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!
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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
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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!
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.