If you love hearty yet nourishing comfort-food, say hello to this Gambian Peanut Stew!
This nourishing one-pot stew is packed with aromatics and spices, will keep you satiated for hours, and pulls off one of my favorite culinary magic tricks: it tastes indulgent while being made with wholesome ingredients (plus vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free!). This is flavor-rich comfort food at its absolute finest. 😍
Please note: I originally titled this recipe Vegan West African Peanut Stew, but after doing more research on the various differences across West African peanut stews, I came to identify my particular recipe as being most influenced by Gambian Peanut Stew, aka domoda.
What’s a West African Peanut Stew?
Peanut stews are common in West African countries, including Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, and The Gambia, with variations abounding throughout the region and across ethnic groups. They are often referred to as “groundnut” stews or soups, as “groundnut” is the more traditional term for peanut in this region.
This recipe most closely resembles the national dish of The Gambia, a peanut stew called domoda. You’ll find both vegetarian and meat versions, though the vegetarian version is quite common because meat can be expensive.
It usually contains roasted peanuts crushed or blended into a paste, tomatoes and/or tomato sauce, chili peppers, and a vegetable such as sweet potatoes, carrots, or pumpkin.
This recipe uses unsweetened, natural peanut butter for a shortcut, and while it might sound odd at first glance to add peanut butter to a stew, it blends effortlessly and lends a creamy, nutty richness you’ll adore.
Want to learn more about groundnut soups from West Africa? Check out this post from Gwafu Vegan or read more here.
Ingredients
- Peanut butter. Be sure to use a variety with no added sugar. The best options are made with just peanuts and salt.
- White beans. Many Westernized vegetarian versions of this recipe do not contain a dedicated protein source. I added white beans in my take on this dish—they add extra protein and fiber, as well as extra creaminess!
- Aromatics. Starting this recipe with sautéing aromatics (onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño peppers) helps build layers of flavors. Often, West African peanut stews are made with habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers, but I opted for jalapeño peppers because they’re more widely available.
- Sweet potatoes. The finely diced sweet potatoes are key in this dish, as they help balance the spices and acidity. And the longer you cook the stew, the more the sweet potatoes will fall apart, virtually melting into the stew so you get a luscious, velvety texture.
- Kale. For added nutrition! Just toss it in towards the end of cooking and let it wilt. It’s a far easier way to get in your greens than chomping on a kale salad!
Substitutes + Swaps
- Peanut Butter: Peanut allergy? Try cashew butter, almond butter, or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free option (use an unsweetened variety like so). To make this more traditionally, buy whole raw peanuts and roast them yourself, then blend into a creamy paste with water (check out the instructions in this recipe).
- Want to make it spicy? Feel free to go traditional and use Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper. Or, for just a little more heat, replace the jalapeño with a serrano pepper.
- Not a kale fan? Try another green, like thinly sliced collard greens, or Swiss chard. I find spinach wilts a bit too much for my preference, but if you like it, go for it!
Step-by-step instructions
- Heat up the coconut oil in a Dutch oven or deep sauté pan.
Saute the diced onions in coconut oil until just starting to brown.
- Add the garlic, ginger, and jalapeños and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the tomato paste, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper.
- Incorporate the tomato paste and spices into the onions and stir frequently for 2 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with the vegetable broth. Add the white beans, crushed tomatoes, thyme, sweet potatoes, and peanut butter.
- Bring the stew to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer for 20-25 minutes until sweet potatoes are tender.
- Add the kale and cook for 3-5 minutes until wilted.
- Finish the stew with cilantro and lemon juice and season to taste.
Frequently Asked Questions
This stew is hearty enough on its own, but to stretch out your meal (and budget) and make it heartier, serve it over a grain like white rice, brown rice, millet, quinoa, or any favorite grain of yours. If you have access to fonio (a type of millet from West Africa), give that a try!
I actually have a version of this recipe in my cookbook, The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook (and it’s a reader favorite!).
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5-6 days. Store the stew without any rice/grains as the rice tends to harden. The stew also freezes well—you can freeze it for 3 to 4 months. Defrost in the fridge before warming up for the best texture.
I prefer to reheat most leftovers on the stove in a saucepan, but the microwave also works fine.
More nourishing vegan stews
- Vegan Tagine with Chickpeas
- Creamy Mushroom and Black Beluga Lentil Stew
- Tuscan Stewed Beans
- Braised Indian Chickpea Stew
If you cozy up with a bowl of this Gambian Peanut Stew, I’d love to hear about it 😊 Leave a rating and review below and let me know what you think!
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Vegan Gambian Peanut Stew (Domoda)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons unrefined coconut oil (use refined for a neutral flavor)
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
- 1-2 jalapeño peppers, diced (see Note 1)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 4 cups (945 mL) low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 small handful of fresh thyme sprigs (see Note 2)
- 1 pound (454g) sweet potatoes, peeled and finely diced (see Note 3)
- ½ cup (128g) creamy peanut butter (no sugar added)
- 1 (15-ounce/425g) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (28-ounce/800g) can crushed tomatoes
- 5 cups (90-100g) chopped kale
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (or lime juice)
- ½ cup (8g) cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
For serving (optional)
- white rice, brown rice, millet, quinoa, or fonio
Instructions
- Heat a large, deep sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the coconut oil, and once it's shimmering, add the onions with a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions are just starting to brown around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and jalapeño peppers. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- Add in the tomato paste, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, and a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper. Stir frequently and vigorously for 2 minutes, incorporating the tomato paste and spices into the onions. Add a few splashes of water to prevent the spices from drying out or burning.
- Pour in the vegetable broth, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the thyme sprigs, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, drained and rinsed white beans, and crushed tomatoes. Stir well to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low or medium-low to maintain a rapid simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft and tender, stirring occasionally.
- Optional step: The stew should be quite thick by now, but if you want it to be even thicker and creamier, run an immersion blender through half of the stew (don’t blend it all – you want to retain some texture).
- Add the chopped kale and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until wilted. If desired, use a fork to smash the sweet potatoes to further thicken the stew.
- Stir in the lemon or lime juice and cilantro. Season to taste, adding more salt as needed. Serve plain, or on top your favorite grain.
Video
Notes
- If you’re very sensitive to spicy food, use just 1 jalapeño pepper and remove the seeds and membranes, where most of the heat lives. But if you can handle the heat, leave the seeds in. Really love spicy food? Feel free to use a habanero or Scotch bonnet pepper (the seeds are very spicy so I recommend removing them).
- You can substitute fresh thyme with 1 teaspoon dried thyme. Just add it to the Spice Blend.
- To ensure the sweet potatoes cook through in the time allotted, be sure to finely dice them. If not finely diced, it will take longer for the stew to cook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
This in my top 5 of your recipes since finding you.
It’s hearty & delicious. Fills every spot to complete satisfaction
Mwah, thank you
Aw, we are so happy to hear that, Michaela! Thanks for sharing 🙂
this is an amazingly delicious stew. I make the instant pot version from Nisha’s cookbook (though I use the ingredients from the web recipe – they are sliiightly different) and it’s so good. I’ve tried a few different vegan peanut/groundnut stew recipes and Nisha’s is the tastiest! Hearty, nourishing and filling (and extremely tasty).
Thank you for your lovely comment, Lane! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
I made this yesterday with my husband, and wow! It turned out amazing! I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical at first since I don’t usually try other ethnic foods, but this completely won me over. I added some beef chunks for extra protein and made some fufu on the side — everything came out so delicious! Definitely a 10/10 recipe, and I’ll be making it again. Thank you!
It’s great to hear you two enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, Lidia 🙂
Nice change of pace recipe and good use of sweet potatoes and peanut butter. Usually eat Sweet Potatoes using Mediterrean recipe from Minimalist Baker and typically use PB in asiann noodles. Liquid seemed like a lot before adding peanut butter then ended up perfect. Didn’t have fresh thyme so used dried, used about 1/2 pound more potatoes and almost doubled spices. Used serranos in place of jalapenos.
Thanks for sharing, Brittany! Good to hear you enjoyed the recipe.
Thanks for sharing this great recipe! I’m planning to use dried beans instead of canned next time — could you tell me how much I should use?
You’re welcome, DI! You’d need 1/4 pound (113g) of dried beans to equal 1 (15-ounce) can of beans. Enjoy!
I made this absolutely wonderful recipe for our dinner earlier this evening. It was quite therapeutic gathering all the ingredients together and preparing them before starting to make the stew . I have been using home cooking as a form of therapy as I work myself through the grieving process of loosing my beloved dad in July . I’ve printed off a lot of your delicious recipes , and i am slowly making my way through them . This was super tasty , and everyone gave it a big thumbs up . We all commented that we’ve not actually tasted anything like it before , it was so flavourful and packs a mighty nutritional profile . I did add some nutritional yeast , I tend to sneak it in most dishes if I can , and I only used half an jalapeño, as my partner can not cope with all things too spicy , but I will definitely make this again , and add a full one as I felt it needed it to have a bit more kick , even if he didn’t 😅😂. Thank you , I will definitely be sharing this one and many more km sure x
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful comment, Angela. Our condolences go to you during this tough time 🙁 We’re glad the recipes have helped during this period.
Delicious! This is a keeper.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Lara!
We make this stew several times during the winter and we double it! It takes a bit of time to get all the ingredients ready but its so worth it!
Thanks for the kind words, Christine! 🙂 We’re happy to hear you love the stew.
Delicious and so nutritious. I agree that tomato is one of the stronger flavors here, which I appreciate (as someone who likes the flavor of peanut in small amounts).
Hi Stjarna, thank you so much for your kind review!
Slaps
We appreciate the review! 🙂
I had all but given up on finding new recipes that were tasty, easy and wouldn’t break my grocery bill. Then I tried this and it’s sensational! Since my upper body strength is non-existent, I cooked the sweet potato in the oven for just under an hour so it would be easier for me to cut. It’s such an interesting, fun mix of flavors, I can’t wait to make it again!
We’re so happy that the Domoda turned out well for you, Noreen. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for trying out the recipe!
Absolutely sensational! Honestly every recipe I try from Nisha is just ten out of ten delicious, even with simple ingredients and easy steps. Definitely my go-to for cooking these days!
We appreciate the outstanding review, Lauren!
I made this for my weekly meal prep and it was fabulous! The dominant flavour is more tomato than peanut, with the peanut being the secondary flavour (I love peanut flavour too though!) It tastes even better the next day. I was happy to find this recipe as I used to make something similar with chicken, but I wanted a vegetarian version.
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Justine. Thanks for your kind words!
I’ve made this a few times now. I’ve tweaked it slightly to add pumpkin and courgette (zucchini) as they grow like weeds in my garden and need used up. Don’t alter the recipe too much, just throw in 500g of each and slightly reduce the sweet potato. They put out their own water so increase the salt a bit and add another tablespoon of peanut butter for the consistency. Other than that just be a bit generous measuring the spices ie 1tsp becomes slightly heaped. Wonderful.
Thanks for sharing, Vince!
This is really good, I’d making it again.
I’ve been cooking Nisha’s recipes for a year and made modifications towards my preferences. Double onion, whole garlic bulb, 3 jalapenos, crushed some dried chilis too, 3 cans of kidney beans instead of cannellini’s, and spinach instead of kale.
Diced the potatoes extra small but still took extra to cook, I’ll know for nice time.
As always great job!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Ben! It’s lovely to hear you are a fan of the stew.
You are now my #1 go to because everything I’ve made is exceptional and my non vegan husband won’t stop raving. This was a winner!
Thanks for the outstanding review, Lyn! We’re honored to hear it 🙂
This is an amazing stew. The best!!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Barbara!
Made this for my husband and I. We loved it. New favorite!
We will freeze dry the leftovers and have on our camping trips this summer. It’s going to be amazing.
Yay, we’re so happy to hear it, Charlene! 🙂
Before making the stew I’d like to know if it is possible to substitute the peanut butter with powdered peanut butter (PBfit or PB2)?
Hi Luciellen, Nisha doesn’t use powdered peanut butter so she can’t say for sure, but the peanut butter is the only source of richness, so adding a less rich powdered substitute would significantly change the recipe for the worse.
Made this twice – first time according to recipe but with 2 habaneros instead of jalapenos, and the second time with 3 habaneros and doubling the peanut butter. It tasted good, but both times, it wasn’t very spicy and I couldn’t taste the peanut butter at all (although I did taste the cinnamon and cloves).
Anyone experience the same or have tips? I’m sure this is much better if you can actually taste the peanut flavor! I was thinking maybe the suggested amount of crushed tomato is too great, or I could lower the amount of broth added
From Nisha:
“Hi there, you might have a much higher spice tolerance than most of my readers if 3 habaneros wasn’t spicy for you 😉 Doubling the peanut butter, however, will mellow out some of the spiciness, as rich fats like nuts and nut butter have that effect on spices.
The peanut flavor should be mellow and not overpowering (we don’t want it to taste like a peanut butter sandwich!), but if you prefer, you can use less cinnamon and cloves or halve the tomato amount.
It probably also depends on the brand of peanut butter, as some are more intensely peanutty than others (though shouldn’t make a big difference as long as you are using unsweetened plain peanut butter, no additives, oils, or sugars; salt is okay).
And of course on the tomato brand. My favorite canned tomato brands are Bianco Dinapoli, San Merican, and Cento; the former are particularly perfectly sweet without a large amount of acidity that can compete with other flavors. Hope that helps!”
Mine is cooking right now and have tasted it. I know already there’s too much tomatoe. Dominates the whole pot.
I just added the seeds from my big jalapeno. Needs something.