Our take on Vegan West African Peanut Stew is rich, flavorful, and nutrient-packed. It’s a simple one-pot dish that takes just a little over 30 minutes to prepare! We’ve made this dish a number of times, and it has become a new favorite.
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🥜 WHAT IS PEANUT STEW?
Peanut stew is thought to have originated in Mali, then spreading to other West African countries in popularity. The name for peanut stew varies by region, some of the names being groundnut stew, maafe, or domoda. The recipe for peanut stew varies country-to-country and even household-to-household. However, common ingredients seem to include: peanuts, tomatoes, chiles, and meat.
😋WHAT DOES PEANUT STEW TASTE LIKE?
You get richness from the peanut butter, spice from the ginger and habanero pepper, acid from the crushed tomatoes, crunch from the peanuts, and tons of nutrients from the vegetables and greens. If you dig South Asian peanut sauce, this dish will be right up your alley!
Best yet, West African Peanut Stew is composed of very simple, kitchen staple ingredients. You probably have most everything you need to make this dish as we speak!
📝INGREDIENTS
- Neutral-flavored oil
- Canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- Coconut milk
- Vegetable broth
- Vegetables & Herbs: garlic, onion, ginger, collard greens, habanero pepper, sweet potato, carrots, and cilantro.
- Spices: curry powder, smoked paprika, salt, and freshly cracked black pepper.
- Vegan chicken bouillon cube
- White vinegar
- Canned chickpeas
- Peanut butter
- Peanuts
- Steamed rice (to serve)
💡RECIPE NOTES AND TIPS:
- Palm Oil Substitute: Traditional West African Peanut Stew uses palm oil. Finding palm oil here in the United States–much less sustainably-sourced palm oil–is tricky business. So we used used avocado oil instead, but you can use any neutral-flavored oil of your choosing.
- Meat Substitute: Additionally, traditional West African Peanut Stew typically contains meat, which we trade for canned chickpeas in our recipe.
- Collard Greens Substitute: We’ve used both collard greens and kale in this dish. Both are equally as delicious.
- Vegan Chicken Bouillon Cube: As for the vegan chicken bouillon cube, our favorite brand is Edward & Sons.
- Spicy’s Not Your Thing? If you are sensitive to spicy food, we recommend leaving the habanero pepper whole, which will impart the flavor but not the heat from the pepper.
- Coconut Milk: Lastly, coconut milk is not a traditional ingredient in this dish, but we love creaminess and richness it adds.
Our Vegan West African Peanut Stew is a simple one-pot dish that would be perfect for a weeknight meal or meal prep. Enjoy!
–Val & Mani
🎉 DID YOU MAKE OUR WEST AFRICAN PEANUT STEW?
Did you make this recipe? We’d love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. Share your dish with us on Instagram and tag us @plantbased.passport. We would love to seeing your delicious creations! Still hungry? Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest for more global vegan recipes and travel tips!🍴✈️
💕 MORE VEGAN AFRO-CARIBBEAN RECIPES:
👩🏽🍳 RECIPE
West African Peanut Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon neutral-flavored oil we used avocado oil
- 1 15-oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 15-oz can coconut milk
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 vegan chicken bouillon cube
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 cups collard greens rinsed well and sliced thinly, (or substitute chopped kale)
- 1 habanero pepper minced (or leave whole if you’re sensitive to heat)
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas
- ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
- ½ cup peanuts roughly chopped (plus more to garnish)
- 2 medium sweet potatoes diced
- 3 carrots chopped
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt & freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- Cilantro to garnish
- Steamed rice to serve
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and ginger. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt to draw out the water. Cook until onion is golden brown.
- Add garlic, habanero, curry powder, and smoked paprika. Cook until fragrant.
- Add sweet potatoes and cook 5 minutes. Add carrots and cook 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes, coconut milk, broth, bouillon cube, collard greens, and peanuts. Bring to a boil and reduce to Simmer until sweet potatoes are fork-tender and and collards are cooked, about 20 mins.
- Add peanut butter and chickpeas. Simmer until everything is thick, creamy, and delicious. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste. We started with 1 ½ teaspoon of salt and went from there.
- Serve with rice. Garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro. Enjoy!
The coconut milk was surprisingly delish in this. Flavor packed.
My second time making this. One-pot meals are my go to. Family loved it.