegetables.
The combination of Githeri is a filling, highly nutritious, and can be quite good when complimented with salt, pepper, chilies, and even a chapati!
photo credit cimmyt
4. Kenyan Pilau (Spiced Rice)
Pilau is a glorified combination of rice cooked with flavor bursting spices like cumin, cardamon, cinnamon, and cloves. The fragrant rice is fantastic to eat with a form of meat stew and a few slices of fresh tomato and onions.
Biriyani is another form of spiced rice that is a popular Kenyan food on the coast.
Even though it’s in Tanzania, I’ve enjoyed some of the best pilau and biryani I’ve ever eaten on the island of Zanzibar!
Kenyan Food - Pilau Rice
5. Wali wa Nazi (Coconut Rice)
Coconut rice is a popular Kenyan food mostly along the Indian Ocean coast. White rice is cooked with grated coconut meat to create a fragrant twist on plain boiled rice. Wali wa nazi is best enjoyed with a serving of fish or chicken curry, some vegetables, or even bean stew.
6. Sukuma Wiki (Collard Greens / Kale)
One of the most popular vegetable Kenyan dishes is sukuma wiki (known as collard greens or a form of kale in English).
The nutritious green leafy vegetable is often cooked in oil with a few diced tomatoes, onions, and flavored with a sprinkle of mchuzi mix (Kenyan food secret flavoring salt – MSG) or stock cube flavoring.
7. Kenyan Stew
Kenyan stew can include a number of different meats: beef stew, goat stew, chicken stew or any other animal stew. Kenyan stew dishes might also include a few other base vegetable ingredients such as carrots, peppers, peas, or potatoes. The sauce is usually formed from a light tomato base and accented with onion, salt and pepper, and that essential mchuzi mix!
Kenyan Food - Beef Stew
8. Nyama Choma (Roasted Meat) – Pride of Kenyan Food
Any Kenyan food list is not complete without a mention of nyama choma, also known as roasted meat. Goat and beef are the 2 most common forms of nyama choma, but chicken (kuku choma) and fish (samaki choma) are also valid choices.
Fat and the grizzle from the meat is the choice part of the animal, and is often consumed with a quick dip into a pile of salt for extra flavoring! It’s also possible at many places to get the “fry,” – the fried meat variation.
Find the best places to eat nyama choma in Nairobi right here.
Kenyan Food: Nyama Choma Mixed Platter
9. Matoke (Plantain Banana Stew)
Matoke is originally a dish from Uganda, though it is widely available and popular in Kenya as well.
Plantain bananas are cooked up in a pot with some oil, tomatoes, onions, garlic, chilies, meat (optional), and lemon juice. The bananas are cooked until they become soft and begin to form a thick sauce with the other ingredients.
The result is a delicious dish that is reminiscent of boiled potatoes in sauce and excellent to eat with rice, ugali, or a chapati.
10. Chapati (Flatbread)
Chapatis in Kenya can trace their origin from the influence of the Indian population. Kenyan style chapatis are made with a flour dough that is wound into a coil before being rolled into a flat round circle. The dough is then fried on a skillet accompanied by plenty of oil so it becomes crispy on the edges but remains moist and doughy on the interior.
Chapatis can be considered more of a special form of Kenyan food, a treat to eat. Chapatis go well with fried cabbage, beans, or even just rolled up with a cup of tea!
Kenyan Food - Chapati
11. Kachumbari (Tomatoes and Onions)
The simple formula of diced tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, cilantro, and sometimes avocado, is a natural power combination of vegetables that cultures all the way from Mexico to Kenya have discovered. Kenyans enjoy kachumbari as a garnish, a side salad that accompanies things like nyama choma or beans.
12. Kenyan Bajias
There are multiple forms of what is commonly known as bajias. The Kenyan variety (sort of borrowed from India) is normally what can be described as glorious spruced-up plate of awesome french fries (chips).
Potatoes are sliced up and battered with seasoning, deep fried, and served with a Kenyan tomato salsa that is worth boasting about.
Kenyan Food - Bajias
13. Masala Chips (French Fries Masala)
The dish starts with a greasy plate of freshly deep fried french fries (chips).
Tomato sauce, chili sauce, herbs, cilantro, and whatever else the chef decides are all added to the fries, coating them in a luscious sauce that will have you licking your fingers and the plate!
14. Chips Mayai (French Fries and Egg)
Chips mayai can be described as a French fry Kenyan omelet.
It all begins with a plate of famous Kenyan chips that are placed in a frying pan before being covered in a generous amount of beaten egg and cooked through.
Lather it up with a generous portion of chili tomato sauce and it’s a snack that will provide calories of energy for a few days!
Chips mayai is a one of the Kenyan dishes that is also popular in Tanzania.
photo credit mwilliamrice
15. Mandazi (Kenyan Doughnut)
They can be smelled from a kilometer down the street, that lovely familiar scent of a blob of deep frying dough.
The smell is enough to entice anyone to make a mandatory mandazi stop.
Mandazi’s make a great snack or a light breakfast with a cup of sweet chai.
photo credit pareshjai
16. Mutura
Mutura is the real Kenyan sausage, a protein rich meaty snack that could be the envy of every beer drinker.
Goat intestine wrappers are stuffed full of the alluring combination of ground meat parts and goat blood. The sausage is boiled until it is almost cooked through and then thrown on the grill to dehydrate the meat and give it that sensational smoky taste.
If you are searching for that truly authentic Kenyan food street meat experience, mutura will go above and beyond your expectation!
Kenyan Food - Mutura Sausage
17. Kenyan Burger
Though it’s not a traditional Kenyan food staple, there’s something about the burgers in Kenya that have the power to make one smile with happiness.
Some restaurants choose to grill their burgers while others choose to deep fry their burgers, adding that extra grease to the meat for super calorie deliciousness.
This particular burger from Burger Hut Nairobi is the double hut, a burger that’s so mouthwatering it could spark a world burger pilgrimage (if it was a little more famous).
Kenyan Food - Burger Hut
18. Grilled Maize
One of the most popular on-the-go snacks in Kenya is a cob of roasted maize. The corn is picked when it has become mature, so it’s a dry starch that is perfect for roasting over hot embers.
As the maize roasts, some kernels pop like popcorn while others blacken to a crunchy crisp. Some street stall vendors will supply a chili lime salt garnish for the grilled maize.
Kenyan Food - Roasted Maize
19. Samosas
Another Indian snack turned Kenyan food are samosas – small triangular pockets of spiced meat or vegetables put in a pastry wrapper and deep fried to a golden brown.
Squeeze a sprinkle of lime juice on a samosa for ultimate enjoyment.
These golden snacks are available everywhere from sit down restaurants to Nairobi street food pushcarts.
20. Chai (Kenyan style tea)
Kenyan coffee is one of the more famous varieties on earth, yet it is tea that is the popular hot drink of choice for many locals. Kenyan tea is brewed dark, mixed with plenty of whole fat milk, and sweetened up with a few heaping tablespoons of sugar.
As for myself, give me a kilo of mubuzi choma sliced from the hind leg, a side of kachumbari, and a warm Tusker or bottle of Stoney Tangawizi and I’m a very, very happy man.
What’s your favorite Kenyan food?
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I don’t know why but I was expecting to not really be interested in many of the foods on your list. Surprisingly almost all looked great! I love polenta and cornbread but the Ugali seems a bit dry. Both french fry dishes sound amazing. Great list, thanks for sharing.
Great Debbie, glad you enjoyed it!
You are right about ugali, it is a bit dry, but it does go will with soupy stew and vegetables. The main thing about it that it is very filling!
You are right Mark Ugali is very filling but I loved. I was in 1990 for nearly a year in Kenya and travelled around but the food is just stunning if like the way they cooked.And especially when you are in the Rural areas.When you go to the Shebines and eat that lovley freshly grilled meat with a Taska Beer.
Thanks Max!
That flavor of roasted goat and kachumbari combined with Kenyan beer is one of the greatest!
I am drooling. It all looks delicious and I just love trying new foods!
Dean recently posted..Summer in Queenstown
Awesome Dean, I’m with you and trying new foods – one of my all-time favorite things to do!
All of these dishes sound really interesting. I especially like the Plantain Banana Stew.
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Nature Walk from Hell – Chitwan- Nepal
Back when I lived in Kenya, the plantain stew was one of my favorite dishes!
There is nothing better then a cup of chai! However, the chai I had while I was in Kenya was different from the recipe you stated. The chai I drank had cinnamon, cardamom, and maybe even some black pepper. It was so tasty.
Great list. There are many items on it that I haven’t tried!
Mary recently posted..One Pick at a Time
Hey, thanks so much for the comment Mary,
Sounds like what you are describing is masala chai. It’s the same tea and milk mixed with a spice masala blend. The extra spice (instead of just sweet) is really good – I agree with you!
Yum-o-rama!
I know if I stick with you, Mark, I will never starve, no matter where in the world I am!
Thanks – I try to really enjoy food everywhere I go!
My God this brings back some memories – matoke was a favourite of mine. You left maharagwe out!!!!
There’s nothing like some Kenyan comfort food. Right about the maharagwe Robin, that’s a good one I should have included!
I didn’t know anything about Kenyan food before. But I can tell you I definitely wouldn’t starve in that country. It all looks delicious!
Great! Even though a lot of the food is meant to be very filling, some Kenyan dishes are really tasty!
Wow, that burger is out of control! I have to say my tastebuds probably aren’t Kenyan, although the stew looks delicious and a few other things sound good – the tea, definitely. Nice post. Loved the photos!
Thanks Steph!
That coconut rice sounds pretty delicious!
Yah, it’s real good with a bit of stew!
wa… markus, i had even forgooten about roast maize..mahindi choma! u guy have to update and show how we use the sliced lemon to dip it into chili powder and apply gently on the maize!
You guy, the mahindi choma bwana and that chili salt is the best guy!
That burger is freaking huge! And the grilled maize looks like something I would eat all the time. Love your food posts, Mark!
Thanks Christy! Maize on the streets of Nairobi makes for a great filling snack!
it’s 2 in the morning and this post made me so hungry.
i know india and kenya shared trades in the last centuries, but I was actually surprised to see a lot of indian influence in the cuisine even u to now.
now im excited to go to nairobi!
I love our kenyan foods and yeah Mark I love the way you even know the swahili and you really make my day when I look at all the places you’ve been. Good work brother.!!God Bless you. my best food is Porini chicken and sima. next time you should come to boko boko farm in porini in mombasa about 25km from the town, place called Kikambala. and you will Enjoy our food.
Asante Jecinter! I appreciate the support and also for the recommendation for Mombasa food. I’m in Thailand right now, and trying to locate some mbuzi choma!