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 was very tasty however I would use less liquid, unless you want a soup instead of a stew. I used 3 cups, and I still had to cook it longer to thicken up the stew. I would also double the kale, it cooks down so much. Otherwise the flavors are very good.
Hi David, we are glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, but sorry to hear you found it too soupy. Did you drain and rinse the beans by any chance, or just dump the whole can in?
I assumed you used the proper amount of broth and sweet potatoes called for in the recipe (using more broth or fewer sweet potatoes would result in a soupy texture)?
Were the sweet potatoes cooked through at 25 minutes? If the sweet potatoes weren’t cut small enough or not fully softened, they would not thicken the soup as much.
My final question is whether you simmered this stew uncovered (as intended) or if you possibly covered the stew while it simmered? When you simmer something uncovered, it evaporates more liquid.
If none of those were the potential culprit, I’m a bit stumped, but since you enjoyed the flavor profile, you can always try using one less cup of broth next time as you’re cooking the stew. Just monitor occasionally and add a splash more of broth if needed to cover the sweet potatoes to ensure they cook through.
This was exactly what I was looking for; love the nutty flavour and sweet potato combination. So impressed with how easy it was to make too – will definitely make again. Thank you, Nisha.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Audrey! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
Solid recipe and it’s not my first time making it from this website. I accidentally ended up adding a higher amount of peanut butter compared to the tomato I had, so that taste dominated the stew, but it was still great. I took Nisha’s suggestion to serve it with some quinoa.
I’m already looking forward to when I’ll eat the leftovers for lunch next week haha.
Sam, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
I made this some days ago and liked the flavor profile, also it comes together relatively quickly! Thank you for the recipe.
However, the stew turned out quite soupy, not dense at all. I cooked it longer than in the instructions (I think around 45 minutes) to evaporate some of the water, also blended half of the stew, but it still did not feel rich and dense. Next time, I’d add more peanut butter and less broth than the recipe calls for. Maybe I’d also use less tomatos to let other flavors shine more.
My only modifications to the recipe are I used 2 cans of white beans, cut the veggie broth in half, added 2 carrots. It tastes amazing and made everyone happy for meal prep.
Thanks for sharing, Ashley!
Hi Aleksandra, I’m not entirely sure what happened, since we haven’t heard this feedback yet. I assumed you used the proper amount of broth and sweet potatoes called for in the recipe (using more broth or fewer sweet potatoes would result in a soupy texture)?
Were the sweet potatoes cooked through at 25 minutes? If the sweet potatoes weren’t cut small enough or not fully softened, they would not thicken the soup as much.
My final question is whether you simmered this stew uncovered (as intended) or if you possibly covered the stew while it simmered? When you simmer something uncovered, it evaporates more liquid.
If none of those were the potential culprit, I’m a bit stumped, but since you enjoyed the flavor profile, you can always try using one less cup of broth next time as you’re cooking the stew. Just monitor occasionally and add a splash more of broth if needed to cover the sweet potatoes to ensure they cook through.
A delicious soup that I’ll be making on repeat!
Hi Elle, thank you so much for your kind review!
You can’t go wrong with a rainbowplantlife recipe! I love this version of African peanut stew. I didn’t have any white beans so I used some cooked chickpeas from the freezer. I didn’t have any tomato paste (need to add to my list) so I let the sauce thicken without the lid. It turned out great and so satisfying on a cold winter day.
Thanks for sharing, Heather! We’re so happy this recipe scratched the soup on a cold winter’s day itch!
Excellent
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Anne!
Just made this after work, it came together quite quickly. It was really delicious. Thank you! 🙂
That’s wonderful to hear, Clara! Thanks for sharing!
I love this dish, I make it often. I want to make it for my mum, but she is rather scared of eating beans, despite my encouragement. What would you use to substitute? Would replacing with peas be an idea?
Hi Myra, happy to hear that this is a go-to dish for you. I’m not sure if your mom would be interested in eating lentils, but you could do 1 1/2 cups cooked green or brown lentils instead. If she’s not interested in lentils either, you could add diced Yukon gold potatoes or diced butternut squash. Hope that helps!
Thank you for thinking along. And my mum had the beans without grumbles. She voted unexpectedly for the beans rather than the alternatives, and she loved it as well.
Wow, I just made this, thought it would be too much heat for my husband, but no, he loved it. We are vegetarian, though most days end up vegan! Delicious!!! After I made this he went back to the pot for seconds and I haven’t even had a chance to pack it up for the fridge! (I meal prep for the week).
Thank you for this, I’ll be making it for when my children visit.
We’re so happy that the chili turned out well for you, Stella. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for trying out the recipe!
This stew is AMAZING. My husband and I both enjoyed it tremendously! I did make a few modifications:
1. I added some zucchini after the onions just because I had some that needed to be used up.
2. I added 1 tsp. Chili powder with the other spices, since my other peanut stew recipe has chili powder and it’s great!
3. I used canned jalapenos instead of fresh, since I have an embarrassingly low spice tolerance.
Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow!
Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth!
I have made this many times. It is a favorite in our house.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Shannon! It makes us happy to know that you are a big fan of the recipe.
We love this soup and make it all the time. We double the amount of peanut butter, and increase the spices a bit, but other than that we make it exactly as is and it is our go-to stew now.
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Kristin!
Absolutely delicious!
I only made two alterations:
1) instead of fresh jalapeno I used 1 tsp McCormick dried jalapenos, and it was perfect.
2) I try not to use traditional peanut butter in recipes where I can, too much fat and calories when PB2 is just as good. I used 1/2 cup as called for.
My stew WAS thick enough once the potatoes were tender, but I smashed the stew a bit with a potato masher anyway.
The stew was perfect! Just the right amount of heat and terrific flavors! I’ll definitely make again & again.
Awesome, Claudia. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
This is like a luscious, fancy tomato soup. I served it with wild rice for the second bowl, which tamed the tomato flavor nicely. I halved the cinnamon and cloves since those aren’t my husband’s favorite flavors and it was perfect for us.
My girlfriend loved it as well:)
Thank you for your lovely comment, Taunya! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
Marvelously tasty and healthy! Lime juice essential (to me); cilantro definitely not. Also kale doesn’t wilt in 3-5 minutes–but I knew that, so put it in far earlier and glad I did. Can’t wait to have the leftovers tomorrow!
Hi Laurie, thanks for the feedback! Did you chop the kale? It should wilt pretty quickly as long as the pieces aren’t super large. Either way, we’re happy you enjoyed the stew 🙂
Yes, very much so. 🙂 Kale is among the toughest of greens–at least, the curly variety I used. Even after 10 mins of low-boiling, in my experience, it still has a chew to it. Other varieties might be done faster.
Hi Laurie, we love dino kale over here, might we suggest trying that one next perhaps?
Yum!! This was so hearty and delicious. Thank you!
Sonia, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
I’ve been cooking (for myself and others) for more than 60 years. This recipe is right up there with the tastiest, healthiest, easiest vegan recipe I’ve ever encountered. I ate three bowlful’s and could’ve had another–but I’m saving that for breakfast! Happy eating!
What a review, Richard! Thank you so much for your kind words, they truly mean the world to us.
We have guests frequently and I like to have this made as their arrival meal. I am not exaggerating when I say every single one has asked for the recipe. And if I forget to send or print it right away, they remind me later. My husband loves meat with his meal and is a huge fan of this recipe, too. It is so delicious. Thank you!
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Nikki!
Just made this and it’s absolutely amazing, I wouldn’t change a thing!!! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi Laura, thank you so much for your kind review!
Your recipes always look so good, however I have found they take a lot longer to prepare than the time you list. I did make this stew but it took me a couple hours! It was very good but not as thick as your picture. I gave it a four since it was so time intensive and would require another step to try to thicken it.
Hi Surae, we’re sorry to hear the stew took longer to cook than anticipated and that it didn’t thicken up enough for you! Did you simmer it for the full 25 minutes? Nisha recommends using an immersion blender to thicken the soup if it’s not thick enough for your liking.
We appreciate the honest feedback and we’re glad you enjoyed the recipe overall.