African Peanut Stew-Creamy ,Quick and easy groundnut Stew.
In the West, Groundnuts are almost invariably eaten as snack, mixed into salads, or transformed into peanut butter paste. However, in Africa, this nut has been an important source of food for centuries –and it is used in a number of different ways-throughout the continent depending on the region-a little goes a long way. The most common use is to flavor sauces, soups or add thickness any meal.
In West Africa, It is used to make this hearty stew – a rich stew with a tempting combination of flavors – garlic, ginger, herbs and of course a little bit of spice. The good thing about this recipe is that it is open to so many variations based on your preferences, availability of ingredients and time. You can never go wrong with this soup.
Here, I used Peanut butter paste. You can use any variety depending on what you have on hand- go for 100% Peanut butter for an intensified peanut flavor without the added sugar. It does make a difference.
Don’t sweat it though, I must admit that I sometimes use whatever brand I have on hand.
If you have time just make your own peanut butter by grinding roasted peanuts in a food processor or coffee grinder. That’s how this stew is made in Africa
Traditionally ground soup or stew is made with peanuts, tomatoes, onions with or without protein depending ones preference. You may use less oil or omit completely for a healthier stew – just omit the tomato sauce.
Serve with any starchy side rice, plantains, potatoes and or vegetables
Enjoy it!
African Peanut Stew - Creamy ,Quick and easy groundnut Stew.
- ¼ cup oil
- 2- 3 pounds chicken legs or thighs
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 fresh tomatoes
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon ginger chopped
- 3 tablespoons parsley
- ½ cup Peanut butter or peanut paste
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon optional
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Season chicken with your favorite seasoning – I used creole or just use, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Blend tomatoes, ½ of the onions, garlic, parsley, and ginger. Set aside
- In a large pot or saucepan heat oil over medium heat, then add the chicken and brown on both sides about 5-10 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside. You may skip this step and proceed with the next.
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Add remaining onions, if desired , to the saucepan, stir for about 2 minutes then add tomato sauce(mixture of blend tomatoes and spices) and paprika
- Pour the tomato mixture into the saucepan -bring to a boil and let it simmer stirring frequently to prevent any burns- about 5 minutes.
- Next, add the peanut butter, chicken and 2 cups of water or chicken stock, season with, chicken bouillon, salt and cayenne pepper. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes or more
- Adjust the soup thickness with water/chicken stock if necessary and let simmer to desired thickness
- Drip a little soup from your stirring spoon. If you are satisfied with the thickness of your soup, serve it with rice.
Really delicious, made it with whole chicken legs and it made the chicken so nice and flavorful. I really love how versatile it is too, I have many future ideas to play with this recipe!
I have had this traditional from a former Togolese friend Victor and his Fon wife as Fufu with the soup. I actually got the fufu right after a few tries(don’t buy the stuff in the box, buy real yams, get a pestle and mortar and feel the pain, or you could just get a stick blender : > )
It’s all part of a great experience from a great and culturally rich peoples) A couple of cool variations I made were (A) I added Okra that I blanched in organic vinegar, which took the slimy aspect of it away and it complimented the texture of the soup. I also added braised lamb and cubed some sweet potatoes and added them. The meat was falling apart when it was done,but you want the soup to have a clear pumpkin color with no debris from the ingredients.
(B) in this version I added the same organic vinegar blanched Okra, but I added braised and seasoned lamb.
(C) this final version is just pretty much lamb and goat added with Okra and the cubed sweet potatoes. You have to braise the meats first with the seasoning that you want which will help the flavor profile of the soup. You do not want to over do it because the soup has an awesome base flavor all on its own.
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Hi Sedrick. Those additions sound scrumptious and I’m glad you made it your own! Happy eating!
As a child my mother would always add hard boiled eggs ……
You can definitely do that if you choose too!
My daughter took one bite and said, “This recipe goes on the keep list!”. It is delicious! My daughter is allergic to peanuts, so I used ‘Wow Butter’ which is the closest thing that we’ve found to peanut butter. I couldn’t tell that it wasn’t peanut butter. I used chicken flavored Knorr pods for the bullion. So delicious! Comforting, rich, bold, interesting…I am a committed Afican Bites user. Thank you! I look forward to trying more of your recipe.
My daughter took one bite and said, “This recipe goes on the keep list!”. It is delicious! My daughter is allergic to peanuts, so I used ‘Wow Butter’ which is the closest thing that we’ve found to peanut butter. I couldn’t tell that it wasn’t peanut butter. I used chicken flavored Knorr pods for the bullion. So delicious! Comforting, rich, bold, interesting…I am a committed Afican Bites user. Thank you!
Delicious! I used this recipe to make this with Mediterranean style chicken (Sheesh Tawook), and it was delicious. I saw a previous comment wherein the person made it with lamb, so I’m going to give that a try next time. Thanks for a great recipe!
Could this work with ground lamb meat? What modifications would you recommend, if any?
Hi Ck, I haven’t tried this with ground lamb meat , so can’t give you exact measurements or instructions. If I were to try it out I would shape into meatballs , panfry before adding to the stew.
I tried it with chicken wings and it turned out great. I like spicy stews so I added a chili pepper and a part of a jalapeno pepper to the blend with the tomatoes, onion, etc. I kept the seasoning for the chicken basic and light by just using salt and pepper. My husband and I both loved it. Compliments for a great recipe and an even more wonderful website!
YES! Lamb meat is perfect for this Peanut Butter Stew. In fact my mother always made it with lamb, rarely chicken.
Good luck!
Amazing recipe!! My girlfriend loves peanut stew I we usually get it from some African restaurants around however I wanted to attempt to make it from scratch. This recipe was great actually my gf said it’s the best she’s ever tasted. I used shredded chicken breast instead of chicken thighs. Added some cumin as well. And we like spicy food so added more cayenne pepper than called for. Such a versatile dish will make it again.
Thank you for sharing those tips. Glad you guys love it.
I made this tonight to freeze for my maternity leave. It is very good but a very mild flavor. Just checking to make sure that it’s supposed to be very mildly spiced before I freeze it.
Hi Whitney,
Yes it is. It’s not too spicy. Congratulations on your pregnancy ; may your new baby bring you abundant happiness!
Great recipe. The only things I’ll do differently the next time is to cook my chicken longer before I add it to the mixture. I’ll also double the ingredients because it didn’t produce enough soup/stew. My husband really enjoyed the dish. I look forward to making it again!
Thanks or the feedback! So happy to hear it worked out well .
Fantastic recipe! One of those dishes where the serving size is 4-6, but somehow there isn’t much left over after dinner for two..
Great!Thanks for the feedback
Hi there,
In your Instructions, step 4, you add tomato sauce and paprika, but tomato sauce isn’t listed in your Ingredients. Can you please let us know how much tomato sauce to use? Thanks so much.
Hi Mitch! The tomato sauce is the tomato blend(tomatoes, onions..). No extra tomato sauce is needed. Let me know how this works for you. Recipe updated to make it clearer . Thanks
I cooked a vegetarian version of this, with zucchini, carrot, parsley and mushrooms instead of the chicken, and it came out extremely good! It’s probably one of my favourite dishes now 🙂
Yay! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Would this work fine with almond butter? I prefer the taste to peanut butter and would probably use less as a result.
Also, are those 5 thighs alone enough for the recipe? I see the second pan full of legs, so I just want to make sure I don’t attempt it with too little chicken.
Thanks!
Yes, the 5 thighs are good enough. But they were extremely big. 6-7 would do just fine.
I wanted to know what the 6 the pictures was. I see blended tomatoes but what is the blended mis on top. What does it consist of?
I the blended consist of the herbs, garlic and some onions. Just blend the tomatoes, garlic , parsley and onions- it’a a lot easier.
Vrainmt ça me fais plaisir de m’voiye des foits
I wish this stew would materialize in front of me right now…I love peanuts, always have. Too bad I’m on a diet right now : ( . (Being an enthusiastic cook while having hypothyroidism is hard : ( : ( ). But I will remember about it. Also, could I use chicken chunks instead of boned meat? I know the bone makes it more flavorful, but many times I don’t feel like de-boning the chicken before eating it…
Always happy to see your stuff Imma!!
I haven’t yet tried your recipe, but it looks good. It seems it might be much like the groundnut stew I enjoyed in Northern Nigeria many years ago when my husband and I were at the American consulate in Kaduna. Almost always this was served at parties and it was greatly enhanced by the addition of many side bowls of various things one could sprinkle over the top of the rice and stew: chopped peanuts, chopped green onions, chopped green and/or red peppers, chopped hard boiled eggs, chutney, chopped fresh pineapple, shredded fresh coconut, even bananas. It can look quite spectacular in its presentation and of course it is delicious!
OMG! Can’t wait to try out some of those add ins. They all sound good to me. Thanks for sharing Eileen.
Hi there,
I was just wondering if I could use fish with this – and if so which do you recommend??
Thank you xxx
Go with Tilapia, red snapper, or any firm white fish. My mom u makes this with fish whole fish or sometimes she cuts in to 2 or 3 pieces. Do let me know how it works for you. Thanks
thanks for the recipes. i have always wanted to try shrimp any suggestions as to where i can buy them
Hi Aby. They are usually available in most super markets, depending on your location.
I just realized that in your step by step instructions you state to put tomato sauce. but your ingredients list doesn’t state that ingredient it only says 2 tomatoes. Just wanted to let you know! So nobody messes up like I did. Hoping it still comes out ok! Thanks!!
Thank you so much for posting this! Can you post another peanut stew but with grinding the peanuts from scratch like it’s done at home?
Semoben, roast groundnuts, the blend in a coffee grinder or food processor and replace with the peanut butter.
Just perfect! It is also amazing with less peanut butter (in case someone wants to have it a bit less fatty or rich).
Annika thanks for the constructive feedback. It is always welcome!
Hi, I tried the pan seared salmon, and it out so delicious. I am making this soup tonight for my family. I noticed that the recipe calls for tomato sauce, but you didn’t list tomato sauce (or how much) in the list of ingredients. How much should we use? Thanks so much for all your yummy recipes.
Meeka, so glad to hear you are liking my recipes. The tomato sauce is the tomato blend(tomatoes, onions..). No extra tomato sauce is needed. Let me know how this works for you. Thanks
I’m african and just a point of correction, it’s peanut soup and not stew ( not to be rude but just want to clarify it) and we eat with rice, fufu or anything you wish. Blessings…!!
she is very correct this is peanut stew, the recipe for peanut soup is slightly differrent
This stew looks SO delicious and packed full of flavour. Definitely a recipe I can see myself making.. it is perfect for this weather right now!
I can’t wait to try this today!!
I did make the stew and it was PERFECT!!! Thank you ImmaculateBites!!!!
Thanks for the feedback!!!
My favorite African stew- this one going on top of my list.
Sara,Let me know how this works for you!
This looks delicious! Love stews, always so comforting and delicious!
Jess, I second that!
Charlene, let me know how you like this one.
I’m a big fan of peanut soup, I will try your version this coming Friday…cannot wait.
Wow! Immaculate, my mouth is watering. How comforting and flavorful this chicken stew is. It reminds me of several Bahian stews from Brazil. Both have African origins, this is why they are similar in many ways.
Dennis, I totally second this.
Hi Immaculate. I want do try this recipe but it says peanut butter paste…can I use regular peanut butter? What do recommend?
Philo, yes you can. Any peanut butter would work.