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Created on August 19, 2026
Five minutes’ cooking. Not a minute more. Fonio is the fastest of all grains, and probably the most elegant: tiny grains that never clump, an airy texture, and the rare gift of taking on the flavour of whatever you give it. Coconut milk, a peanut sauce, a hibiscus dressing — it adapts without ever disappearing.
That is what makes it the most versatile grain in your cupboard, and also why it is a shame to confine it to a side dish. Grown for more than five thousand years in West Africa, naturally gluten-free and low on the glycaemic index, fonio has everything it takes to become a daily habit rather than a curiosity you bring out twice a year.
Here are five recipes for five moments of the day, with nothing whatsoever in common: a breakfast made the night before, a lunchbox, a slow-simmered dish, a crisp coating — the use nobody thinks of — and a dessert. Enough to finish the bag without ever eating the same thing twice.
Before you start: the basic cooking method
Every recipe below begins with the same gesture. One measure of organic fonio to two measures of boiling salted water. Pour, cover, turn off the heat after five minutes, and let it stand for five minutes more. Fluff with a fork, and it is ready.
A glass of raw fonio yields about three portions. Allow 60 g per person as a side, 80 g as a main course.
1. The breakfast you make the night before
Overnight fonio with mango and cashew
Preparation: 10 minutes the night before, nothing in the morning.
The overnight oats principle, with fonio instead. The grain absorbs the milk through the night and swells without ever turning stodgy — which is precisely where it beats oats.
For 2 jars:
- 120 g cooked, cooled organic fonio
- 250 ml coconut milk or plant milk
- 2 tablespoons organic dried mango, finely diced
- 1 handful organic cashew nuts, roughly crushed
- 1 teaspoon honey or agave syrup
- 1 pinch of cinnamon
- Divide the cooked fonio between two jars.
- Add the dried mango, honey and cinnamon, then pour over the milk.
- Stir, seal, and leave overnight in the fridge.
- In the morning, add the cashews just before eating — that is what keeps the crunch.
The tip: the dried mango swells as it absorbs the milk and turns soft again, almost like fresh fruit. Do not soak it beforehand, or it will lose all its fragrance.
The products in this recipe: Organic gluten-free fonio, 1 kg · Organic dried mango · Organic cashew nuts
2. Tomorrow’s lunchbox
Fonio tabbouleh with hibiscus and mint
Preparation: 20 minutes. Keeps 3 days chilled.
Organic hibiscus flowers are not just for bissap. Rehydrated and shredded, they bring a clean acidity somewhere between cranberry and lemon, which replaces vinegar to great effect.
For 2 lunchboxes:
- 150 g cooked, cooled organic fonio
- 1 heaped tablespoon dried organic hibiscus flowers
- 1 cucumber, finely diced
- 2 tomatoes, deseeded
- 1 bunch fresh mint, chopped
- 1 lemon (juice and zest)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt, pepper
- Soak the hibiscus flowers for 15 minutes in a little warm water. Drain them, keeping the soaking liquid, and shred them roughly.
- Combine the fonio, vegetables, mint and hibiscus.
- Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil and two tablespoons of the soaking liquid — deep red, it colours and perfumes the dressing.
- Pour over the tabbouleh, toss, and chill for an hour before boxing up.
The tip: this tabbouleh is better the next day. Make it on Sunday evening for two weekday lunches.
The products in this recipe: Organic gluten-free fonio, 1 kg · Organic hibiscus flowers
3. The dish that simmers
Fonio mafe with peanuts
Preparation: 20 minutes. Cooking: 40 minutes.
Mafe is traditionally served with rice. With fonio, the peanut sauce clings better to the grains and the dish becomes markedly lighter.
Serves 4:
- 300 g raw organic fonio
- 150 g organic peanuts, shelled and roasted, or 4 tablespoons peanut paste
- 600 g sweet potato and carrot, in large cubes
- 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 piece of ginger
- 2 tablespoons tomato purée
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- 1 chilli (optional)
- If starting from whole peanuts, blitz them to a thick paste. Allow a good two minutes in the processor: they pass through a sandy stage before releasing their oil.
- Soften the onion, garlic and ginger. Add the tomato purée and let it darken for a minute.
- Slacken the peanut paste in the hot stock, then pour it into the pan.
- Add the vegetables, cover, and simmer gently for 35 to 40 minutes. The sauce should coat the spoon.
- Cook the fonio meanwhile, and serve the sauce over it.
The tip: peanut sauce improves with time. Make double — it will be even better reheated the next day.
The products in this recipe: Organic gluten-free fonio, 1 kg · Organic peanuts in shell, 300 g
4. The unexpected use: a coating
Fonio and sesame crusted fish
Preparation: 10 minutes. Cooking: 12 minutes.
Nobody sees this one coming. Raw fonio, uncooked, replaces breadcrumbs: its tiny grains form a golden, sandy crust, incomparably crisper than bread. And since it is naturally gluten-free, so is the coating.
For 4 fillets:
- 4 white fish fillets, or 2 chicken breasts cut into strips
- 6 tablespoons raw organic fonio
- 2 tablespoons organic sesame seeds
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 tablespoons flour
- Paprika, salt, pepper
- Mix the raw fonio, sesame and paprika in a shallow dish.
- Dip each fillet in flour, then egg, then the fonio and sesame mixture, pressing firmly.
- Fry for 5 to 6 minutes per side in hot oil, or bake for 12 minutes at 200 °C.
The tip: the method works just as well on vegetables — courgette batons, aubergine slices, cauliflower florets — and on frying cheese.
The products in this recipe: Organic gluten-free fonio, 1 kg · Organic sesame seeds, 100 g
5. The dessert
Fonio pearls with coconut milk and mango
Preparation: 10 minutes. Cooking: 15 minutes. Chilling: 2 hours.
An alternative to rice pudding, finer and twice as fast.
For 4 ramekins:
- 100 g raw organic fonio
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 200 ml milk (or plant milk)
- 50 g cane sugar
- 3 tablespoons organic dried mango, diced
- 1 vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon extract
- A few organic cashew nuts to serve
- Bring both milks to a simmer with the sugar and vanilla.
- Rain in the fonio, stir, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes over very low heat, stirring regularly. The texture should stay slightly loose: it thickens as it cools.
- Stir in the dried mango off the heat, then divide between the ramekins.
- Let cool, chill for at least two hours, and scatter with crushed cashews to serve.
The tip: replace half the coconut milk with a well-steeped organic hibiscus infusion, and you get a vivid pink dessert with a surprising tartness.
The products in this recipe: Organic gluten-free fonio, 1 kg · Organic dried mango · Organic cashew nuts
Five recipes, one bag
Breakfast, lunch to go, a family dish, a coating, a dessert: that is about everything one can ask of a grain. Fonio does not try to imitate rice or bulgur — it does something else, lighter, faster, and gluten-free.
Our organic gluten-free fonio in a 1 kg resealable bag comes from Burkina Faso, grown without inputs and hulled on site. Enough for all five recipes, and then some.
And to go further, the rest of the pantry: organic dried mango, organic cashew nuts, organic peanuts, organic sesame seeds, organic hibiscus flowers and organic tigernuts.
