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!
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!