This 1 pot African Peanut Stew is incredibly easy to make, full of plant-based protein and absolutely delicious. Everyone in your family will love it!
This 1 pot African Peanut Stew was one of the first recipes I ever shared on this blog.
When I first switched over to a plant-based diet, many of the recipes I created and shared were savory lunch and dinner recipes, because that's where I struggled the most to make plant-based substitutions.
Somehow, over time I stopped sharing the simple dinner recipes we eat on a regular basis and began sharing more dessert recipes and baked goods.
While those foods are amazing and usually make an appearance in our day at some point, I really want this year to be focused on easy, family-friendly, healthy lunch and dinner recipes. I feel like that would be most helpful for you all, my readers, and would give a better picture of the foods we eat as a family throughout the week!
What is African Peanut Stew?
Another common name for this African Peanut Stew is Maafe. It's a staple meal throughout West Africa, and as the name suggests, is made up of a base of ground peanuts which create a thick stew or sauce.
I remember being inspired by a trip to Nigeria back in the day to recreate this African peanut stew and now everyone seems to have realized how easy, delicious and hearty this meal is!
Ingredients for African Peanut Stew
This dish really is so simple to make. It uses mostly pantry staple items that you probably have on hand and is topped off with some fresh greens for color and added nutrition.
The ingredients you'll need are listed below:
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Canned chopped tomatoes
- Peanut butter
- Vegetable broth
- Sweet potatoes
- Canned kidney beans
- Frozen peas
- Kale (or another hearty green leaf vegetable)
- Salt, pepper and optional red pepper flakes for spice
See what I mean? Pantry staples galore!
If you don't have or like sweet potatoes, feel free to use regular white potatoes. Any kind of broth will work as well and I'm sure the kidney beans could be replaced by whatever beans you like best or already have in your pantry.
If you don't have time to get to the store for fresh greens, frozen greens would work great. This stew gets better the longer it sits in the fridge and freezes well.
If you try out this peanut stew and like it, be sure to leave a 5 star rating by clicking on the stars in the card below.
Leave your comments down below and share this African stew with your friends and family!
More Vegan 1 Pot Soup and Stew Recipes
I have quite a few recipes like this on the blog that require only one pot and simple ingredients. If you liked this 1 Pot African Peanut Stew, aka "Maafe", be sure to check out the other recipes below!
- Pumpkin Peanut Butter Soup
- Creamy Chickpea and Rice Soup
- Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili
- Vegan Pizza Soup
- Vegan White Bean Chili
- Red Lentil Pumpkin Soup
- Creamy Vegan Tomato Zucchini Soup
1 Pot African Peanut Stew
This 1 pot African Peanut Stew is incredibly easy to make, full of plant-based protein and absolutely delicious. Everyone in your family will love it!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 (14.5 oz.) cans chopped tomatoes
- ½ cup natural salted peanut butter
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 lb. sweet potato (2 small, 1 large), peeled and chopped
- 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 ½ cups frozen peas
- 2 large handfuls kale, chopped*
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional Garnish: Cilantro, lemon or lime wedges, red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the chopped onion and sauté for a few minutes until translucent.
- Add in the minced garlic and ginger and cook a few more minutes.
- Add in the (optional) red pepper flakes, chopped tomatoes and peanut butter and stir to combine.
- Next stir in the vegetable broth and chopped sweet potato and bring the mixture to a simmer. Allow the stew to simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork, but are not mushy.
- Lastly stir in the kidney beans, frozen peas and kale and allow the beans to warm through and the kale to wilt, about 5 more minutes. Taste and add more salt and black pepper if needed.
- Serve warm garnished with cilantro, lemon or lime wedges and more red pepper flakes!
Notes
*Any dark leafy green (spinach, collage greens, etc.) willl work!
Leftovers will keep sealed in the fridge for a few days.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 250Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 0mgSodium 492mgCarbohydrates 42gNet Carbohydrates 0gFiber 10gSugar 10gSugar Alcohols 0gProtein 11g
Nutrition information is a rough estimate provided by Nutrionix and should be used for informational purposes only.
Paulette Levy says
***** 5 Stars! I made this with small changes. Used chick peas and 3/4 cup peanut butter and entire box if gf low fat chicken broth and more chopped kale tho not measured. (By eye- I’ve been cooking for 50 years ). The taste and texture was wonderful!
Faith VanderMolen says
Oh yay! Thanks so much for sharing Paulette! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!