December 6, 2020

West African Peanut Soup

Cold weather is here, and my family is all very happy because cold weather means soup. I am happy because most soups and stews are one pot meals. If they are not, I try to simplify them to have the least steps possible. This is so much easier on me. We are all very easy to please with soups. One of my daughters has a favorite soup that she calls “Peanut Butter Soup”. She was ecstatic when the weather got cold recently, and she asked me to make it. I was more than happy to make West African Peanut Soup.

There are many versions of this recipe on the internet. As far as I can tell, they are all based on a Ghanaian Groundnut stew. I have chosen to make a version with boneless chicken that doesn’t need browning before adding it to the soup. One of the things I do to have food ready for cooking is to prep the ingredients before they go in the freezer. I cut up bags of boneless chicken thighs and breasts into small pieces and freeze it. When I need chicken for a curry, stir fry, or soup, I can just take a bag out and defrost it. This worked perfectly for West African Peanut Soup.

I love how bread and butter and crudites make everyone happy as a side dish with more filling soups. Since this recipe has a pound of sweet potatoes and a half pound of kale in it, I just threw down a loaf of sourdough and the butter dish and let my family help themselves. I think naan would be good with this too. I’ve changed things up when I didn’t have kale, and I’ve used collard greens in this soup. West African Peanut Soup is delicious enough that my family asks for it often and easy enough that I can make it when they ask.

Print Recipe

West African Peanut Soup

A nutty, creamy soup full of chicken, sweet potatoes and kale.

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: West African

Keyword: Peanut, Soup, Stew

Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Peanut Oil (or other neutral oil)
1 large Onion chopped
1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger minced
1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts or Thighs cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup Shelled and Roasted Peanuts
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Several Grinds of Freshly Ground Black Pepper
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 lb Sweet Potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized cubes
28 can Diced Tomatoes with Juice
2 teaspoons Lime Juice optional
1/2 lb Kale or Collard Greens washed and cut into wide ribbons
2/3 cup Peanut Butter chunky or smooth

Instructions

Put oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat; wait a minute, then add onion, ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until just starting to color. Add the peanuts, the cayenne and salt and pepper.
Stir in the broth, water and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil, and turn heat down to a simmer.
Stir in tomatoes with their juices the lime juice and kale. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes and chicken are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the peanut butter. Taste, adding more cayenne pepper if necessary.

Modifications

The original recipe has an extra ¼ cup of peanuts as a garnish at the end. I like the taste of this because the taste and texture of these peanuts is different than the one in the soup. I can’t manage the extra step of garnishes, but if you can, it is a tasty option.

The chicken was ready to use in my freezer. I cut chicken up and divide it into 1 or 2 pound freezer bags when it gets here from the store.

I used the food processor to mince the garlic and then added the onion and processed it with the garlic already in the bowl.

I used half of a one pound bag of already washed and cut kale. It saved me a lot of time and energy.

Peeling and cutting up the sweet potatoes was the hardest part of this recipe. I broke it up into two different stages. I rested both me and my hands in between.

A trick for getting thick, sticky things like peanut butter easily out of the measuring cup, is to spray the measuring the cup with oil first.