By Mark Bittman
Updated Feb. 29, 2024
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- 5(782)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This West African soup is about as different from a traditional European chicken-in-a-pot soup as you can get, flavored with ginger, garlic and chiles (sounds Chinese, yes?), and incorporating vegetables like sweet potatoes and kale. Then of course there are the peanuts. When it comes to the peanut butter, “natural” peanut butter, made from peanuts and salt and nothing else, works best. Chunky or creamy? It doesn’t matter much. Finally, it’s nice to time the cooking so that the sweet potatoes do not quite fall apart.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- ¾cup roasted and shelled peanuts
- 2tablespoons peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
- 1medium red or white onion, chopped
- 1tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1tablespoon minced garlic
- ½pound skinless, boneless chicken (about 2 thighs or breasts) cut into chunks
- Pinch of cayenne
- Salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 6cups stock or water
- 2sweet potatoes or yams (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into thick slices
- 8plum tomatoes, cored and halved (canned are fine; drain and reserve liquid for another use)
- ½pound collards or kale, washed and cut into wide ribbons
- ¼ to ½cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
689 calories; 40 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 19 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 53 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams dietary fiber; 18 grams sugars; 37 grams protein; 1870 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Chop peanuts, or crush them with the side of a knife, or pulse them in a food processor to chop roughly.
Step
2
Put oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium heat; a minute later, add onion, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until just coloring. Add ½ cup peanuts and the cayenne and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Step
3
Stir in the stock and the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil, and turn heat down to medium-low so the soup bubbles gently. Stir in tomatoes and collards, then cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Step
4
Stir in ¼ cup peanut butter. Taste, adjust seasoning (you may want to add more peanut butter at this point) and serve, garnished with remaining peanuts.
Ratings
5
out of 5
782
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Cooking Notes
Tessa
I've made this recipe about a dozen times over the years and I've come to a point at which I'm very satisfied, so I'd like to share. First of all, African peanut soup benefits from being flavorful and thick, and falls flat when it's brothy and bland. I more than triple the amount of garlic, ginger, and ground peanuts! Subbing freshly ground peanuts for jar PB makes a big difference. I add cinnamon, carrots, and sub the stock for fresh bone broth & some coconut milk.
Elliza
This is in regular rotation in our house. We serve it to guests. We usually use Jiffy or similar sweetened peanut butter. Despite our efforts to be health conscious, when we make it with natural, unsweetened peanut butter it tastes like something is missing, and we usually end up adding a tablespoon of sugar to the pot. I also find the PB blends in better if you scoop out a 1/2 cup of soup liquid, wisk in the PB, then add it back to the pot.
Lea
We've taken to making this with cashews in place of the peanuts. The texture of the cashews in the soup is so luxurious we can never go back. This is one of my favorite recipes of all time.
Lance
After making this a few times, I switched to thighs and haven't gone back. You can cook it forever and they never dry out. Have also used kale instead of collards and both work great.
R Tod
This has become a staple in our house. A few possible additions/changes we have made others might try:
1. We get a couple of bone in breasts and simmer them in a pot of water with a touch of salt, garlic rinds, and a small quartered onion for 40 minutes. Obviously, this give us chicken to shred and the broth -- but this broth makes a startlingly big difference over store bought.
2. We slightly brown the peanuts on a cast iron skillet prior to tossing them into the food processor.
sasha
Very good, but needed a bit of tweaking. I ended up adding coconut milk, and I think I prefer it this way - definitely makes it more luxurious. Finished it off with some fresh lime juice, and next time, may try cilantro as well. I also used a bit more garlic, ginger and sweet potato than called for, and would continue doing so. Next time, I will also add some additional spices - perhaps some cumin, coriander & cinnamon.
Marina
I loved this recipe, delicious. However, I cooked it for much longer--my sweet potatoes do not cook in ten minutes, so I let it all simmer more like forty minutes and the colors and texture of kale and sweet potatoes were wonderful. Not so much the little pieces of chicken thigh. Not sure whether next time will make this vegetarian or will try cooking whole thighs with bone, minus skin. We'll see.
MissEmphasis
This is very tasty and nice. I altered the recipe to my taste in the following ways with great success: I used 1.5 times the ginger and garlic, double the greens and a 1/3 cup of PB2 (powdered peanut butter) instead of the regular. I also used thigh meat which makes for a wonderfully rich bowlful and takes the chance of sad, dry chicken out of the equation.
I will certainly be making this again. Lovely, but interesting, comfort food.
Ari
Doubled chicken to 1 lb, doubled kale
Sieved large can of diced tomatoes
Cut sweet potato in quarters of a slice
Used 1/2 cup peanut butter
No tomatoes and it was awesome
I'm a mom of a toddler. I got tomatoes paste instead of plum tomatoes. I did not and do not want to go back to the grocery store. So I finished the stew and added noodles. It was the best chicken soup I have ever made. 5/5 stars
Ripley
Great way to use leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. Just toss in the shredded cooked turkey after the soup is cooked!
Dls
Love this. Often add harassment to spice it up
kathfromcamb
Really yummy and so easy. Followed suggestions to double chicken (boneless thighs) ginger, garlic and peanuts and added about 1/3 can coconut milk. Let it cook for 20 mins, then added kale for last 10. Made it for the storm that never happened. Will add to rotation for sure.
Peggy
I followed the directions almost exactly, but had to use canned chopped tomatoes instead of fresh since my supermarket didn’t have any fresh plum tomatoes. I used Italian canned tomatoes, which, unfortunately for this recipe, were very saucy, and made the soup very tomatoey. I was able to overcome it by adding a total of 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter. I also used a hardy spinach instead of kale. I ran out of time, so I didn’t chop the peanuts, but just added them
Gloria
I use cabbage for the green vegetable. It add some sweetness.
Rina
Cool this in a huge pot. Double chicken, ginger, garlic, and peanut butter amounts (around 1 cup peanut butter). Whisk peanut butter in small amount of hot stock and then mix into whole pot.
Sharon
To make this vegetarian, I omitted the chicken and added a can of chickpeas in Step 3. 1/3 cup PB was about right, with plenty of crushed peanuts in the stew and on top (more than what's called for).
patty
Added juice of whole lemons. Used cashews instead of peanuts. 12/10/23
Kelly
I followed the suggestion of tripling the amount of garlic, ginger, ground peanuts. I added a homemade chicken stock reduction, and probably doubled the kale. The broth tasted amazing - savory, with the ginger and garlic singing. As soon as I added the peanut butter, the flavors were lost and it tasted muddled. Skip the peanut butter next time. Hubby added a finely chopped ghost pepper to his bowl, and I took a few microscopic pieces to add to mine. It definitely made it more interesting!
J
Amazing. I added jalapeno, coconut milk, and a carrot and this has got to be a new favourite soup. Lots of flavour for not too much effort
Cheryl
My soup was turned out to be more of a broth rather than having the thick, stew-like texture I anticipated. It was also rather bland and my husband commented that he would not have known it contained peanut butter if I hadn't told him. I blended in a half can of coconut milk, cumin and coriander and 2 more tablespoons of peanut butter. It was better, but not something I would make again.Also, the nutritional information appears questionable when compared to similar recipes.
laura
I added additional vegetables : zucchini and last-minute spinach. Great recipe; will be making regularly.
Leslie
I liked this well enough and so did my husband. I would add less water next time. I did my prep the day before which was wonderful. The soup went together effortlessly.
jeanette
I added cumin, red pepper flakes and a drizzle of honey. Doubled the garlic and ginger…just fabulous! I also toasted the chicken ahead of time with a spice mixture and olive oil.
David P
Roasted unsalted peanuts first for 6 minutes; Doubled the ginger and garlic; used canned whole tomatoes; used boneless pork ribs instead of chicken; red kale; added 1/2 can of coconut milk; cooked for about 25 minutes rather than 10.
Shannon
Good, but TOO MUCH. Half the recipe
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