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!
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 :)