African Peanut Sweet Potato Stew

This hearty African Peanut Sweet Potato Stew is a stick to your bones soup that’s ultra comforting and flavorful! It’s healthy and vegetarian too!

This African Peanut Sweet Potato Stew is a new favorite for me. My good friend Annie shared it a few weekends back and I was hooked from the first spoonful. I was so happy she shared it and I knew I’d need to share it with you folks ASAP for soup season.

Annie went to a cooking class with friends and this stew recipe was on the menu. When she first saw the ingredients she wasn’t sure she was going to like it. She said she was thrown off by the peanut butter and the added ginger, but when the soup was done cooking and she had her first taste, she was pleasantly surprised. She loved it.

Step-By-Step Instructions

The first step is to cook your onions and peppers until softened, followed by your garlic.

The second step is to add the tomatoes, undrained, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, vegetable broth, brown sugar, ginger, cumin, salt, black pepper and cayenne. You will cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 40-45 minutes.

The last step is to scoop out about 2-3 cups of the soup, with a small amount of broth and puree in a blender until smooth. Do not overfill your blender. Do it in batches, so you don’t get sprayed with hot soup. Return to the pot and stir until thickened.

You can ladle the soup into bowls and top with chopped peanuts and homemade croutons as a garnish.

Besides a little chopping work, this soup is really simple to whip together. It’s loaded with onion, red bell pepper, garlic and of course, sweet potatoes and it’s just bursting with flavor. The ginger, cumin and peanut butter come together perfectly with some brown sugar for sweetness and a smidge of cayenne for some added heat.

The soup is topped with some chopped peanuts for added crunch and I decided on some crusty croutons because you can never go wrong with a few croutons on the top of any homemade soup in my opinion.

So if you’re craving something that comforting and satisfying with robust flavor, this African peanut sweet potato stew is just the ticket.

Please let me know if you give the recipe a try. And if you have any questions about the recipe, just drop a comment below. Enjoy!

A few other favorite comfort food meals here at the BHK are my Easy Skillet Stovetop Lasagna and my Tarragon and Stone Ground Mustard Chicken and Rice.

African Peanut Sweet Potato Stew

Author: MaryAnn Dwyer

Servings: 12 servings

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This hearty African Peanut Sweet Potato Stew is a stick to your bones soup that's ultra comforting and flavorful! It's healthy and vegetarian too!

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Ingredients  

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups yellow onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28-oz. can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 5 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, for garnish
• homemade croutons, for garnish, if desired

Instructions 

• Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and continue to cook for one minute.
• Add the tomatoes, undrained, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, vegetable broth, brown sugar, ginger, cumin, salt, black pepper and cayenne. Cover and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
• Scoop out about 2-3 cups of the soup, with a small amount of broth and puree in a blender until smooth. Do not overfill your blender. Do it in batches, so you don't get sprayed with hot soup. Return to the pot and stir until thickened. Serve with chopped peanuts and homemade croutons on top.

Notes

I like to top my soup with chopped peanuts and homemade croutons. To make the homemade croutons, I simply cube a french baguette and sauté the the cubes in a skillet with a bit of olive oil and some kosher salt and fresh gound black pepper until they're browned. The croutons are optional, but so delicious.

You could also serve this stew in a bread bowl if you'd like.

I think the 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne gave this stew just the right amount of heat, but feel free to adjust to your liking.

Keyword: soup, stew, comfort food, peanuts, sweet potatoes

Cuisine: African

Course: Soup