West African peanut soup, deliciously rich and creamy
As a peanut lover and saté lover, this peanut soup is my all time favourite! Of course 100% vegan. It is so creamy and delicious I think I could eat it every day. Most people would call this soup a winter soup, something to have on a cold rainy day. But for me it is an all year around soup. I love it with any outdoor temperature. 🙂
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
🥘 Main ingredients
This soup is very easy adjustable. You can change the vegetables to your own liking.
For this recipe the main ingredients are;
- peanut butter, preferably home made
- sweet potato
- spinach
- ginger
- onion
- tomato paste
- cayenne pepper
- coriander
If you are as a peanut addict as I am, you might like to check out my home made peanut sauce, a delicious peanut stew, or crispy tofu with peanut sauce. 😉
💭 Tips & thoughts
Peanut soup is very common within the African cuisine, but you can also find it in East Asia, and in America (mostly Virginia). In Africa they mash the groundnuts (peanuts) into a paste and use it directly in the soup. I always like to use my home made peanut butter, but of course you can use shop bought peanut butter.
I personally think it pairs absolutely beautiful with the use of sweet potato. The richness, creaminess and sweetness of sweet potato goes well with peanuts. But you can use potato or any other vegetables instead. Or some enjoy it as a plain peanut soup without extra added vegetables. It is a soup which can be easily adjusted to your own liking. As long as you keep the main base ingredients; peanut butter, onion and ginger.
🥗 Serving suggestions
In Africa peanut soup is traditionally eaten with fufu or pounded yam. If you are interested to make your own fufu or pounded yam, follow these links to chefs Lola’s Kitchen.
But you can enjoy this soup with nice rustic bread, rice, or easy home made chapati.
🍻 beverage pairing
A little bit of a challenging dish to pair a drink with. Personally as a beer lover I would enjoy this soup with a nice cold refreshing beer. But if you do prefer to have a glass of wine, Don’t worry, there are always options. Think of an Aromatic white with medium / high acidity, like an off-dry German Riesling, its acidity and residual sugar would pair well with this dish. Or if you enjoy this soup in spring or summer, go for a nice southern French rosé.
I hope you enjoy this rich, creamy peanut soup. If you do make the recipe, don’t forget to add @haricoco1 to your instagram post, or leave a comment below. Enjoy!!
📋 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 small onions finely chopped
- 1 sweet potato peeled and diced
- 60 grams 2 cups spinach leaves
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger finely chopped
- 50 grams 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 165 grams 2/3 cup of home-made peanut butter
- 1200 ml 5 cups home-made vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt
- Handful of chopped peanuts for topping
- 2 Tablespoons fresh coriander chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a saucepan, and sauté the onions and ginger until soft and fragrant.
- Stir in the cayenne pepper and after a minute the tomato paste, give it a good stir.
- Add the sweet potato dices, and the vegetable stock.
- Bring to a low simmer and cover for approx. 20 minutes, until the sweet potato is cooked.
- Stir in the peanut butter, keep on stirring until the peanut butter is well blended in.
- Lastly add the spinach leaves.
- Serve with some crushed peanuts and chopped coriander on top.
- Enjoy with bread, chapati, or over a bit of plain rice.
