I had seen recipes for Peanut Stew and all of it’s many variations around the internet for years before I finally gave it a try, and I’m only kicking myself for not trying it sooner. This stew, inspired by several peanut based stews made in West Africa, is seriously DE-LIC-OUS!! This rich and creamy tomato-peanut stew is so incredibly flavorful, super comforting, and is truly a meal in a bowl. You’re going to love this flavorful stew!
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
What is Peanut Stew?
This delicious stew is inspired by the many versions of peanut stew made in several countries across West Africa. The recipe and names for the stew vary from region to region, some of the names being: groundnut stew, maafe, or domoda, to name a few. The common thread between these regional recipes is a tomato broth made rich and creamy with peanut butter, and seasoned with plenty of delicious spices. The flavors are simply incredible. While most versions of this dish are made with chicken, I made a few subs to make it vegan, but I promise you won’t even miss the meat.
Substitutions
I love the texture and flavor of the collard greens in this Vegan Peanut Stew, but I’ve seen versions using all sorts of different greens, so feel free to substitute with kale, spinach, mustard greens, or whatever hearty greens you prefer.
Either chunky or smooth peanut butter will work here, but make sure it’s natural style, with no added sugar, to maximize the peanut flavor.
How to Serve Vegan Peanut Stew
Brown rice is my carb of choice to go with this dish because of it’s slightly nutty flavor and extra texture, so I like to scoop a bit straight into my bowl of stew. That being said, it can certainly be served without rice as well, or even with some bread (maybe some naan) for dipping. I also like my stew a bit spicy, so I like to top it off with a little drizzle of sriracha, even though that’s totally mixing and matching cultures. :) I’m all about fusion!
Meal Prep or Freeze for Later!
This recipe holds up really well both in the refrigerator or freezer. I like to pack up my bowls with rice and everything, then refrigerate for a few days or freeze for longer term storage.
Vegan Peanut Stew
Servings 6 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger ($0.30)
- 1 sweet potato (about 1 lb.) ($1.47)
- 1 medium onion ($0.21)
- 1 tsp cumin ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1 6oz. can tomato paste ($0.45)
- 1/2 cup natural style peanut butter ($0.55)
- 6 cups vegetable broth ($0.78)
- 1/2 bunch collard greens (4-6 cups chopped) ($0.99)
Optional Garnishes
- 1/4 bunch cilantro ($0.25)
- 4.5 cups cooked brown rice ($0.53)
- 1/3 cup chopped peanuts ($0.16)
Instructions
- Peel and grate the ginger using a small holed cheese grater. Mince the garlic, and dice the onion. Sauté the onion, ginger, and garlic in a large pot with the olive oil over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the onion becomes soft and translucent.
- While the onion, ginger, and garlic are sautéing, peel and dice the sweet potato into 1/2-inch cubes. Add the sweet potato cubes, cumin, and red pepper to the pot and continue to sauté for about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, peanut butter, and vegetable broth to the pot. Stir until the peanut butter and tomato paste have mostly dissolved into the broth. Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat up to high. Allow the stew to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and allow it to simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are very soft.
- While the soup is simmering, prepare the collard greens. Use a sharp knife to remove each stem (cut along the side of each stem), then stack the leaves and cut them into 1/2-inch wide strips. Place the chopped collard greens in a colander and rinse very well
- Once the stew has simmered for 15-20 minutes and the sweet potatoes are very soft, stir in the collard greens. Let the stew simmer for about 5 minutes more, then begin to smash the sweet potatoes against the side of the pot to help thicken the stew.
- Finally, taste the stew and add salt or red pepper, if desired. Serve the stew with a scoop of cooked rice (about 3/4 cup), a few chopped peanuts, fresh cilantro, and a drizzle of sriracha, if desired.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Peanut Stew – Step by Step Photos
Dice one onion, mince four cloves of garlic, and grate about 1 Tbsp fresh ginger. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large soup pot along with 1 Tbsp olive oil, and sauté over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
While the onion, garlic, and ginger are sautéing, peel and dice one sweet potato (about 1 lb.) into 1/2-inch cubes. Add the sweet potato cubes to the pot along with 1 tsp cumin and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. Continue to sauté for about 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup natural-style peanut butter, one 6oz. can of tomato paste, and 6 cups of vegetable broth to the pot. Stir until the peanut butter and tomato paste are mostly dissolved into the broth (it will look a little weird and grainy at this point). Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and bring the stew up to a boil. Once boiling, turn it down to medium-low and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are very soft and mashable.
While the stew is simmering, prepare the collard greens. Run a sharp knife down the side of each stem to remove the stems.
Stack the leaves and slice cross-wise into 1/2-inch wide strips. Place the sliced collard greens in a colander and rinse very well (they tend to be very sandy).
Once the stew has simmered for 15-20 minutes and the sweet potatoes are very soft, add the rinsed collard greens. Stir them into the hot stew and let them simmer for about 5 minutes more.
Use a large spoon to smash some of the sweet potatoes against the side of the pot to help thicken the stew. Give the peanut stew one last taste and add more salt or red pepper flakes, if desired.
To serve the Vegan Peanut Stew, ladle about 1.5 cups of stew into a bowl, top with 3/4 cup cooked brown rice, a tablespoon or so of chopped peanuts, a light sprinkle of cilantro, and a drizzle of sriracha (if desired). Enjoy!
I love this recipe! I do have a family member with a slight peanut allergy though. Had anyone made this with almond butter before? I feel like it would still be really good.
We haven’t tried it with anything other than peanut, but another reader with a peanut allergy tried it with sunbutter and enjoyed it! I think it would definitely work, I’m just not certain on the taste since we only tested the peanut version.
Absolutely delicious
Sounds amazing! Just curious can I freeze it?
Yes, you can!
I have made this for years. It’s my husband’s favorite! How do you think it would be with some chickpeas added? Thanks!
You absolutely can do that!
I added cauliflower, 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes, and 1 can of garbanzo beans. Otherwise filled the recipe completely. Delicious!!!!!
10 years after this recipe was posted, I want to still repeat everyone else — this African Peanut Stew is phenomenal! The flavors meld beautifully, although I don’t agree that the garnishes are optional – I absolutely loved how the toppings added extra texture and brightness. Paired with rice, this stew is a total winner. I’ll definitely be making this again but trying a squeeze of lime like one of the other reviewers mentioned.
Absolutely delicious!! I used spinach and halved the recipe and it was sooooo good! Thank you!:)
Would chard possibly work? Love this recipe so much! We often use kale.
just sitting down to eat this and WOW ! Lovely flavours, tasty, and I’m no pro chef. Thanks for the recipe :)
Can this stew be frozen?
Definitely!
Tastes good, but that is an insane amount of water! I had to double the pb, tomato paste, beans and spices just to get something that wasn’t incredibly watery. I would do half the water next time.
What are you talking about? There is no “water” even listed in the ingredients?
The broth or stock contains water. 😊
There is no water or beans in the recipe…?
I used 5 cups broth and 1/2 cup coconut milk and it was delicious. Enough for 4 meal preps and two extra servings.
This was tasty! I added 2 habanero peppers because I like some heat, and a red bell pepper because I happened to have one on hand. Next time I think I’ll reduce the broth to 4 cups, and I’m thinking about adding a bit of coconut milk too…
WILL SPINACH BE OK in place of collards AS I DONT HAVE ANYTHING ELSE. THANKS!
That would be fine!
I wasn’t especially looking for a vegan recipe. I was just seeing what I could make with a sweet potato and some tomatoes! I had to adapt the recipe quite a lot eg frozen ginger, kale, fresh tomatoes, stock cube… And I don’t understand “cups” but went to an online converter to grams and millilitres. Also, I was only making it for me!! In the end, it made enough for 2 helpings and was absolutely delicious. Will definitely make it again but will use spinach I think. 😋
One of my dix year old daughter’s favorite Meals. She specifically makes requests for this stew.
One of my favorite recipes I’ve ever made! I’ve made this recipe over ten times, and it is my go-to recipe to make for a group of friends!
I don’t make stew on the stove anymore, I make it in the Instant Pot. This worked great doing steps 1 and 2 with the pot on saute, then adding everything in 3 and putting it to pressure cook on high for 8 minutes. After opening, stir in the greens and give them a few minutes to wilt. Turned out perfectly.
I also add some garam masala, would highly recommend!
So delicious! I love it, I added two cans of kidney beans. Thanks for the recipe.
Do you think spring mix would work instead of kale? It’s what I currently have in the fridge. Thanks!
I feel like spring mix is too delicate for this stew. It will wilt down to almost nothing and probably end up kind of stringy.
Delicious and hearty.
Will definitely make it again.
Fanstastic recipe the whole family loves!
Has anyone tried slowcooker for this? Just wondering how to adapt the recipe so it cooks while I am working
This is one of my favorite fall recipes. So cozy, hearty, and easy to make!
Throw in whatever veggies you have in the fridge, it’s good with anything!
Delicious! This is another version of African Ground Nut stew that I’ve made and definitely on of my favorites! Tons of flavor, easy to prep and open for minor adaptations I’m not vegetarian, so I decided to add some shredded cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast during the final 10 minutes Hearty and healthy!
Only bad thing is the first time I made it I learned I should have doubled it because of how fast it gets eaten. Perfect recipe as is. Freezes perfectly for a quick cozy meal later. Thanks for opening our eyes to great tastes from around the world.
This is an absolutely lovely recipe that I tweak a little bit to suit my tastes. I use only four cups of vegetable stock instead of six because I like more of a gravy consistency, I double the cumin and pepper flakes, and also add a few good shakes of Worcestershire sauce to really round out the flavors. I also frequently add shredded chicken or ground chicken to increase the protein. Serving with cilantro and lime are essential! You can also easily cook this in a dutch oven over the fire when you go camping, it has become a favorite camping meal for me!
I’ve made this so many times and it adapts really well – shredded chicken, chickpeas, tofu, red lentils all worked really well in it.
I love this soup! I’ve made it with all sorts of greens, collards are my favorite.
So good! I make it often.
Absolutely delicious!
I’ve made this soup a million times, but somehow this past weekend I forgot to add the peanut butter at the beginning with the tomato paste, and ended up stirring it in at the very end. The nutty flavor is SO MUCH stronger that way! So for anyone who really wants a strong peanut butter flavor, try adding it at end of cooking. Otherwise, this is one of my favorite soups and great for using up random veggies in the fridge (this time I added a red bell pepper, a zucchini, can of chickpeas, and a handful of split yellow peas).
I love this! Beth and I were talking just the other day about how some of the best meals, and ideas from new dishes, generate from the times we make “mistakes!” We just have to trust our instincts as cooks and make adjustments. ~ Marion :)
Really simple, very good savory peanut stew. I added two bay leaves and some extra red pepper. Will definitely make it again, I might add some vegetarian sausage next time.
Amazing!
Very good and very easy! The first time I tried this stew was a dehydrated backpacking meal. This is my second time trying the stew and it’s delicious and filling.
I make this recipe and it is a favorite. I use crunchy peanut butter and use carrots instead of potatoes since I am putting it over rice. Sometimes I throw in zucchini. You can’t go wrong.
Thanks for this idea, i dont have sweet potatoes and almost screatched this one off the list
This recipe is so good! Definitely for people who like easy meal prep, but delicious meals. I used a bag of frozen diced sweet potatoes and a bag of frozen diced butternut squash, added a bunch of turmeric and it came out wonderfully. Served it with crushed peanuts, sour cream, and siracha over brown rice!
Who it their right mind cooks collards for 5 min?
It’s the perfect amount of time for this recipe. Absolutely delicious!
This is sooo good!! I’ve made it several times. And love it every time!! I served it over a brown rice quinoa mix this time. I’m going to add other grains next time.
WOW. So easy and delicious and of course cheap. And even better the next day. Substituted kale, which worked perfectly. Also substituted regular Kraft crunchy peanut butter.
Such a delicious soup! We amped up the spices. We had spinach on hand so we used that instead of collards and it turned out nicely. Saving this for future use. Simply delicious!
Made it tonight for Sabbath dinner. Used kale instead of collards. Anxious to see how it turns out!
We love this one! We do this with sun butter as we have a peanut allergy in the house, and it works great. I’ve played with the ratios some (adding a little more tomato paste and/or sun butter, and a little more sweet potato so that we can mash some into the broth and keep some pieces whole). We haven’t added the rice out of laziness and it’s been plenty filling. We also have doubled it, but used less water in our broth to make it fit in the pot and just simmered with the lid on to keep the final water content about the same.
I don’t know if this will get read, but is there any possibility of adding search functionality to the comments? It would be so helpful to search for what others have done in general, but especially as a household with a bunch of allergies to see what substitutions others have successfully used.
Hi Savannah! I will ask the tech gods. XOXO -Monti
I often use ctrl f or the find feature (if I’m on mobile- you can search how your phone browser does it it) for the word allergy or whatever phrase I’m looking for to search the comments of recipes!
I made this last night for dinner as our inaugural soup of the fall season. As is always the case with Budget Bytes recipes, the recipe is easy to follow, the # of servings reflects actual serving sizes at our house, and it is made with ingredients I usually have on hand – although I did substitute baby kale for the collard greens since that’s what I had in the fridge.
I served it with a nice whole grain crusty bread and it was phenomena: layers of flavor, unctuous mouth feel, and very filling. The flavors were even richer today when I reheated it for lunch. My partner finished his bowl and declared it one of the best soups I’ve ever made and asked that it go in the regular meal rotation, which is very high praise since we love soup and have so many favorites fighting for a spot on the menu..
This fully meets the high expectations I had after reading through the reviews. The flavour is outstanding (I added extra crushed red pepper and
Sriracha). I served it with black rice, which offers a nice chew. Highly recommend this recipe!
I have made this several times after visiting an African market in Minneapolis. This is an awesome recipe. I modified a bit and used two types of sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, a pinch of chili powder, and some acorn squash. The squash dissolved and created an extra thick stew. Another time I added a bit of creamy coconut milk. A very fun and forgiving dish to modify that never disappoints! Make it an you will be handsomely rewarded.
Made this for dinner last night and BOY do I wish I had doubled the recipe. I used ground ginger from the spice aisle because that’s what I had on hand and I also immersion blended it after letting the collards simmer. I am already planning on making this again. So easy, delicious, and filling.
This recipe is delicious! I have made is several times and every time I love it. Such a strange sounding combo but so good. I serve it over brown rice but you could do any grain or a combo of grains. Healthy, hearty and just delicious! Thank you
I was on the site looking at other recipes. Everything here is great. I love that there is a huge selection of vegan recipes!
I’ve make this every single week since the beginning of April. I cannot get enough!!
This was FANTASTIC. Reduced peanut butter to 1/3 cup (only because natural PB is expensive), turned out great. My fiancé who is a classic meat and potatoes guy, and shudders at anything meatless or vegan, really liked it. Success!
If you have a food processor, you can make peanut butter in less than 5 minutes. Just process the whole shelled peanuts until the mixture is the consistency of peanut butter.
This is my 1000th time making this recipe and every time I make it I wish I made more. I love that it is not easy to mess up and even when i decide to try my luck with it when I don’t have the exact amount, it’s always delicious. Me and my family have been eating this recipe for a few years and it’s life changing
I am making this recipe for the second time. I love it. I also substituted kale for the collard greens and only used half an onion.
Easy, healthy and delicious. Any green will do at the end-I used kale. I also used an immersion blender because I’m not a huge fan of sweet potatoes and found that blending it marries the savory flavors quite well. Excellent recipe!
Can Vegan Peanut Stew be frozen?
Yes :)
I’ve been eying this recipe for a long time without trying it, because I already have a peanut soup recipe I love. But this is “clean out the pantry” month, and I happened to have absolutely everything or a good substitute. It’s awesome!
I order a one-pound bag of dried spinach about once a year, so that’s what I used instead of collards. I used the last onion and the last sweet potato, defrosted the stock my son made from the Christmas turkey, and made a good dent in the squeeze bottle of ginger. I’m starting to have room on the shelves and in the freezer now!
Still making my weekly batch! Not only is it delicious, I can feel really good about feeding my family such a well balanced meal. My teenager takes it to school for lunch!
This was *delicious* and super easy. I made it for a 5 days worth of lunches. Some edits I made:
– Instead of collared greens, I used a bag of prechopped/prewashed kale (to save time)
– Instead of rice, I added a can of chick peas when I added the kale
– I didn’t spend too long trying to mash the sweet potato, as I wasn’t too worried about having a super thick stew
It is the definition of comfort food that I felt good about eating!
Easy, healthy, delicious. One of my fall and winter favorites. Have fed this to a crowd with good results. I use kale as I can find it easier, and up the cumin (because I have a thing for cumin) and it’s perfect. Thank you Beth!
Amazing exactly as is…especially with the toppings and a hint of sriracha! Already telling my friends to make this ASAP!! Thank you so much for another great recipe!!!
Absolutely delicious! Absolutely simple! And absolutely amazing!! Would highly recommend. Thank you!
delicious!!
I love this recipe so much as a vegetarian college student. It tastes great as leftovers!
I’ve made this over and over again for the last three months straight, it’s so good!
Kale instead of collard greens.
I triple the recipe then add 1-2 tbsp of cinnamon.
Fantastic!
I’ve been making this soup for years, maybe since it was originally posted in 2014, and it’s still a go-to quick, cheap, and easy dinner for my family. We’ll keep making it again and again!
This is just wonderful! My taste buds are seriously singing right now. I had to make a few substitutions but I tried to follow this recipe as closely as possible. Because you mentioned chicken usually goes in a dish like this, I started thawing some chicken then remembered I have a 5 lb bag of shrimp I want to get through. I used frozen sweet potatoes and added frozen shrimp during the sauté process. I substituted onion powder for the onions, petite diced tomatoes for the tomato paste and kale for the collard greens. I make my own veggie broth and used it here. Sadly, my toddler decided she wanted pasta instead of this and refuses to try it. I’ll try with her again tomorrow. Hopefully the hubby is impressed when he gets home from work. This is an excellent recipe that’s really simple and very flavorful. I’m looking forward to making again soon.
*it
Another winner! I use less broth for a thicker stew, throw in a can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed) for added protein and fiber, and use about twice the quantity of greens called for. I’ve used both fresh and frozen/chopped and both work nicely. Another Budget Bytes recipe goes into the rotation!
So good and pretty foolproof! I was worried there would be too much liquid but turned out just right over brown rice. I added carrots and garbanzo beans at the same time as the sweet potato and used spinach at the end instead of collard greens. This was such an inexpensive and simple recipe to pull together and really forgiving of subbing in other ingredients with tasty, filling results. Will definitely make this again!
This was delicious – I used tahini as a PB substitute because I have a peanut allergy but it’s a very similar flavor and texture as natural PB. Might try it with cashew butter and crushed cashews on top next time!
All I can say is YUM…this dish took me on a ride of incredible textures and flavors. Highly recommend making this one. I substituted farro for the brown rice because it has a nice nutty flavor and I added avocado. My only tiny critique is that the prep time is a bit longer than stated (probably more like an hour)…but so worth it for this dish.
I have made this a few times with some variations and it is always delicious! I use less broth for a thicker stew. I usually add carrots, and a couple diced tomatoes if I have fresh. I’ve made it with different greens (collards, mustard greens, cabbage), and all have gone surprisingly well with the peanut flavor. Leftovers go in Mason jars for work lunches. Thank you for this wonderful and forgiving recipe!
I love this recipe! Definitely serve it over brown rice! I prefer to cut my collards down further into squares, but that’s just me!
We’ve always loved this recipe! Recently took the advice to add brown rice, and that took it to a whole new level! I love the addition of a little chewy texture. We swapped fresh greens for frozen, as a convenience factor. They wilt down while cooking anyway.
This was great. Made it exactly and highly enjoyed! Will make again with whatever leafy greens I have around. I liked the sriracha with it!
Delicious! I cooked the onion alone for a couple minutes before adding the ginger and garlic and substituted 1/3 head of cabbage for collard greens, but otherwise followed the recipe.
Really great vegan stew. The brown rice was a nice touch.
Happy to have found another vegan food that my husband likes. Made it with half a head of cabbage. Not as authentic, but easier to prep than collards. Increased the peanut butter to 3/4 cups. My sweet potatoes were only 1/2 lb each, so I used two. Served it with brown rice and ground peanuts.
I’ve had this in Senegal with cabbage.
I’ve made this twice now and love it!! First time I used brown rice – yum! Second time I poured it over quinoa – so yummy!! I agree with a little more heat. Overall delicious, warming and filling. Thank you!
This is the most amazing peanut stew recipe. I made it for a potluck at work; they were a dozen other potluck dishes and this one was everyone’s favorite!!
I did add more a bit more cumin, red pepper and a can of tomatoes with chilies.
Thanks Beth:)
I made this last night and it was SO GOOD! I’m so excited for leftovers, more excited than I’ve ever been. Sharing this with everyone I know ❤️
This is delicious. I add fire roasted tomatoes and black beans. Only complaint is it doesn’t make enough. Doubling recipe next time. So good!
Is the cumin ground or seeds?
ground :)
I have made a lot of the recipes on your site, and this is my favorite!! I have never experienced this flavor combination before and I can’t get enough. So satisfying and filling. I also love that it is vegan.
Followed the recipe exactly with the substitution of kale instead of collard greens to use up the produce I had on hand. I can’t describe how simple and delicious this stew is. Amazing!!!!!!
Served as suggested with rice, cilantro, chopped nuts and sriracha. My husband asked me to please print this one out to make again. Thank you!!
I can’t find collard greens where I live, so I use spinach and then serve it with the Easy Roasted Brussel Sprouts. Love this so much, especially with buckwheat! Thanks, Beth!
This is one of my all-time favorites, and I just made it again yesterday! Soooo good, and healthy and filling too!
Looks amazing! For those who have added dry red or yellow lentils, how many did you add? I’m thinking about trying this and adding a cup of dry yellow lentils and a can of coconut milk…. does that seem about right?
I forgot to come back to this, but yes, this did work very well for us. Only thing I’m not sure about is if it’s possible to substitute out the tomatoes for those who are allergic… even after trying it with tomato, I can’t decide if it would work without them (plus with some soy sauce and maybe some roasted red pepper) or not.
I found this recipe YEARS ago… a friend of mine invited me to house sit with her up in Maine… so how could I say no! She is a GREAT cook… from the island of Bali… and just happened to bring some cookbooks from the library with her. In one of the books was this very recipe.
I remember making it when my mother came over and wanted a haircut… LOL… (RETIRED HAIR STYLIST) and she scoffed at what I was making… but I prevailed and made her taste it. She was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.
The only difference in my recipe is that it called for Habanero peppers… and I can’t take all that heat… I love the flavor… just not the heat… kills my stomach.
Comfort food, for sure! I didn’t have the optional toppings and feel like they would have kicked it up another notch, but still really satisfying on a cold late autumn evening!
This was excellent. I used chicken broth instead of vegetable and curly kale instead of collard greens. The toppings together are great. Very filling also.
Skipped the collards, added veggie bbq strips instead. Added rice too (Uncle Ben’s mediterranean mix). Sprinkled a bunch of herbs mix and salt on top. Wow so so good!!! I’m gaining weight already from a few portions, keep going back for more! 😄. Thank you! Also appreciate the price list!
This was my first time having peanut stew- so do no have a basis for compariso. The stew was easy to make and I enjoyed it! Also added some lime juice on top. Not a huge fan of collards or sweet potato but thought it fit in this dish. To my taste may do some tweaking in the future- maybe add more ginger or add in lentils.
I am obsessed with this. I lived and studied in Tanzania and this brought back one of my favorite meals there (a similar groundnut stew to this). Love and comfort in a bowl. I also doubled the PB/sweet potatoes and served with brown basmati rice and copious amounts of cilantro. Thank you for your wonderful website!
Made this last night. There wasn’t a single person in the family who didn’t like it. Even my pickiest child ate 2 servings. It was amazing! I added 2 tsp of lime juice. The tiny bit of sour made the sweet potato sweeter.
Hi, this looks so good! Can I check the amount of tomato paste required. Seems a lot if you mean the concentrated tomato purée? From the UK so not sure if different? Thanks!
Yep, that’s the correct amount and you are right, tomato paste is the very concentrated tomato purée. :)
This has become a staple in our house, I tend to add a little extra peanut butter like some of thecother comments. Has anyone doubled this recipe? I am hoping to make a double batch this weekend but am curious if it turns out the same.
It will do great! I’m quadrupling it, and after eating our fill, I will can the rest for an easy dinner later on.
I doubled it but only had one sweet potato so I used a Russet potato for the second potato and it still turned out great!
I’ve made this so many times now I don’t need to look at recipe anymore. So good!
I love it! I add the collards in at the same time as the sweet potatoes because I’m a good southern girl and one does not “wilt” collards. I throw in a can of chickpeas to make it more filling. And as with all of Beth’s recipes I saute the onions for 5-10 minutes and THEN add the garlic so it doesn’t burn and the onions are sweet. Super economical recipe and a staple in our house!
I do the same thing! Collards gotta be cooked through, and I always add chickpeas for bulk.
I’m lazy, so I start with the broth, and add the garlic, onions, ginger , cumin and red pepper flakes and let it simmer for a half hour or so, then add the rest. It’s SO freaking good!
This was a hit! Even our “soup isn’t food” and “nothing weird in it” guy came back for seconds. We didn’t tell him what was in it. :)
OH MY GOD
This was sooo good and tastes very authentic! Probably the best dish I’ve made from your website. The only thing I changed was the amount of peanut butter, I doubled it. Seriously though, this tasted delicious!
I’ve made this at least a dozen times now. Absolutely love the flavors and it reheats so well!
One of my favorite things to do is to lightly roast a block of cubed tofu and add it to the soup towards the end of its cook time. Adds a nice chunky component and some extra protein!
This soup goes great with rice. In fact, I mostly prefer it with some sort of grain or starch.
I’ve switched out the collard greens with both spinach and kale – both went over fine.
I’ve done an emulsion blender on the soup base before adding the greens and tofu – it adds a lovely body to the base that I prefer. That being said, If someone prefers a chunkier soup and has no interest in adding something like tofu at the end, the soup has a nice texture as is.
By necessity I made this incorrectly (I was using ingredients at hand) and it still turned out great. Here were my changes. Chicken broth substituted for vegetable broth, regular peanut butter for natural peanut butter, spinach for collard greens, cayenne pepper for red pepper flakes, and white rice for brown. My taste buds felt it could be rounded out with some ancho pepper powder so I added some. It worked. I look forward to making a more faithful version of this recipe when I can shop specifically for it (and when I’m not trying to use up old spinach, sweet potatoes, and cilantro).
My conclusion is this recipe is very forgiving, but you should probably stick to it as written for a first try. Don’t be scared off if you have to make a few substitutions.
So good I had two servings! I subbed the collard greens for kale and garnished with cilantro.
Tried it and loved it!!
This dish always comes out great, exactly as written in the instructions. It’s such a filling, comforting stew. I hadn’t used peanut butter in a stew/soup before, so I was a little hesitant, but I’m so glad I gave it a try. My husband likes it so much, he’s requested for me to keep this as part of our regular “rotation” when we cook.
I omit the crushed red pepper and collard greens, and I always add peanuts and cilantro as a garnish. This is my favourite dish!
Beth does it again! DELICIOUS!
We love this soup! I’ve made it like 7 times and it’s amazing every time! I’ve also made it as a pasta sauce and just added less veggie broth. I love how easy it is to swap any leftover greens in my fridge and any rice/grain/pasta I have lying around (it’s so good over quinoa!). It’s good both with and without the sweet potato. The perfect pantry meal!
For a family who is not adventurous with food, we were pleasantly surprised. We do not typically like sweet potatoes and had never tried collard greens. We have been trying recipes out of our comfort zone to try and find meals to add to our rotation, but we were all dreading this meal. Each of us loved it so much that we had two bowls (the two picky children included). Try this recipe, it does not disappoint!!!
I made this, in true budget style, with substitutions I had on hand: 10 oz frozen butternut squash (cubed) instead of sweet potato & added green pepper and used kale instead of collard greens. My wife, who hates vegetables, was very suspicious at first. But, her face changed like Mikey in the Life cereal commercial at first bite, and she gobbled it up. She even went back for seconds & had the leftovers for lunch today. I hardly ever post recipe reviews but had to this time bc she RARELY responds this way to my vegan dishes. The recipe is written very well, as I found the cooking times, quantities and tips quite accurate, which means it came out perfect in first try. Kudos!!!
I just tried this recipe, and it was ridiculously delicious! I’m amazed at how well all of those ingredients worked together. Side note: do the nutrition estimates include the optional topings?
Edit: yes, they do include the optional ingredients. Needless to say, I didn’t read the nutrition disclosure before posting that comment. My bad!
Omg this is delicious! I wanted to be carb conscious and skipped the rice. Even without it- it’s so hearty.
Currently making this now, just realised I put in 16 oz of tomato paste and not 1 6 oz can opps! Hopefully it turns out okay still, silly me!
Can I use pasta sauce and cut back on broth? I have everything but the tomato paste. Love your recipes!
Honestly I don’t suggest that. Pasta sauce and tomato paste are far too different to be able to make that swap.
First time making this recipe today and it was yummy! I didnt have sweet potatoes, but had plenty plantain on hand, so I managed to cook two and mashed them into the sauce as a substitute for the sweet potatoe. Simmered the sauce for about 30 mins and added in 1 bunch of collard greens. Served the sauce with some rice, grilled chicken, some baked plantain and it was so delicious!
So filling and delicious! I added sliced up okra to this, and it really added to the thickness of the soup (which I liked).
okra sounds awesome in this!
I have a join the chorus of praise for this recipe. I made it exactly as written and it turned out amazing. Definitely one for the recipe box.
This is my second time making this. I used white sweet potatoes plus a tablespoon of sugar. Also added a single carrot because I had one on hand. 5 cups of broth was enough for me. I might experiment with a little less peanut butter next time, but overall the flavors are fantastic and it’s such a comforting dish.
Don’t laugh…I’m not a fan of tasting peanut butter in recipes like this as I seem to pick up on it over everything else. Does this have a strong peanut flavor profile?
Hi Kim! It does taste pretty strongly of peanut butter. I’m a peanut butter fanatic so I love this dish, but you might want to decrease the amount of peanut butter or maybe skip this recipe.
One of our favorite recipes! We make at least once a month and have even taken to family functions (to rave reviews). Super easy and affordable.
I was wondering if the calorie information listed includes the 3/4 rice, or is just the 1.5 cup of stew?
This recipe is so good! Used kale instead of collard greens, added some lemon juice to bring more acidity and lots of sriracha. Delicious!
Thanks!!
The nutrition data provided is calculated using all ingredients listed on the recipe card, including any ingredient listed as optional. Keep in mind that recipes that involve marinades, breading, salad dressings, oil for frying, or salt for cooking pasta and potatoes may be skewed because some of these ingredients will be discarded and not included in the final edible portion.
My family loved this recipe, they were disappointed that I wouldn’t let them have seconds because I was saving the rest for lunch. Make sure to add the cilantro and chopped peanuts, it sends the flavor over the top.
I added some bay leave, tyme, extra garlic and slap yo mama for some seasoning. Then added some vegan chicken and sausage with some mushroom just because it was left over. It’s definitely delicious!
WOW! This is incredible and so unique. I used collards as the recipe called for (was nervous since I’ve never cooked with them before) and would recommend NOT substituting them! They add a heartiness and a bit of a crunch. A little brown rice as recommended is the cherry on top. Will be making this again! So good!
My roommate and I made this to eat for dinners this week and we both love it! Thank you so much for sharing.
This is one of my favorite dishes. I used to live in St. Thomas and get it at an Ital restaurant.
I’ve just made. I used your recipe with one alteration I used a can of coconut milk, and the same amount of water.
A little richer, if you’re not dieting.
Fantastic! Been Making this for over a year now, and love it. My variation: Add a 15oz can of diced tomatoes, and at the end I use an immersion blender to make it smooth as all get out because my kids won’t eat lumpy stuff. Like others, this is a staple in the house. I’ve also taken it to potlucks and it goes very quickly.
Man is this great. Sriracha is a must for my personal bowl, btw.
Would kale work for collard greens?
We haven’t tried it with Kale but as you can see in the comments below many others have and it’s turned out great for them!
Delicious, we used spinach added a bit of turmeric powder, next time I.msy be tempted with paprika too. Thank you so much!
Delicious looking recipe, but I have one small question:
If I see the phrase “natural style” peanut butter, I have no idea what that means. Does it mean crunchy? Does it mean made without sweetener? Does it mean that it’s the kind with the oil sitting on top?
I’ve never encountered any peanut butter sold with that descriptor.
Yes it’s low processed and only contains peanuts, oil and salt. No other additives.
If you have a Trader Joe’s market near you, go there. Or look for a natural food market of any kind. You want to avoid emulsifiers and other additives. Just look for a peanut butter where the oil separates out. In a pinch, you can definitely use regular peanut butter, just taste test before you add sugar or salt.
This is a new staple in our house, and I live with a dedicated meat eater so that is saying a lot. Hearty, healthy and packed with flavor. I can’t wait to keep making this for my friends and family! Soooooo good!
Ohhh man! The texture, flavors and simplicity of this meal is amazing! My 5 year old surprisingly LOVED it too… sure wasn’t expecting that, but, SCORE! Thank You!!
This was very good, and made a lot better with hot sauce. Collard greens are out of season where I live in Florida, so I used an organic power greens mix instead. It wasn’t as flavorful as I had hoped, so I added a can of V8 which helped. Except for the V8, I used all organic ingredients. It was very good with organic brown basmati rice. Everyone seemed to enjoy it at the dinner I made tonight, but I will try this again when collard greens are in season!
Not going to lie. I would have rather used white/yellow potatoes for this dish. The sweet potatoes didn’t really compliment the peanut sauce has much as I hoped. Overall the peanut sauce was fantastic.
This recipe is definitely one of my favorites from BudgetBytes. While I’m not a vegan, I’m making an effort to eat less meat throughout the week and this recipe is flavorful, delicious, filling, the works! So easy to reheat for a tasty lunch :)
I like using the pre-chopped mixed greens bag with kale, collared greens and spinach from Trader Joes, and have also added a can of white cannellini beans for some extra protein, without affecting the stew’s soft texture. Agreeing with other commenters, I also like to up the ratio of peanut butter to veggie broth, making the stew more “stewy” and less “soupy”.Extra fresh ginger and cumin gives a wonderful flavor punch!
Yum! I used baby kale instead of collard greens and white-flesh sweet potatoes from Trader Joe’s (the Murasaki variety) and it was absolutely delicious. I used only three cups of vegetable broth since I wanted a thicker end result – it worked perfectly. The salty/sweet combo is delightful. Will definitely make this again!
This is delicious! Made it in my instant pot and doubled it so my college student could take some home to her vegan roommate.
One thing to note is that it isn’t very flavorful unless you double the spices at a minimum. This is going on my list as a regular item to make for company.
I’ve made maybe ten recipes from this site so far, and this one is definitely my favorite. It’s so so good. I usually end up adding a little more spice than the recipe suggests, and have swapped the collard greens for spinach when I didn’t have it available. Definitely is one I’ll keep coming back to
In here it’s very tuff to find natural peanut butter. With no added sugar or palmoil
Hi Isa! You can make your own natural peanut butter by putting dry roasted peanuts in a food processor and running the processor for about 5 minutes, and then add sugar or honey to taste. Super easy!
I followed the recipe almost exactly, but ran short of tomato paste and used vegetable stock instead of broth. I also used two small sweet potatoes instead of one. It was fabulous! My family loved it. Thanks!
I expected this to be good but it was really AMAZING and a huge hit with my family.
I made this last night for the first time – it is excellent! I tweaked the measurements a bit, added a little extra peanut butter and a little less broth to make it slightly less soupy. I made the veggie chunks larger, and also added eggplant. I was excited before I made it, and now I’m excited because I have a lot of leftovers for the week!
This was delicious and easy to make! The store didn’t have collard greens so used kale instead. Served it with fresh sourdough bread. Everyone loved it!
I’ve had it in restaurants identified as west African as well.
Thanks for sharing Ro!
This was perfection. I didn’t change a thing. Shared it at work the next day, and coworkers raved also. Yum! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Great work Erin!
We love making this. I have two questions. Would this work well as an Instant Pot recipe? And, I want to make some to freeze for a friend, and I planned to make it something they can just heat and eat, is it ok to freeze it with the greens in it? I’ve never tried making a freezer meal so thought I’d check. Thanks!
It’s definitely a great freezer meal Jessica! We don’t have directions on the instant pot however. Sorry!
I made it in my Instant Pot. It was a hit with the fam. I pot the greens and sweet potatoes in at the same time then cooked on manual for 10 minutes.
Thanks LaShawn for sharing your Instant Pot conversion!
This soup is extremely delicious, but a lot of people were getting upset that it’s not really West African… Specifically which tribe or which country in west Africa? Because many people are saying it looks more Asian inspired? I’m just curious…
May I say that it does remind me a great deal of tiga dege na from Mali. This is a meal of Bamana origin. The biggest difference that I see is that cabbage is used in the place of collard greens and tomato juice is often used instead of tomato paste. Sometimes okra is added. Both versions are fabulous.
Has anyone tried serving this with some type of banana? I’ve been dying for some matoke with groundnut sauce but the Ugandan restaurant near me closed. I’m considering getting plaintains to cook and serve with this! I tried it tonight as is and hit the craving for groundnut sauce.
I love this stew and make it quite regularly. I usually stick to the original recipe because I think it’s perfect as-is, however, today I had an idea to throw some madras curry power in and let me tell you, it is on another level!
Oh man…I HAVE to try it that way! Thanks for sharing Cassandra!
I tripled recipe it seems soupier than usual any advice?
Hmm, I’m not sure without having been there to watch the process. If all the ingredients were tripled at the same ratio, the soup should have the same consistency. My only guess is that perhaps one of the ingredients was accidentally measured wrong, whether it was the broth or the ingredients that help it thicken (peanut butter and tomato paste). You might see if you can smash some of the sweet potatoes a little because that will also help thicken the soup.
I don’t know what black magic is at work here but somehow the broth, tomato paste and peanut butter (and I guess some of the starch from the potatoes) in this recipe are transformed into creamy, comforting peanutty goodness. Delicious and easy recipe that’s going straight into my regular rotation.
I added a 15 oz can of chickpeas (about 10 minutes before the end of cooking) for some protein and extra filling which worked well. Next time I might also try to up the collard greens or add some other vegetables to make it more nutritious.
Serving size is too small though, I think. I made the amount that was given for 6 servings but only got 4 dinner-sized portions out of it (including the added chickpeas).
Thank you so much Ruben!
WARNING: Do not add the peanut butter before bringing to a boil! I wondered about it when i read through the recipe but followed directions since this recipe had such a high rating. The peanut butter scorches on the bottom of the pot if you turn the heat high. My pots aren’t super thin, either. I’m making a mega batch (I know, dumb to try out a recipe first time in quantity) and the whole thing was nearly ruined. I caught it just in time to pour off the top before the scorched bottom contaminated the whole soup too badly (I think!). Other recipes I’m consulting now after the fact say to bring to a boil and then add the PB when it goes down to a simmer.
Sorry to hear that Rachelle!
So tasty, satisfying and forgiving of some substitutions I think. I didn’t have fresh ginger, so I used a combo of ginger powder and freeze dried minced ginger, with adjustments to taste. Didn’t have any veg broth, so I used a 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes as well as the tomato paste, and then just added water by eye (haha). I decided to try the garbanzo addition by just adding uncooked canned garbanzos to my bowl of stew, and I really liked the addition of al dente garbanzo texture.
One warning: this stew is ridiculously addictive. Thank goodness I doubled the recipe.
Ha thank you!
This. Make this. It’s delicious, warm, filling, good-for-you comfort food. I sub in tomato puree for the paste, decrease the broth, and usually use kale (my grocer doesn’t carry organic collards). Today I didn’t have kale so I added some eggplant and cabbage with the sweet potato and it was still delicious.
Thank you Miriam!
I wish I could give this recipe 10 stars! It is so incredibly creamy, delicious, and filling. I don’t know how the peanut butter and tomato paste work together, but they do. I made only one small change, which was to add about a can’s worth of black beans (drained) at the very end for some added protein. I’ve made a lot of recipes from your site, and this has to be one of my favorites. Thank you so much for bringing this soup into my life! It’ll be going into the regular rotation from now on.
Thank you so much Courtney!
This stew lives up to the “comfort in a bowl” hype. I made it with kale instead of collard greens and served with rice and flatbread. It was divine. Perfect meal to warm you up on a cold fall day. I would definitely make this again.
Thanks Jenn!!
This was excellent. I made it just as recipe called, but I did sub in kale because it is still going strong in the garden. It made a large amount for two eaters here, so it became good lunches. It got more delicious as the week went on. It is, as we all know, made with inexpensive ingredients, but you feel like you are having something kind of special. We are “adding it to the rotation,” (highest commendation of the home cook).
You’re so lucky with your abundant garden! Thanks Sue!
Yum, I can’t stop sneaking more bites! I used kale instead of collard greens, added about a cup of black beans I had in the fridge, and added some leftover quinoa I had, too. This is good enough to make for a dinner party.
I made this tonight and just used a bag of frozen kale instead of the collards. It was cozy and comforting and filled with flavor! I totally recommend it!
That’s great Ashley! Thanks for sharing.
Hey Beth, if I realllllly want to add beans to this to increase the protein…what would you recommend? Garbanzo? Black?
Thanks!
I use cannellini (white) beans and they are great in it! I’m sure most beans would work though.
I’d add garbanzo beans, which would work very naturally with the cumin and red pepper.
Garbanzo would be a great addition!
Red lentils work excellent in this as well.
This is an awesome dish, everyone loves it every time I make it!
Thanks Paula!
Did you mean to change this recipe so that the greens are only simmered 5 minutes vs the 15 minutes + time to boil in the original? My wife tried making this and we were both wondering why the greens were almost crunchy compared to when I made it a year ago. It’s a great recipe, but I think the previous approach ended up with a better texture.
When I remade it I found that I didn’t need to let them simmer long to get the texture I liked, but that sort of thing always boils down (no pun intended) to personal preference. :)
Love this soup. I usually substitute butternut squash for the sweet potato and it is still delicious!
Oh that sounds good! Thanks PJ!
Any idea if it would make a huge difference in taste if one were to use regular peanut butter rather than natural?
You definitely can just use what you have on hand. The regular peanut butter just may be sweeter.
This is the recipe that made my family glad I went vegan! I use a 6 oz bag of baby spinach because rip open, dump and stir. Done! I also add a can of small red beans, drained and rinsed, for added nutrients and fiber. Sunday dinner at it’s best!
Happy to hear it Laury! Thanks for sharing.
So delicious! I added chickpeas and green beans and a little hot sauce and it was so good!
Great additions!
I used to love a version of this soup a local co-op made years ago. It also had raisins in it.
I’ve since become sensitive to peanuts.
Would almond butter work as well?
Yes it certainly could!
I made it for a couple friends for vegetarian night and we just LOVED it!!!
Hooray!
Great recipe, perfect for winter! (thought it always takes me longer to make than anticipated)
This looks really great! I’m not vegan though and would like to add a protein element on the side as an optional accompaniment. Would salmon or chicken work if I just had the soup poured over some white rice?
I’ve added roasted chicken in it with great success before!
I just made this for the third time, and before I ate it I thought, “I shouldn’t be this excited for soup!”. It is so good. Do the rice, so the chopped peanuts, do the sriracha and cilantro if you can. To save time you can chop your nuts in a mini food processor, set them aside then use it to chop your ginger, garlic and onions all together. I also use chopped frozen kale instead of fresh greens.
This is absolutely delicious, so glad I tried it! Doe you know how well it freezes? I made way too much😂
It should freeze just fine. Make sure you cool it in the refrigerator, then freeze.
Made this stew for dinner it was absolutely amazing. A taste of Africa in my home.
Happy to hear it Nikia!
Oh my word. This is my absolute favorite soup! My husband and I just love it. We like to add crispy tofu into the soup and serve with white rice – yum!
Oh that’s a great addition!
Can anyone share the instant pot settings to cook the stew?
I did mine for 15 minutes at high pressure and natural release. I added extra water because I was afraid it would burn but I wish I hadn’t, it’s a little more brothy than I would like but still good. Next time I’ll leave the water alone since I also added a can of diced tomatoes which added liquid. I may take my immersion blender to it and see if I can thicken it up.
I love this recipe it was really easy for a beginner cook like myself to put together. I think Ill add a little more peanut butter and even black beans for protein, like Sarah said. Very hearty and yummy stew!
Made this last week. Was SO Happy with how it turned out! I added a lot more spice than called for, and it was so tasty. Froze a lot of it, and can’t wait to have it again!
I was a bit wary about trying this recipe due to the whole peanut butter/tomato combo but this was delicious, hearty and so easy to make! It is very rich and satisfying, I served it with a bit of jasmine rice. The only difference was I used some corn starch at the end to thicken it up a bit as well as substituting in spinach as we don’t seem to have collard greens where I live :)
I really enjoyed this strew. Added some black beans for some protein. Can’t wait to make it again.
I have substituted a can of pumpkin before when I don’t have sweet potatoes . That’s good too!
This would be great in the IP!
Just made this for dinner its fab thank you for sharing! Xo
This was a winner! Even in my house with 3 sometimes selective kid eaters, everyone gobbled it up. My son said he didn’t like it as much as chili, but he was surprised that it was good. I’ll take that as a win! Really filling and nourishing. Perfect for these chilly spring evenings. I subbed kale for the collards, and served with a bit of brown rice. Yums all around! Thanks for the recipe.
We have a severe peanut allergy in our house. Has anyone tried this with any different nut butters? Curious how it turned out. Thinking about using cashew butter.
I would try it with tahini it’s I think it would turn out really well
Sunflower seed butter is another good alternative to peanut butter.
So keen to make this but my husband doesn’t do well with onions…or should I say, the whole house doesn’t breath well when my husband has onions. Any suggestions for replacements?
Are shallots too strong for him? Shallots would be the only appropriate sub I can think of.
My dad strongly dislikes onions. We always sub leeks in recipes.
This was so good and easy to make! I really like the collard greens – they add a hearty textural element that’s very satiating. They are not a veg I use often, but int this it was the perfect addition.
can’t get over how delicious and filling this stew is! i’ve never seen a stew that had peanut butter in it before. everything really turns out well and it’s so flavorful, the ginger adds a ton of flavor. will definitely make again and again
I made this soup according to the instructions and it turned out really good. The optional garnishes top it off perfectly. I recommend this recipe, thank you very much for posting it.
My most favourite new thing to cook this year! Delicious!!
Kept the same recipe but had with toasted sesame flatbread
YUM
I’ll be honest, when I first saw the ingredient list for this recipe, I was skeptical, because tomato, ginger, and peanuts
aren’t normally on the same recipe card. OH MY LANTA! I am SO glad we tried it! Both my husband and I loved it! (and my husband doesn’t normally like soups!)
This recipe is so rich, so filling, and so full of flavor, and it is SO easy to make too!
I subbed out spinach for the collard greens (we’re not big collard greens fans) and I used a little cornstarch to thicken it up at the end, but the recipe really didn’t need any help!
Thank you so much for passing this along! If I could give this 6 stars, I gladly would!
This stew is fantastic! Rich and delicious. Check out the individual nutritional factors of the ingredients, and you’ll love it even more. You can thicken the broth by mixing 2 tsp cornstarch in 1/4 cup water, then stirring that into the stew.
So easy, so delicious. Used lacinato kale instead of collards and it worked out nicely. I used my immersion blender to blend up about 1/4 of the stew and it thickened it up perfectly. Adding this one to my heavy rotation.
Very easy to make and hella delicious
Super delicious, even with some minor substitutions — regular Skippy instead of natural peanut butter, a can of diced tomatoes because I was out of paste, frozen collards for convenience. It was hearty and pretty sweet, which was a nice balance for the bitter collards. Will definitely make it again and might try adding chickpeas or white beans.
Not sure how to rate this. I love each ingredient but was not fond of the combination. There was a sweetness I was not fond of. But very healthy.
This stew is so delicious!!! A perfect recipe. In case people don’t have all the ingredients, just wanted to flag I’ve also made this with kale (instead of Collard greens), farro (instead of rice), and I never peel my sweet potatoes, and it all comes out just as good. An incredibly forgiving recipe with so much flavor. Thanks for posting this!
Has anyone tried this with almond butter? I know it would work with a good thick almond butter I’m more curious about the taste.
Last week there was a segment on The Today Show about Soupergirl and their best selling soup — Vegan West African Peanut Stew. I googled it and, no surprise, it brought me here. Your version sounds perfect. I haven’t made it yet because I need to get the peanut butter. I’ll make it this weekend.
Will attempt this tomorrow. Just want to thank you for the clean and budget friendly recipes. You’re a god send!
Our family lived in Togo, West Africa for a number of years and ‘sauce arachide’ is one of our favorite Togolese dishes. Each West African country has its version which to me, varies greatly in taste. It is challenging to reproduce the same flavor here in the US, but we have been trying. We add about a tablespoon or two of red palm oil when sauteing the onions, then add ginger and garlic and other ingredients including spinach. We use creamy peanut butter with no added sugar and no whole peanuts. We use Nutiva Red Palm Oil from Amazon. It’s quite good and we also use it in Togolese gombo (okra) soup. The red palm oil adds a whole new dimension of flavor (just be careful and start off with tablespoon amounts and never more as it can overpower the flavor of the other ingredients.) We usually leave out the pepper as there are some in our family who can’t eat it. I add La-Yu chili oil at the table as I find it’s the closest I can get to the flavor of Togolese small round green peppers which are not found in the US. It is also delicious served with boiled banana plantain!
That sounds amazing!! Now I really want to find some red palm oil to try. And adding plantain sounds incredible! Thank you for sharing that. :)
I’ve made this before and it was absolutely delicious!!
I’m looking to make it again and had a thought…Would I be able to substitute the chunky peanut butter with powdered peanut butter?
I’ve never worked with powdered peanut butter, unfortunately, so I’m not sure how it would do in this recipe.
The powdered peanut butter usually has a fair amount of sugar in it, so while it may save you calories I think the taste would be off.
Ohmygoodness. This is probably one of the best things I have made in years!!!! I have never commented on a recipe before, but felt that I need to just share how much I loved it! I did add a canned of diced tomatoes and more PB, like others suggested. Ate it will some garlic naan from Trader Joe’s and I was in heaven!
I love this recipe! Inexpensive, nutrient-dense, filling, great for batch cooking and reheating, and best of all, delicious.
I like to substitute a bottle of dark beer (such as porter, stout, or brown ale) for some of the water I use for the broth in this recipe. Rather than using broth out of a box, I like to use Better than Bouillon concentrates, so I will add 6 tsp of base + 1.5 c beer +4.5 c water.
I also notice that once I add the tomato paste and peanut butter, the mixture thickens very quickly, so I slowly add a little bit of the beer (or broth) about 1/4 c at a time to prevent scorching.
I love this stew!! My favorite additions are toppings- I like to add peeled, minced broccoli stems (also great for dipping in hummus etc), green onions, and chickpeas dry roasted with some oil, salt and cumin. I also often add a can of diced tomatoes to the soup
Just made this tonight and ate it with quinoa and brown rice. It was hearty and delicious. I added sriracha at the end as suggested, and it added just the right amount of heat. Thanks for this recipe!
I made this last night!! Simply AMAZING!!!!
I love this recipe! Good replacement for the greens, beans, and grains frozen meal from Trader Joe’s that was discontinued. Thank you!
What the hell ia african stew?! You do realize that Africa is not a country?
My dad is from Ghana and that’s what it’s called. West African peanut stew/soup or West African groundnut soup.
No. It’s a continent. Where they came up with this delicious recipe. Enjoy!
It’s a stew from Africa. Which, yes, is a continent. What’s your point?
West Africa is a region with shared cultural cuisines, much like Mediterranean or Scandinavian, or even Southern or New England here in the US. The recipe title reflects that shared tradition.
That said, I really like this recipe. It’s got a lot of flavor, and feels hearty and comforting during these frigid January days. I usually make it with leftover Christmas turkey, but lately we’ve skipped the meat entirely, because it is really that good all on its own. I’m planning to make it tonight, what with the impending polar vortex threatening, and it’ll be a satisfying lunch option this week.
Can you show us where it says Africa is a country anywhere in the recipe?
very tasty! Is delicious as is, but I made a few additions the second time round: two sweet potatoes, a little more peanut butter (maybe 2 extra tbsp), and a tsp of chili flakes.
Amazing, thank you Beth! We added grilled tofu and grilled chicken after cooking to add protein. The other sub I made was 10oz pasta sauce instead of 6oz tomato paste 😂 not an ideal sub but it was still good!!
I just made this for lunch, and it was delicious. I didn’t have any ginger, so I put in some curry paste at the start. A reasonable person might have left out some of the garlic at that point (since the paste had that, too) but thank goodness I’m not reasonable because it was fantastic with the full portion of garlic too. I also had a half-can of coconut milk left over, so I added that with the broth. It was savory and healthy and I had two bowls and nearly went back for more.
Curry sounds amazing with this!
I have made this recipe several times and it always turns out delicious. The tomato paste + peanut butter creates a unique flavor combination, and I love how the sweet potato thickens the soup to a nice consistency. I make the recipe as is; there is no need for changes with this recipe. The soup also comes together really quickly– you do not need to boil/simmer for hours to get good flavor.
Delicious as is!
I make this all the time! So goood! I’ve made it for skeptical friends before and they ended up loving it. So savory and delicious.
What kind of pot are you using? Would you happen to have a product link?
That was just a random pot that I picked up at Marshalls or TJ Maxx (I don’t remember which). The lid says Sarriette on it, but I’ve never heard of or seen that brand anywhere else. I like that the pot is a little wider and more shallow rather than being narrow and deep like a lot of soup pots.
I’m wondering if anyone has made this in an Instant Pot or a slow cooker yet. I’ve made this several times and love it. But I’ll be out a bit late one night this week and would like it to be either ready or ready to turn on ( in the IP ) when I get home. The recipes I’ve found have cooking times all over the board for the IP and some people dump everything in at the beginning and other people add some ingredients after pressure cooking.
Delicious. I added courgette and aubergine and maple smoked chickpeas and served with rice
Because of high BP, triglycerides and cholesterol I am slowly pushing myself to eat vegan and vegetarian. What I appreciate about this website is the recipes for vegan and vegetarian fare are inexpensive, easier to put together and cook (not complicated), and they taste good. The ingredients are pretty basic and I most of them in my kitchen already. Thank You Beth
Very good. Here are my changes: I added a tsp of coriander, I upped the red pepper flakes to a tsp, added about a half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, sprinkled some cinnamon, and I used about 4 tablespoons of curry, yes 4 tbsp possibly more. I used a full cup of peanut butter and 4 cups of chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. I used 2 medium sweet potatoes and boiled them first to make them soft then when I added them to the pot I smashed them with the spoon. I also added a can of diced tomatoes with the juice. Also, added a few spoons full of brown sugar. The spices you can add a little or omit a little to taste. I just kept tasting it and adding spices until it tasted right. I will serve over jasmine rice. Yummy! Will make again definitely!
Gosh, way to ruin a vegan recipe, adding chicken broth, yuck, and a whole jar of penut butter, was half not enough are you aiming toward heart disease?
No need to be so rude!
That was indeed rude. Sorry you had that happen. Not her business!
No need to be so nasty, Villi. And she used a full cup of peanut butter not a full jar, maybe you should read more carefully before firing off a mean little comment.
Your comment is rude and uncalled for, Villi. You should have read Amanda’s comment before going off on her like that. No one’s forcing you to eat anything.
Live and let live!
All I can say is yum. I’m a pretty lazy cook but new to vegetarianism so on the lookout for recipes. This was delicious and will def be in the rotation
Holy moley. This was amazing. Used regular smooth peanut butter (because it’s what I had) and then garnished with chopped peanuts. It was so delicious that we took it for lunch the next day and it was even better!
This is an AMAZING recipe! I’ve been making it for a year now, but I never left a comment to say how great it is. In fact, after making this recipe I became addicted to your blog. Thanks for the lovely posts!! :)
forgot to mention that sometimes I add carrots to the recipe, and occasionally I add brown rice or black beans to make it even more filling. I do collards but often add baby spinach that is sitting in my fridge waiting to be used. It’s a very versatile recipe :)
Finally made this recipe after having in my files forever.
It was good, but needed some extras….
…increased all of the spices (probably doubled what the recipe calls for)
..added a bit more peanut butter
Squeezed lime over the whole thing.
A great base recipe that can be easily adapted to your tastes!
This has been a regular favorite of ours for a while now, we often add a block of tempeh chopped up to give it even more protein. It’s a great recipe!!
I immediately thought to add tofu, too. Did you sear it ahead of time or no?
Another amazing recipe! I used curly green kale (only cooked for 5 minutes) and added a strained can of tomatoes!
This soup has become a regular in my house. I’ve made it at least ten times! I lived for two years in Africa, and every time I make this the flavors take me back. I’ve made this for my family too and they loved it!
This stew is fantastic! The first time I made it I used the directed amount of tomato paste and it was just too heavy/tomato-y for me. This time I used half the tomato paste and included 1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes – PERFECT! :)
Eat it with a bit of rice or riced cauliflower and this makes a wonderful meal.
Thank you!
Has anyone tried to make this with Almond Butter instead? I’m avoiding legumes for health reasons and trying to re-vamp some recipes that I love!
I saw some older comments that said they used almond butter and it turned out well. Go for it!
Thanks for this recipe! I didn’t have plain cumin on hand, so instead I used curry powder. I subbed kale for the greens, and since the prepackaged veggie broth only came in 4 cups, I added a can of black beans with liquid intact. All in all, I think the final result was fantastic – and I would have never heard of this dish if it weren’t for your blog!
Cheers :)
I’ve made this many times — it’s one of my favorite recipes. Instead of rice, we usually get a crusty bread for dipping.
I just made this stew last night and tasted it this morning and I Love, Love my results the stew was way to make and turned out AWESOME!!!! But you make to smash the sweet potatoes down under the fire in the pot because they will not soften right away or u can pre-boil them to get them a little softer then add them to the stew. I used greens and spinach leaves in mines which made the stew even hardier with brown rice over it. DE-LISH 👍🏾
Just made my vegan African Peanut Soup and it came out DE-LISH!!!! I recommend this recipe to any one who wants to explode their taste buds!!!
Unbelievable recipe! It’s super easy to make, has really inexpensive ingredients, and it’s vegan! I like to add sriracha and pepitas (pumpkin seeds) as a topping. The first time I made it I got splashed by the soup when I was trying to smash the sweet potato so I would say to fish out some of the sweet potato, smash it in a separate bowl, and add it back.
This soup was amazing. So easy to make, and tastes fantastic! I added two large baked, shredded chicken breasts to make it a little heartier. Topped with lime and cilantro… mmmm.
Delicious! My husband is not a “soup” guy but even he gave this a thumbs up. I used chicken stock and creamy peanut butter because that’s what I had on hand. I liked the addition of rice to bulk it up a bit and in my opinion sriracha is a must to give it some heat. Can’t wait to make it again!
I love this recipe! I make it all the time
I looooove this recipe. So savory and flavorful. I put in some sticky rice to help me stay full.
I’ve made this recipe several times over the last few months, and I need everyone to know how fantastic it is. One-it’s so easy. Two-it’s so flavorful. Three-it’s adaptable. I’ve added diced tomatoes, frozen spinach, chili paste, lime juice, diced chicken, some shredded mozzarella…everything works with this soup. Four-it freezes well. Many a night I’ve come home from work too exhausted to cook, and simply thawed out a bowl of this soup and added a scoop of rice. It’s good, real food, with real ingredients, that feeds the tummy AND the soul.
Amazing recipe. We only made a few minor changes–kale instead of collards, omitted cilantro, and swapped rice for some hearty, crusty bread. This is one of my favorite soups/stews ever!
I was a little skeptical at first, but this recipe was fantastic! I doubled the red pepper flakes and cumin like others said and added some black beans. So, so good!
This soup is so flavorful. I substitute some coconut milk for broth and find it adds to give a really rich flavor. It freezes really well and is on my ‘budgetbtyes freezer cooking’ rotation. Delish!!!
I’ve been eyeing this for a while now. Absolutely stunning. So simple, easy, delicious and nutritious– and all I needed to buy was a sweet potato and the greens! I added diced tomatoes after putting in the peanut butter and tomato paste, and served over brown rice. Killer!
Also, I just thought of this– red lentils would be a fantastic addition! Next time!
I don’t know if you’ve tried it yet or not, but I did and red lentils are a great addition! Extra nutrition and thickness for a soup that’s already topping those categories. :)
I have had this on my mind since seeing it in your ‘Freezer’ blog a few weeks ago and now I am trying to figure out why I waited so long to make it! Delicious!!!! I am already thinking about the leftovers in the fridge and can’t wait for lunch tomorrow. . . if I can wait that long.
Ahhh why didn’t I make this sooner?!? This was SO GOOD. I was confused after seeing this combination of ingredients but I’m so glad I made this. I had to make a few minimal substitutions based on what I already had: used chicken broth instead of veggie, used kale instead of collard greens, creamy Jif peanut butter instead of the natural chunky kind. I found just a few pulses of an immersion blender before adding the kale gave a terrific texture. I topped with cilantro and chopped peanuts and this was outstanding. When I described this to my husband, he was incredibly skeptical but he loved it too! This is definitely going into our regular meal rotation!
Beth, I must try your version. We lived in Togo West Africa for 18 years and ‘sauce arachide’ was a staple on our menu. Locally, they add red palm oil which really gives great background flavor. Also, another ingredient which I’ve not found in the US is a small, hot green pepper. Those are the best hot peppers I’ve ever eaten and are used in many recipes. Wish I could find them here. Now we are just up the road a bit from you (outside BR) having retired last year, and we still make our version of peanut sauce. We use West African red palm oil found on Amazon. If you’ve never tried it, you might like to give it a try. Discovered your blog over a year ago and have used and enjoyed many of your recipes. I am always impressed how you are able to make such delicious meals at such low cost. Thank you for all the effort you put into BB. :)
Off to order red palm oil right now! Thanks for the suggestion!
Wonderful! Which country in the continent of Africa is this stew from though? I never came across it in Zambia, Malawi or Ethiopia. Is it a country in a West Africa. Or the region of West Africa? And it works splendidly with bell peppers in place of sriracha.
Hi Beth,
If I have double concentrated tomato paste (the kind that comes in the tube), how much should I add?
Thank you and I <3 your blog!
The six ounce (weight) cans are usually around 8 Tbsp when I portion them out to freeze. :)
This was the second recipe I have made from this site. Man, was it good! I followed some of the suggestions in the comments and doubled the cumin and red pepper flakes. I also added some a couple teaspoons of turmeric, and a teaspoon of coriander and paprika. I could have added even more chili flakes, but I enjoy spicy food.
I also used jarred ginger and garlic instead of chopping my own, so that saves some time. I liked the recommendations of subbing some of the vegetable broth for coconut milk. I subbed just one cup because I wanted to keep more of the tomato and spice flavor in my soup. I added kale instead of collard greens, and that worked well.
The cilantro and crushed peanuts on top are awesome, and DON’T SKIP THE LIME! I think it’s an essential ingredient missing from this recipe.
I would LOVE for Beth to add some more African recipes to this site. The spice and flavor profile of African food is so tasty! I’m trying to eat more vegetarian/vegan meals, but I may have to go Google an African chicken recipe now. ;-)
This soup is incredible, even my soup-loathing teenager loves it, she requests that I make it, in fact.
Made this today, because I am sick at home with a cold and sick people should eat soup. No, really, they should. Also, it’s vegetarian and I needed a vegetarian dish (I try to keep my cooking about 50% vegetarian). I was a bit sceptical at first because of the vegan label – I always expect vegan dishes to be lacking in flavour and not to be filling enough. Well, I was blown away by how awesome this tasted! Absolutely rich and flavourful, and I was stuffed after a single bowl. (I may have overdone the peanut butter slightly) I did not add the rice, though it might make a nice addition, but a can of diced tomatoes, and substituted spinach for collard greens, because I’ve never seen those at any of my local supermarkets. It was perfect. I love this.
Made it exactly as described, excellent! Greetings from Vienna, Austria.
Hearty enough for even my steak and potato eating boyfriend. I added some heat with cayenne and hot sauce and voila perfecto vegan amazingness!!!
Aside from using chicken broth instead of veggie I made this pretty much as posted. Maybe a little extra PB and sweet potato, and a tiny bit less cumin because I ran out. That said, it was excellent. Served with some brown rice, added chili paste just because we like it hot. I feel it would benefit from a little more texture, maybe chicken, but I may have mashed too much of the sweet potato. I certainly won’t complain, it was quite good, but could see some small improvements given the opportunity.
Delicious. I used extra ginger and garlic (because I don’t think you can ever have too much ginger and garlic) and added spinach at the last minute instead of the kale, I increased the peanut butter slightly because I wanted it really peanutty, and added fresh lime juice and extra crushed red pepper. Served it over brown rice. The next day I added a red bell pepper because I thought it would work well and it did. Also, the flavors blended overnight, making it even better the second day. I love it when that happens!
This was the first time I heard of African peanut stew, and I’ve made it countless times since then. It’s a really customizable recipe – I usually use potato and cabbage instead of sweet potato and chard. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Made this recipe per the instructions (but added chicken), and while hearty, found it to be a bit lacking in depth of flavor compared to other versions of African Peanut Stew I’ve had elsewhere. It’s not bad per se, just isn’t something that knocks my socks off. Adding a splash of apple cider vinegar helped give it a bit of a kick…thinking next time, I may try fish sauce and lime in addition to the cilantro (which definitely helped).
Worth some tinkering!
I made this tonight pretty much by the book except I added a carrot and left out the hots – served with harrissa to taste. SO GOOD! The tomato paste and peanut butter were perfectly balanced, and man, I love me some collard greens! 5 stars!
Quick question, how well does this stew freeze?
I find that it freezes pretty well.
Wow, the flavors in this stew are unbelievable! We received both sweet potatoes and collard greens in our farm share, so this was the perfect way to use them. The only substitution was creamy peanut butter for chunky, and there was still a hearty texture. Will definitely be keeping this one in the rotation… thanks for sharing!
This is a fantastic recipe! Thank you for sharing.
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! I am a huge fan of yours, BTW. Way to represent new, fresh cooking coming outa NOLA!!!!
I just made this during my Sunday weekly meal prep! It came out amazing! I added some chicken and rice on top. YUM!!
This is the first recipe I have tried from your blog and it’s absolutely delicious and very filling when combined with a bit of rice. I have bought the same shopping list that you used for the week in the September challenge and looking forward a lot to the other recipes I will be trying in the days to come.
I will have to try it with a bit of lime for my next portion as others have suggested.
Excellent recipe!
made it with a bunch of scallions (white parts in the soup, green parts as a topping, because I had them hanging around in the fridge. they combined really well.
I’m interested in trying this flavor profile, but I’m super finicky when it comes to textures (I know I know, I’m the worst). How do you think this would do cooked as-is, then blended?
Hmmm, I think the flavor would be pretty good. I think I’d blend it without the collard greens, though. That might give it a funky texture and I feel like it might change the flavor of the broth in the wrong direction if blended in.
Holy CRAP! Made this just as per the recipe (except I had no natural PB and I’d accidentally bought chunky, which I don’t like, so I had to use it)…AND IT IS DELICIOUS! I want to eat it all NOW….but I can’t. It’s for lunches this week. Anyway, this is a great recipe!
I really love this flavor combination, and I make a much simpler version of this. I leave out the ginger and garlic, and I cook 1 onion, 1/2 head of Napa cabbage, and tomato sauce. If you happen to have it, coriander also works well in this context.
Northerner here – My city grocery store has a pretty teensy produce department and we aren’t exactly the target market for collard greens. Any suggestions for substitutions?
Sure! You can use other “hearty” greens like kale or mustard greens, or you can use fresh spinach and just stir it in at the very end since it wilts in about two seconds. :)
This sounds so good! Do you think its something I could do in the crockpot to have it simmer all day?
The sweet potato might disintegrate, but it would probably still taste great! One thing I discovered when making it this time, though, is that you really need to make sure the peanut butter and tomato paste get mixed together before adding the broth. I think the tomato paste helps emulsify the peanut butter and make a creamy broth. I added everything at once and my broth was a bit clumpy, although still delicious!
Made this tonight and it’s incredible!!! Used fresh spinach instead of greens and added them at the end of cooking. Also replaced 2 cups of the broth with a can of light coconut milk. And I added a can of black beans with the broth. I totally agree with others that a squeeze of lime is ESSENTIAL before serving :)
I made this recipe exactly as written and it was fantastic! The level of spice was just perfect. I think next time I might try using PB2 rather than real peanut butter to cut down on the calories (and eliminate the workout I got from stirring the jar of natural PB) :)
Thanks Beth!!
Amazing! Made this tonight with herbed rice (because my vegan hubby thinks soup/stew alone is missing something). Fabulous. Did add a squeeze of lime with the parsley (not cilantro, sorry) and peanuts to top. Fabulous! Will do it again, and again, and again!
I’ve been nursing a cold these last three days when I saw this recipe as I was planning this weeks’s menu. I gave it a try today and wow! It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten in my life!
Another winning recipe! I could only find regular kale at the grocery store, so I was a bit worried it wasn’t going to turn out quite right, but it ended up amazing!
This is the best recipe I’ve ever made. Just made a double batch tonight, and it’s just me and my boyfriend. A single batch just doesn’t leave enough leftovers!
This was awesome! Only thing I did different was that I used diced tomatoes because I had not tomato paste and at the end I added a can of black beans. We had it over brown rice and added a little sriracha per serving to taste. My ten and twelve year old cleaned their bowls and loved it. There will definitely be a repeat of this one.
I’ve been trying out some of your vegetarian recipes and this one is my favourite so far. I added some broccoli which worked well. This one is definitely going into the regular rotation :)
Absolutely awesome!
My daughter and I are huge Budget Byte fans. Honestly, I would never have made this recipe myself because I would have been squeamish about the peanut butter and I wasn’t sure how keen I was on sweet potatoes. Anyway, my daughter made it for dinner tonight and it was absolutely marvelous. It’s one of my favourite things to eat already! She used chicken broth, and put in beet stems and greens which I got from a lovely fresh bunch at the market this week. No other additions or changes except she served this over some quinoa. OMG this is good. Thank you so much for these wonderful taste sensations, Beth.
This was amazing! Will definitely be making it again in the future
I skipped the greens and used 2 onions. I pureed it after it cooked. Delicious!!
Tasted chalky.
First time I made this recipe, I followed it to a tee and it was just so-so. This time, I followed the advice given on the message board and I love it! I doubled up the spices, swapped two cups of broth for coconut milk (used chicken broth), used frozen spinach instead of collard greens, threw in some paprika for colour and added the juice of a lime before serving. This version will be on my regular soup rotation!
Do you think this would freeze well? I never make soups because a full batch is too much for one person. This one looks hearty and tasty.
I didn’t get a chance to freeze any of this one, but it seems like it should freeze just fine.
Wow, this came out amazing! I took some of the suggestions from the comments and made these changes: I added black beans, doubled the spices, added coriander, and substituted 2 cups of coconut milk for 2 of the broth. I served it over rice with a squeeze of lime–delicious! I think the lime makes a big difference.
Oh–and I added slivered almonds for some crunch and it totally works!
The fact that I can enjoy collard greens and listen to school boy Q at the same time AND be healthy makes this recipe quite phenom. Oh and its quite delicious.
Good one!
Is there something I could use instead of collard greens? They aren’t available where I live. :(
Any type of hearty green like mustard greens, turnip greens, or even kale (dino or lacinato kale would probably be best).
I actually used Swiss Chard and just added it in at the very end, b/c it doesn’t take as long to cook…it was AWESOME! I think you could use any green you like, just watch cooking time, collards take the longest to cook…
So good! My sorry excuse for a grocery store didn’t have collard greens so I used green chard and it worked out just fine. I also wanted the soup to be a little heartier so I added a rinsed can of black beans and one extra sweet potato. I used freshly ground cumin :) It is wonderful. Thank you for posting this, I would never have thought to mix peanut butter and tomatoes otherwise.
Love this!! So far each of the vegan or vegetarian recipes I’ve tried from here have been amazing! I can’t wait to see what else you’ll come up with :D
Woah. Excellent recipe. I too added a can of black beans (right after I added the vegetable broth) and it seemed like a perfect fit for the dish.
I’m so looking forward to eating this for the rest of the week.
Thank you!
This was amazing! Such great, complex flavors. I added black beans to bulk it up a bit, and they were a tasty addition. My boyfriend and I both loved this, and plan on making it again.
I made this and not terribly impressed. Used homemade chicken stock and added in some sliced sausage and brown rice to bulk it up. Other than that i followed the recipe.
Ditto. Was not impressed. There seems to be something missing. Tasted chalky. Ddi I do something wrong.
I made this over the weekend (exactly as written, which is unusual for me) and am finishing up my last bowl today. It was fantastic! So much flavor and a change of pace from the standard soups. I shared a bowl with my mom who was very impressed! I served it up with a scoop of rice and cilantro and peanuts as garnish. It’s a keeper!
This was amazing! I ate it last night, today for lunch and I am already planning on when I can make it again.
If you are on the fence with a meatless meal, give this one a shot. I can honestly say this is the only vegan meal I have ever had without washing it down with a hamburger.
Made it tonight for friends- SO tasty and so easy to make. Will absolutely be making this again. Thank you for one of the best recipes I’ve ever seen online :)
Just made this and it turned out delicious! I like it a little more peanut-y, so I added a couple teaspoons of PB2 (powdered peanut butter) to the pot… adds lots of peanut flavour and protein without adding fat or changing the consistency :)
I finally made this recipe after years of wanting to do so, but not sure how or when. My boyfriend and I loved it, we found it hearty without the swiss chard. We also added 1 TBS of cumin powder, coriander power and 1 tsp of some extra hot red chili powder.
The lemon or lime at the end makes a huge difference. It ups it from a 4 to 5 recipe. :)
Delicious!! Made a couple modifications (which probably makes it less budget friendly): double the cumin, add 1 tsp coriander, substitute 2 cups of broth for coconut milk, use two sweet potatoes, double/triple the greens (I used kale), eat with brown rice, and squeeze a lime wedge over your serving before eating. My boyfriend commented “So… this is going in regular dinner rotation…right?” Pairs well with a Pinor Noir.
I made this last night. It was so good! I’m not a vegetarian but I didn’t miss the meat in this recipe AT ALL! It was also so easy to prepare, and I usually have all of these ingredient on hand, so I know that this will become part of my usual repertoire!
I’ve been vegan for almost a year now, and this is the BEST stew I have made yet. Made it exactly according to directions except did not use the oil. I always water sauté. Next time I think I will use the whole bunch of collard greens, and maybe try adding some chick peas for a more complete meal. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
Amazing! Made this tonight and was a huge hit. Didn’t have sweet potato so used chopped carrots, put 2 fresh chopped up spicy thai red pepper in during simmer, and also added chickpeas to enhance the nutty flavor. Yummmmm quick and easy on a chilly fall day!
Fantastic! Finally made this tonight, as I have been experimenting with different dishes since my husband and I have become vegetarian. Not only is it delicious, but very flavourful and satisfying. Like others, I used kale (its what I had on hand), and then garnished with a squeeze of lime, cilantro, sriracha, and some peanuts. Served with a scoop of rice, and it was perfect! Next time, will try it with collard greens, just to see how it is with that versus kale. Will definitely be added into our rotation of meal ideas. Thanks Beth for another great recipe!
This is my new favorite go-to for the coming winter months. It’s everything I want – tasty as can be, sticks to the ribs along with a nice scoop of hot rice mixed in, and doesn’t require anything beyond pantry staples and maybe some kale from the store.
Thank you so much! Ground nut stew has been on my to-cook list for ages, and I’m so glad you came out with a recipe just when I finally found the time and incentive to give it a shot!
Long time follower, first time commenter.
If someone had’ve told me last week I was capable of making a dish this delicious with such complex and deep flavors, I would have told them they were crazy!! Alas, it is possible. I did it, and it was amazing! Made your naan bread recipe to go along cause I just cant get enough of home made naan!
Made this for lunch yesterday… man oh man! First vegan recipe. Was slightly skeptical, but decided to give it a try – man, I’m so glad I did! So delicious. Substituted lacinato kale for the collard greens and added sriarcha to my bowl before I dug in. 5 out of 5.
Just made this today. My hubby says: “It warms you from the inside!” Yum.
Amazing recipe! Perfect for a gloomy October evening. I wasn’t expecting to love it, but I’ll definitely be working it into the dinner schedule pretty frequently. What a strange but awesome combination of ingredients. :)
I used curly kale since my garden’s overflowing with it, and I think it turned out great. I didn’t need any additional salt at the end, but I did add a few more dashes of red pepper flakes so it’s nice and spicy.
Just another one of your to-die-for recipes. :) Thank you!
Delicious, nutritious, easy. Great with some rice as a very hearty dinner. Benefits from plenty of cayenne pepper.
Just made this and LOVED it! Used carrots instead of sweet potatoes (none on hand) and still turned out great! The fiancé polished the dish
My stomach is full of this yummy stew, one more of your fool-proof and delish recipes. Not a peanut fan so I substituted some home-made almond butter. Used some Ethiopian berbere spice blend from Penzy’s along with the cumin, doubled. It was my dinner and now there’s some in the fridge and more in the freezer for another day. Thank you!
I also added some of Penzey’s Berbere, without seeing this comment first. Great minds!
Great! I served mine with Malawian nsima (think if pancakes and grits had a baby, recipe here http://www.experiencemalawi.com/malawi_focus/20091510-nsima-staple-food-of-malawi.html). It was aweeeeesome.
I took all of your suggestions and used some homemade chicken broth that I had, some shredded chicken, and some diced tomatoes and it was absolutely delicious. I think next time I might use something else for more spice.
This hits the recipe trifecta: super cheap, super nutritious, and super delicious! I will make this again and again. Thanks Beth!
Great recipe, my son absolutely loves it (minus the greens – oh well…). I used a serrano pepper instead of the red pepper flakes. And it was even better the second/third day.
Next time, I think I’ll cook the greens separate (for me) and just glop the stew over the greens.
I made this last weekend and it was delicious. My husband loved it too. I used smooth peanutbutter and a mix of sweet and red potatoes. Love the cilantro garnish.
Finally was able to make this today for lunch and it is fantastic! The only sub I made was using regular potatoes instead of sweet potatoes because that was all I had on hand. Still was fantastic, thanks!
I’m cooking this now and it smells incredible – can’t wait to eat it. It’s coming together so quickly and easily too.
I’ve made this before from another site’s recipe – it’s a really great, filling stew and goes well with flat bread or lentils! The version I use also calls for chicken thighs, which are browned first.
So complex, comforting, flavorful, and wholesome! Outstanding in taste and nutrition, absolutely. I took my time cooking this after a long day, and it was such a treat to enjoy a hot bowl of fresh, savory food. Thank you!
I made this tonight and it’s lovely! I used my immersion blender to mash the potatoes after it had been simmering for a while, and added a few shakes of cinnamon and paprika near the end. I also just got a bunch of Swiss chard in my CSA box, so I subbed that in for the collards. Wonderful! I think a squeeze of lime right at the end would also be delicious.
Made it tonight and it turned out great! I used regular crunchy peanut butter and frozen whole leaf spinach, because that is what I had. Also I used powdered ginger. It was fantastic! Will make again.
Just made this one tonight! I ended up with a couple substitutions – I wanted to use kale because I’ve never had it before, and I didn’t realize there were different types so I used the curly one…still turned out ok! I don’t even know if my grocery store has non-curly kale but I wasn’t looking for it…I also got white sweet potatoes because that’s all they had but I now think I should just get what my store calls “yams” when I want orange sweet potatoes! Also used chicken broth and smooth peanut butter.
This was really yummy, and we even had leftover rice to throw in there which made it even better. It took a little too much work for me to make it regularly :) but luckily we have some leftovers to freeze so we can have it again soon.
Made this stew the other night – beyond delicious!
I was just wondering if there is any way I’d be able to cook a couple chicken breasts in the stew, and then shred them once they’re cooked, like some of the other chicken soup recipes you have (eg. The chicken lime soup)? Or would everything else be too mushy by the time the chicken is cooked enough to shred? Or should I just not bother with that and cook it separate?
Yes, that would definitely work, but it does take a little longer to cook, so you could always add the sweet potato and collards after the chicken is shredded, and then cook for about 30 minutes more to get them tender.
I am eating this right now, and it is delicious :) My grocery store was mysteriously out of all fresh greens but spinach, so I used frozen kale for this, and added a can of cherry tomatoes instead of tomato paste. I think there’s a leek in here too. Anyway, tasty and nourishing – thanks for sharing!
Made this tonight and we loved it! Served with some cooked cubed chicken and regular brown rice. I’m not usually much of a collard greens enthusiast, but I LOVED them in this soup! Other than the salt (in the bullion), this is a pretty healthy and darn tasty staple. I can’t wait to make a double batch this weekend and freeze for some work-ready lunches. Thanks for adding another hearty soup meal to my repertoire!
I liked how the tomato and peanut butter flavors balanced each other out. I made this for some family who was visiting and everyone liked it :-).
Made this for dinner last night, and it was good, but the leftovers today are EVEN BETTER. :)
I liked it but I dunno about calling it a stew. By the time I mashed the sweet potato and added kale it was more like a thick soup than a stew. Next time I will add some tofu or chicken (i’m not vegan) for sure. Was really delicious though.
I made this for dinner the other night, using silverbeet/Swiss chard instead of collard greens because that was what we had in the garden. I puréed about half of it with a stick blender, and everyone loved it. For us, as a main meal, it was 4 good sized servings. This is a keeper, will be making it again.
One of my favorite things I’ve made of yours (and I’ve made a lot!). I used homemade peanut butter because it’s better and cheaper- look up “You’re Doing it Wrong: Peanut Butter” on Slate.com, I haven’t bought peanut butter in more than a year now, so good!
I also used more garlic, like I always do, chick broth, and kale instead of collard greens. But wow, this is my new favorite soup!
I LOVE collards, but am used to cooking them longer. Are they still pretty crunchy after this short a time on the simmer? Mine still usually have a good amount of bite even after an hour.
Mine weren’t crunchy at all, but then the leaves weren’t crunchy even when raw. The only crunchy part on mine were the stems, which I removed. :)
Thank you, Beth. I did this recipe Monday night with kale, which was already in my fridge, and it was delicious. I will do it again soon with collards.
This looks delicious! I’m cooking for one this week, so I’m not sure I’d be able to get through 6 servings by myself. What do you think about freezing this one? Or should I just halve the recipe?
I do think this one would freeze well. :)
I’ve never heard of peanut stew before but it sounds like it’s fairly simple and delicious. Will definitely try this. Thanks!
–Sarah
thesloppyperfectionist.blogspot.com
Would chopped frozen spinach be an okay replacement for the collard greens?
The pieces might be too small with chopped frozen spinach (it might look like confetti in the stew), but I whole fresh spinach leaves would probably work if added at the very end of cooking.
I was just about to ask this question, because as much of a food lover as I am, I just cannot stomach kale & the likes of it. So it’ll be spinach. Can’t wait to try this!
What COUNTRY is this soup from? Africa is a continent after all. It looks DELICIOUS, but please give credit to the unique country this soup calls home, as not all of Africa eats this.
I was thinking the same thing lol! I did eat this type of soup a lot in Tanzania and a Kenyan colleague of mine has made a similar recipe, but other people say it is predominantly eaten in West Africa, so I don’t know…
thank you! these were my exact thoughts when i first saw this. africa is not homogenous.
google it, damn lol. it’s just a soup on a blog, not that serious.
Relax she never said Africa was a country. Are you proud of yourselves for knowing that or something?
Do you think you might be able to substitute almond or cashew butter in there?
I think cashew butter might work because it is more on the rich side, like peanut butter.
Thanks. When I give it a try, I’ll let you know.
Is there an RSS or Atom feed for budgetbytes?
Yes, feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BudgetBytes
Atom is: https://www.budgetbytes.com/feed/atom
This sounds amazing. I can’t wait to try it. It’s going to be prefect as the weather cools down.
This looks beautiful and perfect for the drizzly weather in England at the moment! Thanks for sharing!
I think my neighbour (who is originally born in South Africa) made me this a while ago and I haven’t been able to connect with her to find out what it was! I am going to try this for lunch next week.
I can’t have spicy peppers, so I will eliminate those but it still sounds delicious! Especially with some diced tomatoes. Mmm. Thanks for posting!
This is an interesting recipe. I never thought peanut butter could be put in a stew! We’re having a 4-day holiday coming here, so I think I’ll give this one a try as something new and unusual (to me) for the holiday. Thanks, Beth!
Is there anything I could substitute for the sweet potato? I really dislike any kind of sweet potatoes or yams, but I am all on about regular potatoes. I’m not sure about the consistency and how to include that starch element.
A lot of the recipes I saw for peanut stew didn’t have sweet potato (or any potato) at all, so you can definitely just skip it. I’m not sure if I’d like the flavor of a regular white potato in there. If you skip the sweet potato, I’d use 4 cups of broth rather than 6, though, so it doesn’t get too thin.
I’ve never seen a recipe like this before but I’m super intrigued. I’m definitely going to try this one!
I love this stew before even making it . . . thank you!