Nigerian Spicy Popcorn and Peanuts (Guguru and Epa)

We’ll be traveling to the heart of Lagos, Nigeria for this Nigerian spicy popcorn and peanut recipe right here. Locally called Guguru and Epa,  this absolutely addictive popcorn-peanut snack is one of the simplest African recipes out there. Who needs gourmet popcorn? Lets go to the streets of Lagos in honor of National Popcorn day where you will find one of the popular victims of my random foodie cravings. These cravings tend to flip from ice-cream to beef tongue tacos, to calamari, but a lot of times I catch myself craving this little slice of my childhood. On the days I crave popcorn, I tend to avoid the chemical laden microwave popcorn products. No offense if you like them but they just don’t hold much value for me. I didn’t grow up eating them and I usually like my popcorn savory, laced with a little bit of nostalgia. While I enjoy a bit of buttery popcorn, caramel corn and kettle corn, my childhood favorite was and always has been this sweet and salty popcorn combination known as “Guguru and Epa” aka popcorn and peanuts.

I will talk more about the type of peanuts I used in a future post, but as long as you use dry roasted peanuts, you are pretty much experiencing this Lagos street food at its best. In my home, this is our movie snack; butter popcorn doesn’t really make the cut once you’ve tried this.

Please be sure to rate my Nigerian spicy popcorn and peanut recipe and leave a comment below if you tried it! Also while you’re here why not take a quick second and subscribe to my newsletter to get email notifications on new recipes, click the links to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST or INSTAGRAM? You can catch some behind the scenes action, my shopping hauls, personalized tips and friend-only recipes with videos on my Instagram. Also pin this recipe for later and explore some of my favorite recipes on Pinterest and if you love it as much as I know you will, SHARE with some friends! 

Print Recipe

Nigeriana Spicy Popcorn and Peanuts (Guguru and Epa) Recipe

Locally called Guguru and Epa, this absolutely addictive Nigerian spicy popcorn and peanut snack is one of the simplest African recipes out there.

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Nigerian

Servings: 4 -5

Calories: 132kcal

Author: Yummy Medley

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels
• 1 cup of dry roasted peanuts
• 2 tbsp vegetable oils
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

• In a 3 quart (or bigger) sauce pan, heat the vegetable oil on medium- high heat.
• To test if the oil is hot enough, put 2-3 corn kernels in the oil , once they pop, take them out pour in the rest of the 1/2 cup of kernels and sugar in the oil.
• Cover the sauce pan. After 30 seconds, take the sauce pan off the heat and shake the pot lightly for 10 seconds, then place back on the heat. Repeat! The popcorn should be popping at this point.
• Once the popping slows down to a few pops every few seconds, dump the popcorn immediately into a clean tray, season with salt and cayenne pepper, and add the dry roasted peanuts.

Try it and let me know how you like it! Also if you’re still in a snacking mood, why not check out my 2 Ingredient Coconut Macaroons with Condensed Milk recipe or taste a bit more of the Nigerian street life by trying out my 9 Secrets to Extra Crispy Sweet Plantain Chips Every Time?