West African Peanut Soup Recipes

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot. Add onions and ginger, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are very soft and translucent, but not browned.
• Add tomato paste and mix with the onions until they are well coated. Add the sweet potatoes to the pot, season with salt and cayenne pepper, and mix with the onion and tomato paste mixture.
• Pour the vegetable broth or water into the pot and bring mixture to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are cooked. Stir in the peanut butter until it's well blended with the mixture. Add spinach and/or chicken, if desired, and stir to combine.
• Serve over white rice with crushed peanuts, if desired.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP

Steps:

• Saute the onions in oil until just translucent.
• Stir in the cayenne and ginger.
• Add the carrots and saute a couple more minutes.
• Mix in the potatoes and stock.
• Bring the soup to a boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
• In a blender or food processor, puree the vegetables with the cooking liquid and the tomato juice.
• Return the puree to the soup pot. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.
• Taste the soup. Its sweetness will depend on the sweetness of the carrots and sweet potatoes. If it is not naturally sweet, add just a little sugar to enhance the other flavors.
• Reheat the soup gently, using a heat diffuser if needed to prevent scorching.
• Add more water, stock, or tomato juice for a thinner soup.
• Serve topped with plenty of chopped scallions or chives.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP WITH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Chop peanuts, or crush them with the side of a knife, or pulse them in a food processor to chop roughly.
• Put oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium heat; a minute later, add onion, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until just coloring. Add 1/2 cup peanuts and the cayenne and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Stir in the stock and the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil, and turn heat down to medium-low so the soup bubbles gently. Stir in tomatoes and collards, then cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in 1/4 cup peanut butter. Taste, adjust seasoning (you may want to add more peanut butter at this point) and serve, garnished with remaining peanuts.

VEGETARIAN PEANUT SOUP

Steps:

• Combine the broth and water in a medium Dutch oven or stock pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the onion, ginger, garlic and salt. Cook on medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
• In a medium-sized, heat-safe mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter and tomato paste, then transfer 1 to 2 cups of the hot stock to the bowl. Whisk the mixture together until smooth, then pour the peanut mixture back into the soup and mix well. Stir in the collard greens and season the soup with hot sauce to taste.
• Simmer for about 15 more minutes on medium-low heat, stirring often. Season with additional salt or hot sauce if desired. Serve over cooked brown rice if you'd like, and top with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP WITH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Chop peanuts, or crush them with the side of a knife, or pulse them in a food processor to chop roughly.
• Put oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium heat; a minute later, add onion, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until just coloring. Add 1/2 cup peanuts and the cayenne and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Stir in the stock and the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil, and turn heat down to medium-low so the soup bubbles gently. Stir in tomatoes and collards, then cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in 1/4 cup peanut butter. Taste, adjust seasoning (you may want to add more peanut butter at this point) and serve, garnished with remaining peanuts.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT STEW

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven until hot. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and cook until browned on all sides, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and bouillon cubes to the pot and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste and peanut butter. Add 4 cups of water and the Scotch bonnet pepper. Return the chicken to the pot. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and let simmer 10 to 12 minutes.
• Add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes and collard greens. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. (Remove the Scotch bonnet pepper if someone has a low tolerance for heat.)
• Serve warm with hot cooked rice, if using.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook onion, bell pepper, and garlic until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, vegetable broth, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
• Add rice to soup and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25 minutes, or until rice is tender.
• When rice is cooked, whisk in peanut butter and return to a simmer, and serve. Garnish with chopped roasted peanuts, if desired.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT STEW WITH SWEET POTATO & SPINACH

Steps:

• Cook the rice according to package instructions.
• While the rice cooks, make the stew. Set a medium soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. When hot, add the olive oil and the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and coriander and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.
• Add the broth, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, ginger, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Once the stew comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until the sweet potatoes are tender, 8-10 minutes.
• Stir in the peanut butter and the spinach. Stew is done when the peanut butter has distributed and the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you like.
• Serve with a scoop of brown rice and garnish with cilantro and peanuts.

SAHARAN WEST AFRICAN PEANUT AND PINEAPPLE SOUP

Steps:

• Soak dried pineapple in a bowl of water until softened, at least 30 minutes; drain.
• Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir sweet onion, celery, and leek in hot oil until tender, about 4 minutes.
• Sprinkle curry powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt over the vegetables; stir to coat. Cook and stir until strongly fragrant, about 4 minutes more.
• Add peanut butter to the pot. Drain about half the juice from the tomatoes and discard; pour remaining tomatoes and juice into the pot. Cook until the tomatoes soften, about 5 minutes. Pour 3 cups water into the pot; add drained pineapple.
• Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer soup for 1 hour. Stir cream, green onion, and garlic into the soup.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Stir in yellow onions and carrots and cook, stirring often, until onions are soft, about 3 minutes. Add ginger and cayenne; cook 1 minute.
• Add sweet potato, 2 cups water, tomato juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Ladle soup into the bowl of a food processor. Add peanut butter. Cover and process until smooth. Pour into a clean pan.
• Heat soup over low heat. Add remaining 1/2 cup water to thin, if desired. Ladle into soup bowls and top each serving with green onions.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium high. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper and ginger. Saute until the onions are tender; about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes wiht juices and chicken broth, then bring to a simmer. Add the peanut butter stirring until it dissolves into the soup. Add the greens and simmer until wilted; about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp adn simmer until cooked through; about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the cilantro. Ladle into serving bowls, then garnish with peanuts.