National Dish Burkina Faso: Riz Gras (Recipe)
In this article
Riz Gras means fat rice, and the name is honest. Rice cooks directly in a tomato and oil base with meat, so the grains absorb everything in the pot. It is the standard Sunday dish in Burkina Faso and the thing served when guests come.
About Riz Gras
Riz gras belongs to the West African family of one-pot rice dishes that includes jollof and thiéboudienne. The Burkinabè version is less tomato-heavy than Nigerian jollof and usually milder, with ginger doing more of the work than chilli.
The rice is parboiled, which matters. It holds its shape in the liquid where ordinary long-grain would collapse.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 1 cup parboiled rice
- 200 g beef, lamb or chicken, cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
- 2 ripe tomatoes, puréed
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger, grated
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper (to taste)
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 250 ml meat or vegetable stock
- Optional: vegetables such as carrots, aubergines or peppers
Shopping for the ingredients
Parboiled rice, sold as easy-cook or converted rice, is what this needs. Basmati and jasmine both go mushy. Any cut of beef with some connective tissue is better than a lean one, since it braises in the sauce. A Maggi or Jumbo cube is what most Burkinabè cooks actually use and there is no reason to be precious about it.
Preparing the dish
Rinse the rice and set it aside to drain. Purée the tomatoes rather than chopping them, so they cook down into a smooth base. Cook that base properly before the rice goes in, until the oil separates and rises to the surface.
Step-by-step instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and brown the meat all over.
- Add the onions and garlic and sweat them until soft and fragrant.
- Stir in the tomato purée, the puréed tomatoes, the ginger and the cayenne pepper, and let everything simmer for a few minutes.
- Stir in the rice, the bay leaf, salt and pepper, then pour over the stock.
- Cover the pot and let it simmer until the rice is cooked through and the liquid has been absorbed; add any extra vegetables at this stage.
- Remove the bay leaf before serving and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Rice, meat and vegetables contain no gluten and no dairy. The only thing to check is the stock cube, several brands of which contain wheat.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
Leave out the meat, use vegetable stock, and add more vegetables: aubergine, carrot and cabbage all work in the pot. This is a common way to eat it in Burkina Faso, where meat is an occasional rather than daily ingredient. Sauce d’arachide on the side makes it a fuller plate.
More tips and tricks
Cook the tomato base until you see oil at the edges. That is the marker across West African cooking that a sauce has lost its raw taste. Do not stir the rice once the liquid is in, and do not lift the lid. And let it rest off the heat for ten minutes before serving.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
More cayenne moves it towards the Ghanaian and Nigerian style. A whole scotch bonnet dropped in and fished out gives aroma without heat. Some cooks brown the rice briefly in the oil before the liquid, which keeps the grains firmer.
Ingredient substitutions
Chicken cooks faster than beef and suits weeknight cooking. Tinned tomatoes replace fresh. Groundnut oil is the traditional fat and worth using if you have it.
Drink pairing ideas
Bissap, the hibiscus drink, is the standard and its sharpness cuts the oil. Ginger juice does the same. Cold beer works at a gathering.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve it from the pot onto a shared platter, with fried plantain and a raw onion and tomato salad on the side. Chilli sauce on the table. It is eaten with a spoon or with the right hand, depending on the household.
A bit of history
One-pot rice dishes spread across West Africa from the Senegambian coast, where thiéboudienne is the likely ancestor, and each country made its own. Riz gras is Burkina Faso’s, and the argument about whose version is best is conducted across the whole region with some heat. It sits within Burkinabè cuisine alongside tô, the millet staple.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Riz Gras
Riz gras is parboiled rice cooked in a tomato and oil base with meat until it absorbs the lot. Cook the base until the oil separates, then leave the pot alone.
