This vegan-friendly Ghanaian shito recipe is full of heat, and flavour, fish-free and shrimp free. It spicy and super delicious.

What is shitɔ

Shitɔ is a hot sauce that accompanies a lot of our rice-based dishes and swallows in Ghana. It is a word from the Ga language meaning hot sauce. Traditionally, it is made by cooking a blended mixture of onions, garlic and ginger with spices, dried crayfish and dried anchovies. It is basically the Ghanaian tabasco or sriracha but with the popularity of ketchup.

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If there is anything I have been dying to veganize, it has been this recipe. Before going vegan, I use to slather this sauce on everything. Rice, stir-fry, any form of carb, basically if it was savoury and not liquidy, I will add shito on it. So it was unfortunate to not enjoy my favourite hot sauce when I went vegan. But with a bit of intuition, I have managed to find a recipe that works for me.

What you will need to make vegan shitɔ

  • Onions: This is the base of the recipe. It adds sweetness and bulk
  • Garlic: Garlic provides a nice savoury flavour
  • Ginger: Adds a spicy kick
  • Hot Pepper: You can use any fresh hot pepper you like, but traditionally, it is made with chilli powder
  • Tomato Paste: This is not 100% necessary but I find the tomato past definitely adds sweetness to balance out the heat
  • Spices: You can use any blend of spices you want but I do prefer a spice mix with anise seeds, curry powder, garlic powder and onion powder. Rosemary also works well here. I also add a vegetarian stock powder for more flavour.
  • Vegetable Oil: You will need vegetable oil with a high smoke point — canola or peanut oil work well here
  • Dry Mushroom, Nori Sheets, Wakame (Japanese kelp): Since we are not using fish, we will need to add a component that adds umami flavour to the shito. Blending up dried mushrooms, nori sheets add fishiness and intense savoury flavour. It also helps with turning the colour of the hot sauce black.

How to make Vegan Shitɔ

  1. Cook your tomato paste in hot oil
  2. Once dissolved add in your blended onion, garlic and ginger and cook that down
  3. You can then add your pepper, fish substitute and spices
  4. Cook till most of the water has evaporated — the shito will get lighter and fewer water streaks

I have two videos on youtube you can check out: The first is my most recent video and the second is for a smaller quantity.

Updated video

Smaller Quantity

FAQ + Substitutions

  • I do not have nori or wakame, what can I use? I have seen people make this with TVP blended into a powder or soy powder. Mushrooms alone work well here too.
  • Can I use healthier oil? You are welcome to use whatever oil you want, please do not use coconut oil as it doesn’t lend itself to long cooking processes. Alternatively, once the shito is done, you can discard a bit of the oil.

What you can serve vegan shitɔ with

Shito is traditionally served with these rice dishes.

Waakye
Jollof Rice and Shito
Ghanaian Fried Rice

If you like this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below.

If you are looking for a much smaller quantity of this recipe, make sure to check out this video.

Print Pin
Course Sauce
Cuisine Ghanaian
Keyword hot sauce, shito
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours

Ingredients

  • 8 onions
  • 1.5 cup garlic cloves (roughly 6 bulbs of garlic)
  • 1 cup ginger peeled and roughly chopped (roughly 2 medium-sized ginger roots)
  • 5 cups vegetable oil
  • 1 can tomato paste ( I got the 156ml can)
  • 2 nori sheets
  • 1/4 dried wakame (small dried kelp) (any kelp works here)
  • 1/2 cup dried mushrooms
  • 2.5 tbsp bouillon powder I used the Go natural brands
  • 1 tbsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp anise seeds
  • 1/2 tbsp cloves
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1/2 cup red chilli powder I used birds eye chillis but cayenne works well
  • 1/4 cup red chilli flakes

Instructions

  • Blend the onions with 1/4 cup of oil till smooth
  • Blend the garlic and ginger together (you can use a little bit of the onion mixture to blend so that you do not add extra water)
  • In a deep pot at medium heat, heat up the rest of the oil. Make sure to not over heat the oil. To check if the oil is hot enough, put the tip of a wooden spoon in the pot and watch for soft bubbles
  • Add in your tomato paste and 2 tbsp of water (the water allows the tomato paste to dissolve well)
  • Once the tomato paste is evenly dispersed, add in the blended onion and mix well
  • When the onion is well incorporated, add in the ginger and garlic mixture. Mix well and let it simmer at medium heat for 45 minutes
  • While the shito is simmering, blend the mushroom and seaweed mix into a powder and set aside. Also blend your whole spices and set aside.
  • As the mixture is cooking, the colour will start to darken
  • After the 45 minutes, mix in the chilli powder, the mushroom and seaweed mix and mix well.
  • Let everything cook for another 10 minutes then add your spices.
  • Once everything has been added, continue to cook the shito at medium heat for another hour
  • You know the shito is ready when it gets easier to stir (i.e the water has evaporated to the shito feels lighter). Also when you hold the spoon up, you will not see little bubbles where the water and oil are mixing.
  • Serve as a hot sauce. PLEASE ALWAYS USE A CLEAN SPOON to take a portion to reduce the risk of spoilage.

Notes

This recipe makes a lot of shito, which usually lasts my family half a year. You are welcome to half or even quarter the number of ingredients for your use. I also have a recipe video for a personal quantity you can check out. It has an adjusted recipe in the description box (click here).