Skip to content
FriendsPantry

Ugandan

Luwombo

Non-vegetarian

Oluwombo

Chicken in a groundnut sauce sealed in banana-leaf parcels and steamed slowly until meltingly tender. A Ugandan festive dish from the Buganda tradition.

Luwombo is an Ugandan main course, ready in about 2 hours 30 minutes and made with chicken pieces, skin-on, peanut butter and banana leaves. It serves 5 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking
Chicken luwombo stew opened in its steamed banana-leaf parcel
Photo: Namuganyi / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
30 min
Cook
2 h
Total
2 h 30 min
Serves
5
Level
Intermediate
Calories
627

Ingredients

5 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Whisk the peanut butter (opens in a new tab) with the water into a smooth sauce. Mix in the onion (opens in a new tab), tomato (opens in a new tab), mushrooms (opens in a new tab), salt and pepper (opens in a new tab).

    • 5 min
    Eggs being whisked in a bowl
    How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Pass the banana leaves (opens in a new tab) over a flame until they soften and darken. Line a bowl with two crossed leaves for each parcel.

    • 10 min

  3. Step 3

    Divide the chicken between the leaves, spoon over the sauce, gather the leaves into a pouch and tie tightly with a strip of leaf or string.

    • 10 min

  4. Step 4

    Set the parcels on a rack or banana stems above simmering water, cover tightly and steam until the chicken falls from the bone, topping up the water as needed.

    Food safety: Chicken should reach 74 °C at the thickest part.

About this dish

Origin
Buganda, Uganda · Commonly attributedAssociated with the Buganda royal court; now served at weddings, Christmas and other celebrations.More food from Uganda
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Main courses · Stews & braises
Cooking method
Steamed, Slow-cooked
Taste
nutty, savoury, creamy, smoky
Diet
No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Keto-style · Low-carb · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb · High-protein
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Festive & celebration · Make-ahead
Cook more with
Chicken pieces, skin-on · Peanut butter · Banana leaves · Onion · Tomato
Techniques
Simmering · Steaming

Allergens

  • Contains: Peanutsfrom peanut butter

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

627 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 362 g · recipe makes 5

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 28%
  • Carbohydrate 7%
  • Fat 65%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy627 kcal173 kcal
Protein44.6 g12.3 g
Carbohydrate10.8 g3 g
Net carbohydrate8.3 g2.3 g
Sugars5.3 g1.5 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre2.5 g0.7 g
Fat45.7 g12.6 g
Saturated fat11.7 g3.2 g
Trans fat0.2 g0.1 g
Cholesterol150 mg41 mg
Sodium849 mg234 mg
Salt equivalent2.1 g0.6 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
695 mg
Calcium
54 mg
Iron
2.5 mg
Magnesium
100 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
102 µg
Vitamin C
11 mg
Vitamin D
0.4 µg
Vitamin B12
0.6 µg
Folate (DFE)
50 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: mushrooms.
  • Not counted (tiny amounts or “to taste”): banana leaves.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Lightly smoking or frying the chicken before wrapping deepens the flavour, as many Baganda cooks do.

Common mistakes

  • Tying the parcels loosely — the steam gets in and dilutes the sauce.

Serve with

  • Serve in the opened parcel with matoke, rice or steamed sweet potato.

Storage

  • Keeps 2 days refrigerated.

Reheating

  • Re-steam in the leaves for 15–20 minutes.

Variations

  • Beef or fish luwombo: Use stewing beef (steam 2½ hours) or smoked fish.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 3

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

You might also like