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!
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!