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!
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.
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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!
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.