Ceebu Yapp

What it really is

Ceebu yapp is Senegalese rice with meat, most often described with beef cooked together with the rice and an onion sauce served alongside. The name contrasts it with ceebu jën, the better-known rice-and-fish preparation. Beef is cooked with the rice and an onion sauce is served on the side; fragrant rice is paired with meat simmered with onion, garlic and spices.

The dish is built around rice and meat rather than fish. In a representative Senegalese version, beef is cooked with the rice, while an onion-based sauce is served separately. Garlic and spices season the simmered meat. The exact cut, seasoning and rice technique can vary, so a restaurant should identify its own recipe rather than assume a universal formula.

Ceebu yapp belongs to the same broad family of Senegalese rice meals as ceebu jën, but the distinction matters: ceebu yapp is the meat version, whereas ceebu jën is based on fish and includes vegetables cooked with the rice. It is therefore not a second name for the existing fish dish. The two meals share a rice-centered structure, yet have different principal proteins and preparation profiles.

It is also different from mafé. Mafé is defined by its groundnut sauce and may be served with rice; ceebu yapp is defined by meat cooked with rice and does not require peanut sauce. Meat, aromatics and accompaniments vary; no single seasoning blend is mandatory.

How it's served

• Serve the cooked rice and beef together, with the onion sauce alongside when that is the kitchen’s version.
• Name the meat used; beef is the representative preparation documented here.
• Keep any extra sauce or side dishes separate in the nutrition estimate and ingredient statement.

How to write it on the menu

• Use “ceebu yapp” or “thiébou yapp” and describe it as Senegalese rice with beef.
• Mention the separate onion sauce and disclose any additional ingredients in it.
• Do not describe it as the fish-based ceebu jën or as peanut-sauce mafé.

Nutrition is a low-confidence estimate per 100 g of the representative beef-and-rice preparation, excluding a separately served onion sauce. Meat cut, rice ratio and added fat change the values. Check stock and seasonings for the actual recipe.