Okro Soup – Nigerian Okra Soup

🧡 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

You are going to love okro soup for these reasons:

• Traditional flavor: This soup uses classic spices like crayfish and locust beans to give you a true taste of home cooking right in your own kitchen.
• Simple to make: It takes about 45 minutes to get everything ready, so it is a great choice for a filling meal.
• Easy to change: You can add your favorite meats or seafood like goat meat, smoked fish, or shrimp to make the meal even better.
• Fresh ingredients: It is loaded with fresh okra and healthy ingredients that make for a light but satisfying soup.

What is Okro?

Okro is just another name for okra. It is a long, green vegetable that is used in many West African dishes. When you cook it, it gives the soup a thick and silky texture that is perfect for dipping. It has a very mild flavor, so it does a great job of soaking up all the savory spices in the soup.

🥘 Equipment I Use

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To make your own okra soup, you’ll need a blender or a grater to break down your okra, a cutting board and knives, and a large pot or Dutch oven.

🧾 Ingredients I Use

• Okra: For this recipe, I used about 25 pieces of okra pods, which came to about 4 cups chopped. The amount doesn’t have to be exact; you can eyeball the okra and approximate the amount. But remember the more okra, the thicker the soup.
• Proteins: You can use any combination of meat or fish to cook this, but the cooking time will vary. I used goat meat, smoked catfish, Iru (fermented African locust bean), and fresh shrimp. The more proteins you add, the more filling it is, and the chunkier the soup. I actually prefer it this way, but it’s up to you.
• Red Palm Oil: This is the best for traditional African soups, but you can use olive oil if that’s what you have. The flavor will not be exactly the same, but you will still have a tasty okro soup dish.
• Other vegetables: The traditional Nigerian okro soup is not cooked with bell peppers, but I added it because I think it gives more texture and flavor.
• Spices: I used bouillon, ground crayfish, cayenne pepper, and salt.

🔪 How To Make Nigerian Okra Soup

For this okra soup recipe, you have to prepare the okra first if you’re using fresh okra.

Prepare the Okra

1. You can use frozen okra if that’s all you have, but I promise you, fresh okra is so much better. For the longest time, I used frozen, but when I tried it with fresh okra, I realized what I had been missing.
2. You can control just how smooth or chunky you want it to be. To make it very smooth, use a blender and blend until it’s pureed. To make it chunky, cut it with a knife into smaller pieces, use a grater with a large-hole shredder, or chop with a food processor.
3. The easiest and fastest way is to chop with a food processor as this makes the okra chunks uniform in size, and it is ready in about 2 minutes.

Make the Okra Stew

1. Cut the meat you chose into small pieces. Add salt, black pepper, seasoning cubes, and enough water and cook until tender. Don’t toss the meat stock; it will enhance the soup’s flavor.
2. If you’re using smoked fish and locust beans, soak them separately in hot water for 5 minutes, break apart the smoked catfish, and remove the bones. Then, wash and drain the locust bean.
3. Add palm oil to a large skillet on medium-high heat. Sauté the onions until they just begin to turn brown, then add the chopped okra. Stir in for about 5 minutes, and the okra will start to turn a bit slimy.
4. Add in the meat stock from boiling the meat or just water if you have none. Since the meat stock is usually very flavorful, you might need to add more spices to bring out the flavor if you just use water.
5. Bring to a boil and add the spices, meat, shrimp, bell pepper, smoked catfish, and locust bean. You can add or subtract anything on this list; just make it your own!
6. Add some spinach to make it even more filling. When cooking the okra, let it boil for 5 minutes, then check the texture of the soup with a slotted spoon. At this point, I am usually okay with the texture, but if it is too crunchy for you, let it boil for a few more minutes.

♨️ How To Store and Reheat

Store your leftover okra soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. To reheat, either microwave it in 1-2 minute bursts until fully reheated or let it come to temperature in a saucepan on the stove.

You can also freeze your leftover okro stew in a freezer-safe container for 1-3 months. Be sure to let it thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.

💡 My Expert Tips

• For a vegan option, you can substitute the meat with mushrooms.
• If the mucilage in the okro stew bothers you, there are ways to reduce it slightly. Cooking or frying the okra in high heat will cut down the slimy texture, while cooking on low heat for a prolonged period will increase it.
• Be careful not to overcook it, or the okra might begin to turn brown.
• You can add a hot pepper, like a habanero pepper, for more heat.
• If the okra soup is too thick, you can add a little water or broth to dilute it.
• Feel free to tweak the seasonings to your preference. You can always add more spices, such as onion powder and bay leaves.
• For extra heat, top this okra soup with hot sauce, like my African pepper sauce or super hot pili pili sauce.

🍽️ What to Serve With Okra Soup

In Nigeria, okro soup is usually served with eba, amala, pounded yam or other fufu dishes. Since I am on a keto diet, I like to enjoy mine with low-carb fufu.

👩‍🍳 Questions You Might Have

Originally published in July 2019, this post was updated in May 2026 for accuracy and to include more helpful content.

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Preparation

• Wash the goat meat and place in a large pot.

  1 lb goat meat

• Chop half an onion and add salt, black pepper, bouillon powder.

  1 tbsp bouillon powder, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 onion

• Boil for about 30 minutes, stirring intermittently. The meat should be quite tender but not too soft when done.

• If applicable, soak the smoked catfish and locust bean, separately in hot water for about 5 minutes.

  1 smoked catfish, 2 tbsp Iru

• Break apart the smoked catfish and remove the bones.

• Wash and drain the locust bean.

• Trim the ends off the okra, wash, and pat dry.

  25 okra pieces

• Chop okra using a food processor and set aside.

Instructions

• Pour palm oil in a large pan on medium heat.

  1/2 cup palm oil

• Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes till it turns just a bit brown.

  1/2 onion

• Add okra to palm oil and stir for about 5 minutes.

• Pour in the meat stock from boiling the meat. You can add water if you don’t have any but might need to increase the spices added.

  Meat stock

• Add the meat, shrimp, red bell pepper, smoked catfish, and locust bean, and bring to a boil.

  1.5 cups shrimp, 2 mini red bell peppers

• Mix in the remaining spices.

  1 tbsp bouillon powder, 1 tsp ground crayfish, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp salt

• Let the okro soup simmer for about 5 minutes if you’re ok with a coarser texture or a few minutes longer if you want a finer texture.

• Add more salt or spices if you desire a stronger flavor.

This recipe contains 12 servings with 2 net carbs per serving.

• You can make this okro soup as loaded as you want. Add beef, fish, shrimps, snails, or any combination of these. Substitute with mushrooms for a vegan option.
• You can add spinach or other greens for a wonderful variety.
• Okro is quite slimy in nature. If the mucilage really bothers you and you want to reduce it, cooking or frying in high heat will reduce the mucilage while cooking on low heat for a prolonged period will actually increase it.
• Be careful not to overcook it or the okra might begin to turn brown.

Calories: 236kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 763mg | Potassium: 404mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 185IU | Vitamin C: 7.8mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 0.6mg