Soup season is officially in full swing! As the temperatures dip, cozy soups are in order, and this African Peanut Sweet Potato Stew is a new favorite. This hearty soup is ultra comforting and flavorful, perfect for warming you up on a chilly day.
This African Sweet Potato Soup boasts an unusual ingredient - peanut butter! Peanut butter is a terrific addition to hearty stews. It bumps up the protein and makes everything so much more delicious. The broth has roots in African food tradition. I learned this culinary trick from a local Ethiopian restaurant.
At first glance the main ingredients in this recipe may seem like a totally random (and somewhat odd) combo, but it’s actually a classic Ethiopian soup. It will have your taste buds rockin’ and rollin’ thanks to berbere, an Ethiopian spice mix. Traditional berbere has about thirteen(!) spices; I shortened that down to a more manageable number of spices, but you’ll still get that spicy-sweet-hot tension. The sweet potato here is like the grand marshal of the parade, pulling all those spices and veggies into cohesion to provide a sensational experience.
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. It’s healthy, vegan, and gluten free with an unexpected flavorful twist- a creamy touch of peanut butter.
This sweet potato stew is loaded with vegetables. There are onions, sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and bell peppers here, and each veggie adds more flavor and nutrition to the pot. Everything in this stew is good for you. You know eating veggies of different colors every day gives you a variety of nutrients, and you can indulge that need as well as your tastebuds with this sweet potato stew.
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This is an incredibly healthy recipe. Nourishing, with a rainbow of veggies. A mix of savory herbs -- marjoram, oregano and sage -- makes the stew heartier and headier.
This stew is one-pot and most of the hands-on time is for prepping the veggies. If you plan on making the stew on a weeknight, you can cut the veggies a couple of days ahead and store them in the fridge until ready to use.
This stew is hearty enough to satisfy an omnivore and I daresay a kid might enjoy the peanut butter in the stew. The recipe is also gluten-free and you can make it soy-free or nut-free.
Serve this Autumn Sweet Potato Soup as-is (chunky with texture), or puree the soup with an immersion blender for a smoother texture.
Recipe Details
- Makes around 6 servings
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
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
- Optional: chopped peanuts and homemade croutons for topping
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.
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat, then add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the bell pepper, garlic, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, paprika, and cayenne and sauté for 1 minute more. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice and the peanut butter. Pour in 1⁄2 cup of the broth to deglaze the pot, stirring to loosen any bits stuck to the bottom, and cook until the liquid is reduced by half.
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Stir in the sweet potatoes, 1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt, and the remaining 51⁄2 cups of broth. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
Ladle 3 cups of the soup into a blender and process for 1 minute, or until velvety smooth. Stir the blended mixture back into the soup and cook over low heat just until heated through. Stir in the lime juice. Taste; you may want to add a generous pinch of salt or a bit more lime juice.
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.
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.
This African sweet potato soup is definitely quite filling - must be the peanut butter! - and it will also wake up your taste buds with a spicy kick. Serve with a thick slice of Sourdough!
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If you’re doing Sugar Free January with us, this is an excellent recipe that has natural sweetness and nutritious fats to keep you full.
Whenever we feel the first hint of fall in the air, I return to this recipe for Autumn Sweet Potato Soup.
Heat oil over medium till hot (not smoking). Sauté onion in the oil until it begins to soften and turn golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and continue to sauté for 3 minutes more. Add sweet potatoes, zucchini, vegetable stock, thyme leaves, cumin, ginger, and cayenne to the pot. I like to use ¼ tsp of cayenne, which gives a nice spicy kick to the soup. If you’re sensitive to spice, start with 1/8 tsp. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a light simmer for 20 minutes. Add diced tomatoes to the pot (learn how to peel tomatoes here). Simmer for 5-10 minutes more until all the vegetables are tender. Stir 1/3 cup peanut butter into the broth until it dissolves. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more cayenne for heat, if desired. Add additional peanut butter to taste. Some like it with just a hint of peanut flavor. I typically use a few more tablespoons (around 1/2 cup total) because I love peanut butter. Adjust until the flavor is to your liking.
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You can taste each subtle flavor: roasted peanuts, sweet potatoes, coriander, ginger, and tomato - a very odd collection!
Spicy Peanut Soup with Sweet Potatoes + Kale! Comforting and SUPER nutritious. Spicy Peanut Soup.
It literally checks all the boxes - creamy, satisfying texture; extremely awesome flavor; super nutritious; doesn’t take five and a half days to make. It doesn’t have meat, but girl, if you want meat, add meat! Not huge on kale? Swap for spinach. This soup is cozy and lovely. It’s not too spicy, although you could just omit the jalapeño altogether if you were worried about that. It has just the right balance of creaminess and kick and it reminds me of another version of a good-for-you curry.
I love how all these ingredients work together to make such good flavor. Like, who knew tomatoes and peanut butter could exist in the same recipe? It works.
Instant Pot: Raise your hand if you got one for Christmas. Yeah? Slow Cooker: also a yes! Stovetop: ALSO a yes! In almost the same amount of time!
Freezing it for meal prep: OF COURSE YES!
Don’t cook the sweet potatoes too long or they’ll fall apart on ya! Just cook until they pierce easily with a fork.
This works great with the addition of chickpeas or lentils.
FINAL STEP: Stir in peanut butter, peanuts, and kale.
Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño. Add sweet potatoes. Add tomatoes, coconut milk, water, spices, and peanuts. Add peanut butter and kale. Simmer until everything is thick, creamy, and delicious.
This recipe is inspired by an amazing West African Peanut Stew called maafe, or groundnut soup. I did what I always do and changed/added some ingredients based on what I love and what I had on hand (kale, jalapeño, coconut milk, cilantro, etc.) making it more of a cultural mash-up.
If you are serving this to guests you don't know very well, make sure you let them know that the broth contains peanuts, just in case anybody is allergic. Peanut allergies can be deadly.
Originally when I posted this recipe it called for 1/2 cup peanut butter, which I love. Some readers felt it was too dominant, so I've cut back to 1/3 cup in the recipe. You can add more depending on your individual taste.
Reheating Note: If you end up keeping some leftover Autumn Sweet Potato Soup in the refrigerator, add a little broth or water when you reheat.
This post may contain affiliate links. As you may have noticed I am a huge fan of soup.
I am always on the look out for new soup recipes and when I stumbled across this recipe for African Sweet Potato Soup I was very intrigued.
It might sound completely ridiculous, but food bloggers are often simply surrounded by food, yet still have nothing to eat for lunch. And by ‘nothing’ I mean nothing sensible and nutritious. Hence soup. Soup is my every day, too busy to cook, saviour. I could, and do, eat soup almost daily in the winter. My spinach soup is a firm favourite, or if I need something more filling, I opt for minestrone or ribolita.
Can’t get enough of soup? Are you a lover of all things spicy?
My solution was to serve this vegan African Sweet Potato Stew for the soup course!
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño and sweet potato cubes. Saute until vegetables are just starting to caramelize. Stir in the spices.Add tomatoes, coconut milk, water, and peanuts and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5-10 minutes to blend flavors and ensure that sweet potatoes are tender.Remove some of the hot broth to a spearate bowl and dissolve the peanut butter in it. Stir back into the soup.Chop kale or spinach, then add to the stew.
I am not a health professional and nutrition data is calculated programatically. Accuracy may vary with product selection, calculator accuracy, etc. Consult a professional for the best information.
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 2 Tbsp |
| Yellow Onion | 2 cups |
| Red Bell Pepper | 1 1/2 cups |
| Garlic | 3 cloves |
| Petite Diced Tomatoes | 28 oz |
| Sweet Potatoes | 5 cups |
| Peanut Butter | 1/2 cup |
| Vegetable Broth | 5 cups |
A delectable and super healthy African Sweet Potato Stew. 1 teaspoon avocado oil or any neutral oil (or any vegetable oil of choice)1 medium onion (finely chopped)2 medium sweet potatoes (peeled and finely diced. I used purple sweet potatoes, but orange sweet potatoes are just as good)2 large bell peppers (any color, diced. I used a red bell pepper and a yellow bell pepper)2 medium carrots (diced.
Over medium heat, sauté the leeks or onions in butter until soft and translucent.
Can this soup be made in the Instant Pot?Yes! Cook everything except peanut butter and kale on high pressure for about 3 minutes with a quick release. (Sometimes I reduce the liquid when I make it in the Instant Pot by a cup or so, and then just add more as needed when it’s all done. But that is optional - it should work fine either way.) Stir in the peanut butter and kale after cooking. Voila!
Can this be made in a slow cooker?Yes! Cook everything except peanut butter and kale on low for 6 hours. Stir in the peanut butter and kale. Donezo!
Can I substitute anything for the peanut butter?Almond butter (and almonds on top) could work!
Can I add meat to this?Yes! You can either add cooked chicken at the end and mix it in, or cook chicken breasts or thighs right into the soup with everything else, and then shred it at the end once it’s cooked through and tender.
How can I add more protein to this as a vegetarian?This works great with the addition of chickpeas or lentils.
