Okra

Abelmoschus esculentusAlso called lady fingers

Okra is a pod that cooks use as a vegetable. It can be eaten raw or pickled, and its slippery texture when cooked helps thicken stews. It pairs with chicken, lamb, and tomato.

Plant-based
Gluten-free
No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Category: Vegetables
Part used: Pod
Family: Malvaceae
Texture: Mucilaginous
Cooked most in: Africa
Top country: Nigeria
Dishes: 4 in the catalogue
Energy: 33 kcal per 100 g

Photo: Aravind Sivaraj · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use okra

Typical ways to cook or use it

Pickle
Raw
Stew
Thicken

Cooking with it

To reduce sliminess, cook okra with an acidic ingredient such as tomato.

Goes well with

Flavour

Taste and texture

Texture, cooked

Mucilaginous

Shopping

Choosing and storing okra

Choosing a good one

Choose immature pods; older pods can become fibrous and woody.

Nutrition

What 100 g of okra holds

Per 100 g, raw. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 20%Fat 2%Carbohydrate 78%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of okra, raw
Energy	33 kcal · 138 kJ
Protein	1.9 g
Fat	0.19 g
of which saturated	0.03 g
Carbohydrate	7.5 g
of which sugars	1.5 g
Fibre	3.2 g
Sodium	7 mg
Cholesterol	0 mg

Nutrition per 100 g of okra, raw: minerals and vitamins
Potassium	299 mg
Calcium	82 mg
Iron	0.62 mg
Magnesium	57 mg
Zinc	0.58 mg
Vitamin C	23 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)	36 µg
Folate	60 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 169260), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where okra is cooked

4 dishes in the catalogue use okra. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Africa2

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list okra among their ingredients.

Origins

Native to: Western Africa

1216 · Egypt
In 1216, a visitor described locals cultivating okra and eating its young pods with meal.
1658 · Americas and Brazil
Okra reached the Americas aboard slave-trade ships and was recorded in Brazil by 1658.

On the table

Dishes made with okra

4 dishes in the catalogue use it.

Draw soup
Nigeria
Soup Kandia
Senegal
Bhendi fry
Okra soup

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include okra.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: okra in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.

Allergens: None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin: No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten: None
Alcohol: None
Caffeine: None
Pork: None