Fiji food is widely regarded as some of the healthiest in all of Oceania. Starchy vegetables like taro and cassava play a starring role in nearly every dish. Because it is an island nation, Fiji naturally has a great variety of fresh fish, octopus, and shellfish.
Fijian food, like that of its South Pacific neighbors, has historically revolved around just a handful of staple ingredients. Traditional staples in the Fijian diet have included rice, sweet potatoes, taro (a tropical root vegetable), coconuts, cassava (a starchy shrub), breadfruit, and fish.
Many classic Fijian recipes have remained largely unchanged for centuries, thanks to the tradition of passing on recipes from one generation to the next.
15 Traditional Fiji Food Recipes – A Taste Sensation
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1. Fiji Style Crab Curry from The Spice Adventuress
I found the traditional Fijian recipes for this Fiji style crab curry in my recipe journal (basically a bunch of torn traditional Fijian recipes from magazines and newspapers that I used to collect way before the Fiji food blogging journey). And so I have no clue whom to credit the recipe to.
In fact I am not even sure if it’s the most authentic or traditional way of making crab curry in Fiji.
The original traditional Fijian recipe called for large mud crabs to make this curry, but I decided to use blue swimmer crabs as these are in season and also because I love the flavor of these..so sweet and delicious.
2. Fish Suruwa (Fijian Fish Curry) from Tara’s Multicultural Table
This Fish Suruwa from my traditional food from Fiji section is perfect for those like me who don’t have a lot of experience working with seafood. From beginning to end, the entire process takes about 30 minutes to create an incredibly easy and flavorful meal.
The Indian influence on traditional Fijian food is particularly prominent in dishes such as this Fish Suruwa. Onions, chilies, spices (garam masala, turmeric, cumin), and tomatoes are simmered to create the curry base for the fish and the addition of coconut milk gives a creamy texture.
Serve this traditional Fiji food warm from the stove with steamed white rice (I used jasmine) and top with a sprinkling of freshly chopped cilantro.
A traditional Fijian recipes choice for Fish Suruwa (Fijian Fish Curry)! Pieces of firm white fish are simmered in a spiced coconut mixture for a quick and flavorful meal.
3. Fijian Slow Cooker Goat Curry from Anup’s Kitchen
This slow cooker goat curry is one of my most popular traditional Fijian recipes on the blog, and everyone who tries it seems to love it! Slow-cooking goat meat with Indian spices results in a perfectly tender, juicy, and flavorful traditional Fiji food curry.
Whenever I make this slow cooker goat curry, I make sure to relish every bite of it. It disappears quickly around here. The sauce is full of flavor, and the meat, when cooked slow, becomes perfectly tender and juicy.
When you make this goat curry traditional Fijian recipes pick, add all of the ingredients listed below to your crockpot except for the tomatoes, water, and garam masala. You’ll add these three things an hour before serving. You don’t want to add any liquid to start because you want the onions to caramelize in the crockpot. It’ll make for a more tasty traditional Fiji food masala.
4. Fiji Dhal from That Fiji Taste
Dhal is a staple Fijian food. Almost every household cooks dhal once a week (sometimes more). This is because apart from being delicious, it goes well with most Indian-fried vegetables and meat. It forms a sort of gravy or base that pairs well with almost any other side dish. Its versatility makes it one of the most loved food from Fiji in many Fijian homes.
For those of you that aren’t aware, dhal is made from lentils and there are many varieties of lentils available. Different households make dhal in their own way with their personal choice of lentils. There are yellow, red, white, green and even black lentils and these give the different types of dhal their color.
The traditional Fijian recipes that I am sharing with you is a mixture of these lentils that give it a deeper, more complex taste.
5. Fijian Chicken Curry from A Tasty Kitchen
An aromatic, classic Fijian food recipe for chicken curry, that is simple to cook from scratch and a delight to the taste buds. The paste and spice blend in this curry are the result of a delicious fusion of Fiji food, resulting in beautiful texture and flavor. Serve with our homemade roti, for a feast everyone is sure to enjoy!
We spent several years living in Fiji and we loved the Fiji food there. The pacific island life had a big impacted on so many dishes we still love to cook today. Our Fijian coconut cured fish salad is a must try!
The memories of this curry found in both restaurants and local village will stay with us. You can’t beat the richness and flavors that are melded together over an open kitchen fireplace. While we can’t bring you the open fire place cooking these traditional Fijian recipes stay authentic to the process and ingredients bringing the classic flavor to your kitchen!
6. Fijian Coconut Fish with Tomato, Spinach and Rice from Nadialim
These Fiji food flavors take me back to Fiji where we had some of the best fish dishes I’ve ever had – though it helped that the fish had only been caught about 30 minutes before we were sitting down to eat, and the coconut milk was freshly made!
Delicious and fragrant traditional Fijian recipes today that are easy to make at home from scratch. The spice mixtures are the delicious result of a scrumptious fusion of Fijian and Indian cuisines. If you pair it with our homemade roti, you’ll have a Fiji food feast that the whole family will love.
7. Fijian Seafood Curry from Not Quite Nigella
This delicious, creamy Fijian food dish for seafood curry is simplicity itself. You can use any type of seafood in it and it is one of the fastest curries to cook using ingredients you probably already have! It was one of our favorite dishes during our recent stay at Turtle Island and they generously shared their traditional Fijian recipes with me!
It never ceases to amaze me how many different Fiji food options for curries there are out there. Food from Fiji has a whole range of curries from chicken, vegetable and seafood. These curries come from the Indian indentured laborers that came over from 1879. They made their home made curries using ingredients that they found in Fiji and this has given rise to Fijian Indian cuisine.
8. Fiji Style Masala Chai from That Fiji Taste
Masala chai or Indian spice infused milk tea is a regular drink for most Fijian families anytime of the day. This tea is made at breakfast, lunch, tea time, dinner or after dinner, if there’s a guest, if someone is sick… and the list goes on.
This Fijian recipes choice is lightly infused with ginger, cloves and cardamom, masala chai is definitely an indulgent and flavorful one. What makes it even more delicious is the milky and creamy taste owing to the use of full cream milk powder and full bodied raw brown sugar. If you want to make it even more luxurious, substitute the sugar for condensed milk.
You can also swap powdered milk for a cup of fresh or whole or ‘life’ milk as it’s called in Fiji.
Want more ideas to round-out your Recipe Box?
A lot of great options are in these posts!
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9. Fijian Potato Curry from Piquant Post
Food from Fiji is best known for its flavorful seafood and vegetable based dishes. Fiji is a diverse, multicultural country whose cuisine is heavily influenced by the various ethnic groups that have settled there, namely Indian and Chinese immigrants.
Ingredients like coconut and tubers (yam, cassava, potatoes) are staples in their diet and have been grown by natives for centuries. The archipelago spans hundreds of small islands and most citizens live by the sea, and so seafood is the main protein source.
Fishing for fresh seafood is a favorite pastime for many locals. Although meat like chicken and lamb are consumed, seafood is king and beef is mostly consumed during special occasions such as weddings and birthdays.
10. Fiji: Rourou Balls from Mix
One popular vegetable dish in Fiji food are the rourou balls or (wacipoki) are little parcels of paradise. creamy, rich with a chili kick.
Although Fiji has a vast reserve of top quality fish, today they also purchase cans of fish like tuna for storage and to easily prepare Fiji food without the need of heading out to fish.
In the village, this food from Fiji is only prepared when women have time or during any gathering.
This is best made with canned fish. Cans preserve the meat well and provide a useful backup when a day of fishing does not go too well or when the weather is rough. Rourou peti typifies the Fijian food, uses Fiji’s favorite ingredients and makes this dish a winner.
11. Fijian-style Baked Marinated Chicken from Real Food
Slow-cooked to allow the chicken to absorb the flavors of ginger and soy sauce, this Fiji food can be prepared in advance to cook during the match.
12. Fijian Chicken Palau from Savoring Fiji
Palau is pretty much a universal Fiji food originating from the middle east. Palau can be found in many regions of the world; from Persian Sheep and Goat Pulao to East African Pilaf Rice or Spanish Seafood Paella, to Indian Biriyani. There are hundreds of traditional Fijian recipes for Palau, even in my own family Palau is made many ways.
Our family makes lamb, goat and chicken palau My all time favorite is lamb palau, however without fresh meat on hand, we tend to make chicken palau more often. This is one version of chicken palau, I truly believe that my dad has several ways he makes palau so I’ll just chase him until I have ALL of them!
13. Fijian Coconut Cake from NZ Herald
The traditional Fijian recipes for this cake comes from Cafe O in Nadi, Fiji.
I endlessly tested this cake recipe. In fact, I’m pretty sure my head turned into an actual coconut during the process. Is there shredded coconut caked into the crevices of my kitchen floor and backsplash? Yes.
This perfect coconut cake sets the bar for homemade cakes everywhere. It’s supremely moist with a soft fluffy crumb and intense coconut flavor. For success, follow the traditional Fijian recipes carefully including using cake flour, egg whites, sour cream, and coconut milk.
14. Quick & Easy Vegan Fijian Curry from The Vegan Planet Kitchen
Vegan Fijian Curry, a vegan take on traditional Fijian curry. Made with curry roasted tempeh, potatoes and vegetables in a quick and easy sauce.
Fijian curries are usually made with chicken and potatoes in a rich sauce without dairy. Our easy vegan Fiji food version is a quick hands-off curry that is a perfect stress-free midweek meal. We use tempeh which absorbs the curry flavors well and roasts in the same amount of time as the potatoes.
Roasting the tempeh and potatoes gives you time to prepare the sauce while they are roasting, meaning the finished dish will be done in no time.
Roasting the tempeh and the vegetables is a quick and easy way to cook vegan curries. This is a more hands-off approach to cooking a curry but still gives a wonderful depth of flavor as they roast in the spices and char around the edges.
15. Fijian Honey Cake from The Hungary Buddha
After yesterday, I needed something a bit more normal, so I made cake. Because when times get tough, let them eat cake and this Fijian Honey Cake came out great.
Bonus – it took all of 5 minutes to toss together, no mixer required. The other thing I love about these traditional Fijian recipes is not only for the simplicity factor, but also that it has no oil and no butter. HOLD THE PHONE. You heard me, and I promise it’s still good!
I did make a few changes: I mixed it up by using whole wheat flour along with all-purpose, just because I like to do that. Also, though the original recipe called for sour cream, I substituted Greek yogurt because 1) I had it in the house and 2) the particular brand of yogurt I bought had a very tangy sour cream taste.
The other reason this cake rocks is that moistens as it sits, so best to let it rest a day before digging in.
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