Coconut Fufu is a low carb and nutritious African dish made from coconut flour. At only 12 net carbs, it is a delicious and healthy way to enjoy fufu with your favorite African soups!
Tips when making Coconut Fufu
Coconut flour is extremely versatile and should be a staple in your low carb pantry. It is inexpensive, gluten-free, high in fiber and low in carbs.
Coconut flour can be a bit tricky to use and it cannot be used as a direct flour substitute due to its very absorbent nature. In other words, it is quite thirsty and drinks up a lot of water real fast!
When I first made this recipe, it was a bit challenging to get the ratio of coconut flour to water right. Too little water and it ends up dense and too thick. Too much water, it ends up too soft!
The trick is to start with one and a half cups of water to one cup of coconut flour and add more water if needed. Too much water too fast will leave you with a mushy mess.
Coconut flour should also be sifted as this helps break up lumps in the flour, which makes it lighter and easier to mix evenly with the psyllium husk. I have made coconut fufu with the flour sifted and also made it not sifted, and 100% of the time, the sifted flour works better.
Without sifting, the coconut fufu is quite dense and gets hard pretty quickly. But when sifted, the texture is a bit softer and easier to handle and is similar to regular fufu dishes.
For sifting, I like to use a fine mesh strainer or a flour sifter. If you do not have a strainer or sifter, mix the coconut flour with a wire whisk.
It will not get the flour as light as when sifted, but it will at least make it a bit fluffy and break up any clumps.
You will also need psyllium husk for this recipe as coconut flour needs a binder to stick together.
Don’t mix the coconut flour with water before adding the psyllium husk, as I do in my cauliflower fufu recipe; the coconut flour will absorb the water and not properly mix with the psyllium husk.
I found this out the hard way. You have to mix the coconut flour and psyllium husk together before adding to the boiling water.
How to prepare Coconut Fufu
To start, set some water on the stove and bring to a boil. Sift one cup of coconut flour in a bowl, and mix with one and a half tablespoons of psyllium husk.
When the water boils, add the coconut flour and psyllium husk mixture to the water and stir.
Add some more water if needed but only small quantities at a time. Stir till it reaches a dough-like consistency.
Serve and enjoy with your favorite African soups such as:
Efo Riro (Nigerian Spinach Stew)
How to reheat Coconut Fufu
This makes two servings for me so I store the extra one in the fridge for another day, wrapped in a cling wrap. To reheat, bring water to a boil and put the wrapped fufu in the pot of boiling water and turn the heat to medium.
Don’t take out the wrap, as the fufu will just keep absorbing water. After about 5 minutes, take it out of the boiling water and let cool a bit. Take out the cling wrap and serve.
I love coconut fufu as it is so easy and quick to prepare. There are days when I don’t feel like cooking, but since there is always soup in the house, I can whip this up in only 10 minutes.
At only 12 net carbs, it is a healthy and delicious alternative to our native African fufu dishes!
Other wonderful, low carb fufu alternatives include:
📖 Recipe
Coconut Fufu
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut flour sifted
- 1.5 tablespoon psyllium husk
- 1.5 cups water
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in a pot.
- Mix the coconut fufu and psyllium husk together.
- Put mixture in boiling water and stir.
- Add more water if needed.
- Stir till it reaches a dough-like consistency.
- Serve with your favorite Nigerian soup.
Notes
- Make sure you sift the coconut flour, using a fine mesh strainer, before use. This is to prevent the fufu from becoming hard and dense.
- Make sure you mix the coconut flour with the psyllium husk before pouring it into the hot water.
- If you need to add more water, add just a little at a time, till you reach your desired consistency.
Nutrition
Tayo Oredola is the founder of Low Carb Africa, where she shares healthy, low carb dishes with global flavors. She is passionate about teaching people how to cook drool-worthy dishes while losing weight and living their best lives. Tayo’s recipes have been featured on MSN, Women’s Health, Parade, Yahoo News, Pure Wow, Essence, and other online publications.
Hi! Do you need to include psyllium husk? What does it do? Thank you!
Hi Michelle, low carb flours do not have gluten, which is what binds it together. Psyllium husk acts as the binder so the fufu can have the right shape. Otherwise, it just falls flat. Hope this helps!
Amazing website and Delicious recipes
Thank you, Yasua. I'm glad you enjoy the recipes!
Your teachings are explicit and concise...thanks for making me have a keto affordable diet in Nigeria I can substitute for.
You're welcome, Silver. I'm glad to know you're enjoying my recipes!
Can i switch psyllium husk for xanthan gum?
I have never tried it that way before, but if you do, let me know how it turns out!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Tayo!! You have really helped me out!
I am married to a Cameroonian and we frequently eat African dishes, and almost always eat in a sauce + starch format. Since recently starting Keto I have not felt like I have had a complete meal without that starch!!
I just made your beef stew, coconut fufu and a spinach dish. It was amazing. It was the most normal, satisfying meal I have had!
I'm sure you know how happy tasty food and a full belly can make someone, so thank you!!!
I am so happy to hear that, Heather! And I can totally relate to how a meal does not feel complete without fufu. That was one of my biggest challenges when I started the keto diet because I make African soups for the whole family and I felt I was missing out. I am so glad we don't have to give up our traditional fufu dishes and African soups!
Thank you so much. I saw this and jumped out of bed to try it. It came out perfectly. This is the first time that am enjoying any form of keto or low carb fufu. I enjoyed it with okra soup. Your instructions are very clear and easy to follow. The result is excellent. Thanks to you, am going back to low carb. I am now following you on Instagram. Thank you so much!!!!
Its 5 stars!!!
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! It really made my day :-). I'm really glad you enjoyed the recipe. I love my fufu dishes too and love that I don't have to give them up on a keto diet!
Delish!!!!
Thank you!
This looks yummy. I will have to try it.
Let me know how it turns out. Thanks for stopping by!