Mix-and-Match These Stunning Dishes to Gather Loved Ones and Feast

Make one or make all: Yewande Komolafe’s curated menus are meant for celebrating.

As a reserved extrovert, I love cooking and hosting in my own home, and the feeling that sharing a meal with others gives me. My instinct has always been to create a careful, detailed, curated plan — one that, admittedly, does not always work. I’ve had to quickly pivot, turning underproofed doughs meant for rolls into crackers or soggy jollof rice into panko-crusted fritters. But the goal is not perfection; it’s to open up my space and myself to family, friends and sometimes even strangers.

To understand — and share — my approach to these meals, I’ve selected 25 recipes from New York Times Cooking, dishes that highlight the flavors of the African continent and its diaspora, a focus of my work as a columnist for The Times. All of the recipes are drawn from everyday life of places like Nigeria, Liberia, Kenya and Somalia. They tell a rich story of a region’s food, balanced, vibrant and deeply nourishing.

The recipes here include crisp-crunchy appetizers; robust soups and stews; sparkly condiments for dipping; generous helpings of meaty mains; and vegetable dishes that are textured and bright. You can make them for any style of gathering — formal or casual, seated multicourse or standing room only. Mix and match them as you like. Below, you’ll find three possible menus that I’ve created for you, too.

Take these dishes as an offering, a springy step forward after the long winter months. Feel free to include your guests as part of the planning process. Delegate any task you can’t do yourself; this support will free up your mind and allow you to execute the meal as intended. It will also make way for conversation, catching up, reflecting and sharing, all future memories of an unforgettable gathering.

Each of these suggested menus is a journey, evocative and riddled with flavor. Every course is an invitation to fill your kitchen with scents that waft across your nose; audible sears, spatters, pops and crunches that please your ears; and tingles of sour, spice, bitter and sweet that awaken your tastebuds.

MENU A begins with hilib sambuus (beef dumplings), a Somali delicacy and cousin of South Asian samosas that has made its way across Africa and is often known by different names. After this robust appetizer, I like to serve spicy peanut and pumpkin soup, a simple purée featuring groundnuts. Then, I move on to a main with two starchy sides. Jollof rice begins on the stovetop and ends in a hot oven; roasted shrimp with okra and tomatoes and roasted carrots with yaji spice relish are convenient since the oven is already going. The last bite here is a quick mango kulfi, a refreshing palate cleanser after all those dancing flavors.

MENU B follows similar directives of sensory delight, beginning with a Liberian collard green dip, inspired by a conversation with the chef Ope Amosu, of ChòpnBlok in Houston. He often serves his with fried plantain chips, but any chip would work. It’s a lively introduction to this menu’s flavors. Moving east, the Zanzibari street food urojo, a bright, bouncy soup, has been adapted for the home cook here, and is then followed by a return to Somalia with xawaash braised lamb shanks. It’s paired with a firm but delicately set bean pudding, mọin-mọin for a gathering. Use the humble burẹ́dì ágẹ̀gẹ to drag sauces to your mouth. A beet salad tinged with coriander-yogurt dressing and in-season fresh fruit end the meal on a nuanced, earthy note.

MENU C, my favorite, begins with a lively chaat party! We follow this active appetizer right into the equally spirited main course, baked tofu with peanut sauce and coconut-lime rice served with caramelized plantains with beans, lemon and scallions and cagaar (spinach stew) to spoon over as many vegetables as possible. Lastly, spiced coconut tapioca pudding with fruit, steeped with lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and gentle warming spices, delivers a final moment to pause, delight and reflect.

A great starter offers an introduction to the menu, gets your mouth moving, activates your senses and whets your appetite.

Liberian stewed greens, but make it a condiment: This dip is made for dunking. Make it your own by serving it alongside any chips, fritters or starchy grains and vegetables.

Recipe: Liberian Stewed Greens Dip

An ode to the soups and stews of Nomadic communities across the vast Sahel and Savanna regions of West Africa, this savory soup is a silky smooth, creamy, cooling and delicious spoonful.

Recipe: Spicy Peanut and Pumpkin Soup

Yes, a salad can be the last course! Roasted beets with orangey chickpeas and North African-inspired coriander-yogurt drizzle, this is easy to put together and the perfect end to a robust meal.

Recipe: Beet Salad With Coriander Yogurt Dressing

Oh, to be a bunch of spinach leaves, collapsing in full-bodied, mildly sweet and puckery sauce, spiced with xawaash.

Recipe: Cagaar (Spinach Stew)

A fragrant, brothy green mango soup with a sour bite, urojo (a.k.a. Zanzibari mix) is an East African favorite. This home-cooked version, with a toasted and spiced crispy-crunchy topping, is a vivacious and splashy way to begin any meal.

Recipe: Zanzibari Mix (Urojo)

This dish from the chef Maneet Chauhan is a party in itself. It’s an appetizer you can linger over, especially if you make enough chutneys to spare.

Recipe: Chaat Party

Fold a roti around some spiced ground meat and cabbage, cook it in ghee and pair it with some hot pepper sauce to serve for a festive start to any party.

Recipe: Zanzibari Pizza

These sleek, stylish, triangular gifts are made for traveling, and you can fill them with a range of spiced ground meats or vegetables.

Recipe: Hilib Sambuus (Fried Beef Dumplings)

These technique-driven recipes allow the best qualities of any protein to shine.

Baked fish with a Nigerian touch, this quick dish from Kiano Moju begins with peanuts and spices ground together and tossed with panko crumbs, making a mixture to sprinkle over chunky salmon slices. A drizzle of olive oil and a high-temperature oven complete this roast for a crunchy-crispy seafood dinner.

Recipe: Crispy Suya-Spiced Salmon

“Fork-tender braised lamb shanks don’t require much more than time” — a subtle reminder from Ifrah F. Ahmed, who developed this recipe. All that’s needed is patience, with yourself and the meaty lamb shank as it succumbs to the delicious, spiced sauce.

Recipe: Xawaash Braised Lamb Shanks

Here, the soft, supple texture of divine tofu takes on the flavor of peanuts and miso, with a kick of chile spice. The sauce provides the perfect edge for an otherwise mild roasted dish.

Recipe: Baked Tofu With Peanut Sauce and Coconut-Lime Rice

How easy is it to make kebabs? The answer is 25 minutes easy with this recipe, described by its creator, Zaynab Issa, as “spiced, ground beef over cooling yogurt.” This version is Iranian-inspired, but its inclusion here nods to the prevalence of kebabs of all sorts across Africa.

Recipe: Smashed Beef Kebab With Cucumber Yogurt

Rich, meaty pork plays well with dazzling tart oranges. But wait! Brown sugar is also invited to the party, for a hint of sweetness in this robust and lively main dish.

Recipe: Citrus-Glazed Pork Chops With Gingery Bok Choy

With a bright yellow hue from floral red palm oil, this dish is an assertive call for your attention. It is riddled with flavor from dried crayfish and irú (tiny dry shrimp and fermented black beans). It beckons, adamant you notice and give it a try.

Recipe: Iwuk Edesi (One-Pot Rice With Chicken)

The chef Kia Damon describes this as “the makings of a stew with a fraction of the time and effort.” Combine the smoky, the mildly sweet and the savory together on a baking sheet, add a glug of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and pop in your oven.

Recipe: Roasted Shrimp With Okra and Tomatoes

Vegetables add crisp freshness to the meal and act as vessels for the juices on your plate.

Oh, èfọ́ rírò! The task is this: Get smoky, funky, spicy ingredients and a bag full of greens, then set them on the stove for a long, slow simmer.

Recipe: Èfọ́ Rírò (Stewed Amaranth Greens)

Is it even a party if there’s no jollof rice? Begun on the stovetop, coated in a saucy tomato-pepper mix and completed in the oven, its journey is a thrill.

Recipe: Jollof Rice

These caramelized carrots are doused with earthy yaji (a.k.a. suya spice) and finished with a sparkling green relish for a bright burst of freshness. Suya spice is ubiquitous across many African cuisines and is excellent on just about everything.

Recipe: Roasted Carrots With Yaji Spice Relish

The main character here is the resplendent plantain. Roast and pair it with cooked beans, a shower of fresh scallions and lemon to make a mildly sweet and puckery dish.

Recipe: Caramelized Plantains With Beans, Scallions and Lemon

This take on a West and Central African dish is a steamed bean pudding studded with surprises. This version uses banana leaves for the package and is cooked in a skillet.

Recipe: Mọin-Mọin for a Gathering (Savory Bean Pudding)

These plush and fluffy rolls are perfect to split in half to cradle braised meats, or to use as a vehicle to smoosh, dip and drag any saucy stews to your mouth.

Recipe: Burẹ́dì Ágẹ̀gẹ (Soft Pull-Apart Rolls)

On the continent, fresh fruit often serves as a reset in between courses or after a large, rich meal. Eat it plain and juicy, or in these simple meal-ending dishes.

Tapioca pearls maintain their bouncy texture when simmered in coconut milk suffused with lemongrass, makrut lime and spices. A splash of coconut cream, a scattering of toasted coconut flakes and a pop of fruit make every spoonful an absolute stunner.

Recipe: Spiced Coconut Tapioca Pudding With Fruit

You can have a mango dessert all year round! This recipe uses canned mangoes and takes just five minutes of work. The freezer does the rest.

Recipe: Quick Mango Kulfi

The recipe developer Ifrah F. Ahmed promises the taste of this delicate crepe to be “the stuff of dreams.” Is there a lovelier way to end a meal?

Recipe: Malawax (Cardamom Crepe)

The honeycomb shape is not the only distinguishing factor of this soft, pillowy, sweet and savory, stuffed dessert. Popular in Somali households, it also has a creamy, gently cheesy filling and a finish of sweetened condensed milk.

Recipe: Rooti Farmaarjol (Honeycomb Cheese Bread)