Calorie tracking in Nigeria
The AI calorie tracker that knows Nigerian food.
Nigerian food has close to zero representation in mainstream calorie databases. Swallows, soups and palm-oil-based stews are staples for tens of millions of people and have no reliable entries anywhere, which makes describing the meal the only workable approach.
The problem
Why generic trackers struggle here.
- Palm oil is used generously in stews and soups and is highly calorie-dense.
- Swallow portions — eba, fufu, amala — vary enormously and have no standard serving.
- Soups and stews are eaten together with swallow, making the meal composite by default.
BetterCal takes a different route. There is no database to search — you describe the meal in plain words, and the estimate is made against how that food is actually cooked and served in Nigeria: the ingredients, the cooking fats, the serving vessel and the portion size.
Reference
Nigerian food, roughly counted.
Ranges rather than single numbers, because home and restaurant versions of the same dish differ enormously — mostly in cooking fat. Use these as a starting point, then correct against your own kitchen.
| Dish | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Jollof rice | 1 plate | 450–700 |
| Eba (garri) | 1 wrap | 300–450 |
| Egusi soup | 1 serving | 350–550 |
| Pounded yam | 1 wrap | 350–500 |
| Efo riro | 1 serving | 250–400 |
| Suya | 1 stick | 150–250 |
| Moi moi | 1 wrap | 200–300 |
| Fried plantain (dodo) | 1 serving | 250–400 |
| Pepper soup, goat | 1 bowl | 250–400 |
| Puff puff | 3 pieces | 200–300 |
Voice logging
Say a whole Nigerian meal out loud.
Tap the microphone and describe the plate the way you would to a person — "jollof rice, eba (garri) and egusi soup". BetterCal transcribes it, separates every dish, and writes the lot into your day with calories and macros.
One recording covers the whole meal, however many items are in it. You see the transcript before anything is saved, so a misheard dish name is obvious rather than buried inside a number.
Journal logging
Or type it like a note.
Write what you ate the way you would text a friend. No search box, no results list to choose from, no serving-size picker to scroll — just a line of plain text that turns into a logged meal.
It is the faster option when you are somewhere quiet, and it works just as well hours after the meal. Anything you log often is saved automatically, so the second time round it is a single tap and costs nothing.
Details
Portions and diets.
Serving units. Describe portions the way you normally would — wraps, plates, bowls, sticks, servings all work. You do not need to convert anything into grams first.
Diets. Meat and fish feature heavily; vegetarian adaptations of soups are possible. BetterCal supports vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, eggetarian and everything.
Corrections stick. If a dish is made differently in your household, adjust it once and BetterCal remembers. Over a few weeks the estimates converge on your kitchen rather than an average of everyone else's.
Frequently asked questions
Can I log Nigerian food by voice?
Yes. Hold the microphone, describe the meal in your own words, and it is transcribed and logged with calories and macros. One recording handles several dishes at once, and you can review the transcript before it saves.
Can I type instead of speaking?
Yes — the journal takes plain typed sentences in exactly the same way. Most people mix the two: voice at home, typing when they are somewhere quiet or logging a meal after the fact.
Does it know Nigerian food?
Yes. Egusi, efo riro, eba, amala, jollof and suya are handled as ordinary entries — which is unusual, since most trackers have no coverage at all.
Does it account for palm oil?
Yes. Local cooking norms are part of the estimate, and palm oil is calorie-dense enough that this matters considerably.
How do I log swallow portions?
Describe it as you would say it — "two wraps of eba" — and correct the size once if yours are larger or smaller.
How much does it cost in Nigeria?
Free to download, with 20 AI meal logs a day at no cost. Meals already in your memory are always free to log again, however often you repeat them. See what is free.
Do I need to photograph my food?
No. BetterCal has no camera and no barcode scanner. You log by speaking or typing, which means you can log a meal after you have eaten it rather than having to remember beforehand.
Start today
Log Nigerian food in one sentence.
Free to start on iPhone and Android.
