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!
I was recommended this recipe by a friend a while ago. I have probably made it at least 6 times by now and never disappoints me or anyone I cook for, its now in my regular rotation of meals!
Thanks for sharing, Leah!
This was so delicious thank you Nisha for another fabulous recipe.
You’re very welcome, Angela! We’re thrilled you loved the stew 🙂
This looks delicious and I plan on making this. Do you have a calorie count per serving that you can share? Also is there an instapot version you can share?
I love that this a meal that’s Aldi-friendly! My local Aldi only has great northern beans and no white beans that I can see. Do you think that could work just as well? I’ll give ya a 5 star just for the heck of it 🙂
Hi Alix, yes another type of white beans works!
I’m becoming quite the fan of this blog. thanks for this one. I’ll be making it again for sure!
Awesome, Haley. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
OMG! So good, another winner. I’ve been collecting your recipes for a while now because they looked so good. I can’t believe it took me this long to try them. This is the second recipe I’ve made and you can bet I will try another one when this one is gone! Thank you
Pixie, So glad to hear you love the recipes!
This recipe is SO good!!! I’ve made it twice now and it’s so flavorful and filling!
Awesome, Linds. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Very flavourful!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Simone!
I’m making this for the second time in two weeks because it was a hit with the whole fam! Last time I accidentally used whole cloves and coriander instead of ground so I think this time it’ll be even better and more flavorful now that I’m actually following the recipe properly lol 😋 Just wanted to say how much I appreciate all the hard work you’ve done coming up with and publishing these recipes! I’m truly grateful 🤗 I will leave another review to let readers know how the second batch in my crockpot turned out!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Kristen! We are so honored you love the recipes and site 🙂
Do you use whole cloves?
Hi Jacob, either use ground cloves or grind them yourself at home!
Fantastic recipe. Everyone enjoyed it so I will definitely be making it again.
Awesome, Gina. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Made this tonight for dinner and it’s absolutely delicious! I’m not a vegan, but I’m looking to incorporate more plant based meals into my diet and this is fantastic. I left out the cumin as I’m allergic and the jalapenos as I’m in the UK and for some reason it’s very difficult to find any fresh ones, but even without these ingredients it tastes so flavourful and amazing. Not being someone that’s usually very fond of cooking I found this relatively straight forward with help from my partner as well! I will definitely be making more vegan meals from Rainbow Plant Life! Beautiful!
We are so happy we are helping you eat more vegan meals! Thank you so much for sharing your experience 🙂
I love this recipe. The only problem is the burn warning comes on every time even though I leave the tomatoes on top.
Hi Anne, I assume you’re using the instant pot version? Instant pots can be tricky with tomato products, so make sure you’re thoroughly deglazing the pot and scraping up the browned bits before adding all the liquid ingredients and pressure cooking. Also, you can add more broth/water to the recipe so that it’s not as thick (the instant pot is also finicky with thick stews). The stew thickens quite a bit after resting because of the sweet potatoes, so adding the extra water shouldn’t make a big difference.
This is so delicious! Perfect for a cold January day.
Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
Made my kitchen smell amazing, and tasted warm and flavorful and filling! Loved the flavor complexity without it actually being a complex recipe overall. Would make again!
Thanks for sharing, Nicole!
Thank you for another amazing go-to recipe! I knew it would be incredible, so I doubled it. I did have to switch to 2 pots to do so, but it was worth it. I used a mix of Pacific Vegetable Broth & water- and am usually disappointed in soups/stews when I don’t use homemade- But this recipe is so flavorful, you do not have to make your own broth to have a Foodie Heaven dinner. I used 3 jalapeños without the seeds, looking for a compromise. I loved it, but would like to slowly add in some heat. Have eaten it as soup & it was delicious on a leftover baked sweet potato I needed to eat, sprinkled with the peanuts on top. My fiancé who doesn’t like kale, rated it 10 out of 10. Did it take me some time? Yes! Was I fully rewarded in the end for my efforts? Yes! For people in a hurry, or with low energy/disability, I feel you (because, I am disabled and LOVE amazing, healthy recipes, but most of them take me several hours & it’s all I can do for the day…). I recommend buying sweet potatoes already peeled and chopped and even the onions done, too. For onions (& bell peppers), if you cut yourself, a Vidalia Chop Wizard can speed that up a lot. If you seed your peppers, grapefruit spoons are terrific for speeding up that task. A bag of chopped organic kale is helpful, and provides a nice base for a complimenting salad. I am really hoping to get an Instant Pot for Christmas & try it out that way, but stovetop was incredible! THANKS!!!! =) =) =)
Thank you for sharing your experience, Cynthia! We are so happy you loved the stew 🙂
THIS. IS. DELICIOUS. What a sensational combination of flavors. I highly recommend! So warm and satisfying for the winter without being overly heavy 🙂 I’m sure I’ll make this one often. Thank you!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Lilly!
I have tried a number of African peanut stew recipes and this one is the tastiest. I usually add 1 cup of dried red lentils to up the protein content and leave out the beans.
Awesome, Valarie. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Love the all the flavors in this stew! Easy prep for the return on deliciousness.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Tracy!
What’s a good substitute for Peanut butter for this recipe? I’m allergic to peanut and hoping almond butter would do it! Thank you!
Hi Amy, Almond butter is fantastic in this recipe! Enjoy!