Ashley's African Peanut Soup
I made my own version of this recipe after eating it at a restaurant. The mixture of ingredients seems a little peculiar, but trust me, they work wonderfully together.
I made my own version of this recipe after eating it at a restaurant. The mixture of ingredients seems a little peculiar, but trust me, they work wonderfully together.
This recipe is wonderful. I made a few changes because it was my first time making soup like this and I just used what I had on hand. I cooked rice separately and served it over rice. I also made it first without chicken. I later added it. I omitted carrots and sweet potato only because I did not have any but they would have been great. I also only had creamy peanut butter. What makes this recipe stand out is the blend of seasoning. They are the best! The aroma was amazing. 2 friends ended up eating over because they were intoxicated by the smell of my kitchen while cooking this! The flavor was wonderful and I am excited to make it again, closer to the original recipe. I really feel the blend of spices make this recipe unique and stand out!
Read MoreIt was great the first couple of nights, but not something I'd want to eat all week. (And for me and my husband, that's usually what soup recipes mean for us .. the same thing all week.) After those first few days, the peanutty taste just got too rich for us. But a good soup if you're having company or plan to freeze and reheat at a later date.
Read MoreThis recipe is wonderful. I made a few changes because it was my first time making soup like this and I just used what I had on hand. I cooked rice separately and served it over rice. I also made it first without chicken. I later added it. I omitted carrots and sweet potato only because I did not have any but they would have been great. I also only had creamy peanut butter. What makes this recipe stand out is the blend of seasoning. They are the best! The aroma was amazing. 2 friends ended up eating over because they were intoxicated by the smell of my kitchen while cooking this! The flavor was wonderful and I am excited to make it again, closer to the original recipe. I really feel the blend of spices make this recipe unique and stand out!
I loved this recipe. I order African Peanut Stew at one of my favorite restaurants about once a month. This recipe was just as good! I didn't add the rice to mine because I don't need the extra carbs and I also didn't add sweet potato because I forgot to buy them at the store. Oh, I also skipped browning the chicken and vegetables because after 10 hours in the crock pot, I knew everything would cook down and meld together. I loved the combination of spices. EDIT: I made this recipe again last night. I had some random veggies in the fridge I wanted to use up (celery, broccoli, zucchini) so I chopped them up and threw them in. Also, I made with water instead of stock because I didn't have any. ALSO, I found out at the last minute we were out of peanut butter so we added almond butter--I think it turned out just as good!
Wonderful. I used shredded chicken from a small farm-raised whole chicken, which is probably equivalent to two huge conventional breasts. I just threw the cooked chicken right into the crockpot, no additional browning. I think just adding small bone-in pieces (browned) would be even better, so that the nutrients from the bones leach into the soup, and that's how I ate it in West Africa. I didn't add the cayenne or red pepper for my kids but it would have been great with them. I also used homemade chicken broth so it was not very salty, which we prefer, but most people would probably need to add salt if you don't use a salty broth. I also just served over rice instead of mixing rice in, as other reviewers suggested, and used creamy PB because I didn't have crunchy. I think the sweet potatoes are key - gives it sweetness to the tang and makes it very "African". I used to use the Groundnut Stew recipe from my tried and true "More with Less" cookbook, but I'm switching to this recipe. Thanks a lot - this is a wonderful recipe.
My husband & I always add one can of pumpkin puree. Vegan/vegetarian variation: add 1 can canned pumpkin, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and leave out the chicken. Delicious!
This is absolutely delicious! I used TVP chunks instead of chicken. The peanut butter really makes the soup. Make a big batch, it will go fast.
I loved the flavor of this soup and I will definitely make it again, however, I am a bit perplexed with the ingredients and serving size. The recipe states 20 servings. For whom? Infants? I'd say 8 servings is more accurate! I made this based on the calorie count, which means my serving was way more than 202 calories! The next issue is the fact that I left out one pepper, 1 cup of carrots, and the rice, which would have used a substantial amount of liquid, and this recipe still ended up as a very, very thick stew, even after adding 2 more cups of broth after the stated 3 cups! I'm so confused! I am an experienced cook and know what I'm doing. :) Anyone else have the same experience? Just curious.
It was great the first couple of nights, but not something I'd want to eat all week. (And for me and my husband, that's usually what soup recipes mean for us .. the same thing all week.) After those first few days, the peanutty taste just got too rich for us. But a good soup if you're having company or plan to freeze and reheat at a later date.
When I was little, m y mother made peanut soup for us and we all hated it, so I've never tried it since. Therefore, it was a nice suprise to find this one so good! Our whole family loved it, and I definately want to make it again! Thanks for a great recipe!
I have been making African peanut soup for years to the point that I don't even measure anything any more.When I made soup the first time I followed the recipe and added the rice, but found I didn't like the texture...so subsequently I eliminated it. I saute 1-2 chopped onions and 2 chopped garlic cloves in a little olive oil. Clean and cut up 4-5 large carrots and also saute with the onions and garlic.Add 1 1/2 quart of homemade chicken stock.Bring to a boil and simmer until the carrots are soft,after adding salt and pepper to taste. Cool.Put in food processor then return to pan. Add smooth peanut butter to taste and tabasco sauce to taste.Everyone loves it! You can also try adding other vegetables to saute and cook like sweet red peppers...
This was the first time I'd had or made peanut stew, so I can't say how it compares to others, but I liked the flavor. I subbed quinoa for rice, omitted the chicken, and used veg broth. My only complaint is that the overall texture is fairly mushy. It needs something to give it some crunch--maybe some chopped peanuts as a garnish.
I was really excited about making this soup but the flavors kinda mushed together. If it had tasted as good as it smelled it would have been fantastic. I used fresh cut tomatoes instead of canned, and I'm not sure if that contributed to the bland taste, but I did add some sea salt and it only improved the taste slightly. I made the rice separately like others did. My family didn't seem too thrilled with it either. Won't make again but will keep an eye out for a variation that will work. The sweet potatoes were the best part of the soup.
Delicious and healthy recipe! My boyfriend and I made this and loved all the textures and tastes. We ran out of crunchy peanut butter so we had to use half creamy, but it was still scrumptious. Great combination of spices, and the chicken turns out amazingly soft. Really happy I tried it. :)
Cooked it too high and it dried out a bit. Ended up adding coconut milk which helped a lot. Might be worth trying again?
This was really good and different. The family ate it up and then got seconds. The only thing I did different was not add the red pepper flakes because I was afraid it would be too spicy for my 2yr old. I think next time I will do the rice seperately as per other suggestions.
This was delicious. I followed the recipe exactly. Next time, I will either cook on low or put the sweet potatoes in a little later.
Wow! This soup is AWESOME! The only thing I did differently was omit the rice. There wasn't room for it and honestly, it didn't need it. Great recipe to add to my crockpot collection :-)
This recipe is delicious! The only thing I changed was serving over rice instead of cooking the rice with the rest of the food. Even my 12 year old "anti-veggie" eater loved it. This recipe will remain in my family meals!
This was delicious. I halved the recipe and cooked it for 5 hours-so yummy
(Paleo version) Love this! I made this soup last night and I love the blend of peanut butter and spices. I can't eat potatoes/rice so I replaced the sweet potatoes with rutabaga and the rice with cauliflower riced in the food processor. I also added green and yellow peppers and less carrots. So tasty and healthy.
I made this and my southern family loved this unusual mix of spices and veggies. I cooked my rice separately and served the soup on top. I added it to the leftovers, placed in tub in the fridge and we ate on it the next day. I liked it even the better the second day as the spices married together well. I splashed a bit of hot pepper vinegar on my mine as well as a shake of salt. I will definitely make this again.
Very unique soup. My husband and I really enjoyed this. I doubled the spices and the peanutbutter to give it a stronger flavor. Overall it had a really great taste.
Yummy! Other than using chicken thighs rather than breasts and using only 2 cups of sliced carrots and slightly less than 4 cups of broth (slow cooker wouldn't hold more), I followed this one to the letter. A funny thing about it is that both my husband and I could swear there was an addition of coconut milk, but I had not added that at all. Weird! I served over brown rice. This makes an enormous amount so I hope it freezes well. LOVE it!
Delicious and surprising taste! Lots of goodies in the recipe add up to a nice soup. I would add a bit more spice to it as well as peanut butter however. I added quina instead of brown rice right to the soup the last two hours in the slow cooker. My guests enjoyed the soup and raved over it. Thanks for sharing Ashley!
This was very tasty. I pretty much followed the recipe to the letter, except I used one fresh tomato and one 16 ounce can of stewed tomatoes. I used lots of garlic and it came out very hearty and tasty, though as another reviewer commented, I don't know if I will want it every day of the week, in which case I believe I will freeze about a third of it for a later date.
Rich and creamy without dairy. Sweet potatoes and red peppers were great but 3 c of carrots was way too much. I like that 2 chicken breasts went so far. I was a bit afraid of too much spice so did not add cayenne. It was fine for our 2 yo.
It was okay, but i don't think I would make it again. It makes a lot, even after I cut the recipe in half.
Used six or seven chicken drumsticks instead of chicken breast, but other than that followed the recipe pretty closely. Wanted a gluten-free main dish so this served with jasmine rice fit the bill. Everyone enjoyed it! May add more peanut butter next time.
This soup is really delicious! Tons of veggies, and great flavor. Picky boyfriend didn't care for it (said it was too healthy, and probably a little too exotic for him), but that just means there's more for me! I only used 1 C of carrots, 1 red bell pepper, increased broth to about 7 cups, and decreased peanut butter to one half cup. I also didn't include the rice - this soup is so thick and chunky, it's not needed at all. Served with cornbread, and I can't wait for the leftovers.
I made this for the office lunch club and it received thumbs up from five people. One thing I would caution is to make sure you have a large crock pot, or only use 3 cups of broth (or cook and reverse baste into another pot and then replace the delish liquid at the end) I think my pot is only 5 qt. But I made the recipe as noted, except for cooking the rice on the side. I would have added a bit more cayenne and red pepper flakes as it was a mild spice, not the kind of spicey people generally enjoy in New Orleans. But what a decadent flavor for a rather healthy meal.
Taste is great! I used a peanut butter called Naturally More with flaxseed, which clumped. Spent more time chopping than I wanted.
Delicious! My husband and 13-yo son loved it! I increased the amount of curry and cinnamon I put in...maybe 1 tsp more of each. I added two fresh roma tomatoes, as well. I also used one yellow bell pepper. I did not have red pepper flakes, so I did not add those. I also added about 1/2 cup of cashews. I served this over quinoa. Nutritious and delicious!
I love this recipe, but I often add frozen peas when I add the peanut butter.
This was fantastic. Needed more salt than mine had but I used low sodium chicken broth. Once we added a tiny bit of salt it was fantastic. We usually don't finish our leftovers but this got finished!
This is such a great recipe! The first one that I am making from this website. I love the simplicity, and the flavour is awesome! This will definitely go into my personal recipe book as I vouch to never eat fast food again :) Thanks for sharing!
So very good! Loved it! I love how the flavors blend so well together. Unexpectedly awesome!
Very tasty and filling soup! I followed reviewers' advice about keeping rice separate and adding it to individual bowls, which proved a good idea. Felt it needed a little salt, but otherwise it was lovely.
This was awesome! I used bagged frozen onion/pepper mix to save time and just put the chicken in the crock pot raw. I also omitted the red and cayenne pepper, and used reduced fat crunchy peanut butter. I served it with warmed pita wedges and it was a huge hit with my family!
I made this tonight and it worked out wonderfully! I added a little more of each of the spices for a little more flavor and served on top of rice.
I loved this soup! I will definitely make this again. The only issue I had was that it was not soupy at all. Next time I will add more liquid (broth and more crushed tomatoes). It was terrific as a stew, but I would like to try it in its intended soup form.
This soup is fantastic! I pureed the vegetables before adding the shredded chicken and peanut butter and made it more like a bisque.
I have a similar recipe I've made for years using chicken thighs and we've loved that, so I was eager to try this. I followed the recipe exactly and loved it, but will make a few changes in the future, namely to use maybe half again of all the spices, to cook the rice separately and add at the end (it got really thick, more like a chili), and use smaller sweet potatoes (although, as a previous reviewer said, the sweet potatoes really make it). Great recipe!
Good enough and healthy, but bland. Needs salt(?). Probably won't make it again.
We really loved this!! I did substitute lentils for the brown rice. The flavors were fantastic & worked together perfectly. I did increase the amounts of the spices, though. It was even better in the morning!
I abdolutely love this dish. I did add a much larger dose of curry and peanut butter. I did not add rice.
I put in a jalapeño instead of the red pepper flakes in an attempt to give it more kick, and it ended up being too mild for me. A good hearty soup though, I added the flakes in afterwards and it was very good!
There are only two people in my household, so 20 servings would have been overwhelming. I scaled it down to six servings and followed the recipe exactly. Very good flavor, a little mild for our taste. But there is no way I could get six servings from this version. A skimpy four would be more accurate. Or a generous three. I did notice another reviewer made the same observation about serving count so just be aware that you cannot serve 20 people with this recipe as written.
Loved this and it freezes well. I halved the recipe, but increased the spices some from the halved version since I like spicy food. I thought it was great-Like some of the other reviewers I did not add the rice but used the soup on top or even noodles work well too.
It was okay. My kids did not love it. It was pretty different than West African peanut stew I had had before. I did appreciate the fact that I could even find a recipe on here to work with for West African peanut stew and Ashley did not claim that it was authentic, but her own version. It was a fun adventure.
Not having chicken I used TVP crumbles and little red potatoes instead of sweet but the rest was unchanged. This was simply awesome! Just enough spicy, me & hubby couldn't get enough of it! Thanks so much for a delish dish!
My brother thought this soup was amazing and basically ate all of it over the course of the week. Other people in my family didn't like it at all. I won't make it again.
This was great! I also doubled the spices, as other reviews have suggested, and I didn't add the rice as there wasn't much room for it and I didn't think it was needed, the soup was wonderful without it! Will definitely make this again!!
This was fantastic! I made a few changes based on what I had on hand and for ease- I did not precook anything. I knew 6+ hours in the slow cooker would take care of that! I did not add rice as I was serving it with bread and didn't feel like I needed the extra carbs. After it had cooked, I pulled out the chicken breasts and let them cool while I scooped out about half the veggie chunks and pureed them in the food processor then mixed them back in to get a creamier texture. I added a really large scoop of creamy peanut butter, no measuring. Then I shredded the chicken with two forks and mixed it back in. I added a large can of diced tomatoes at that time and made sure everything was warm. I didn't measure the broth because I have a small crock put so I just used as much as would fit. I added more at the end to get it to the consistency I wanted. An excellent base recipe that I will use again and again! I've already made another batch and froze it in quart servings so I can have easy meals after our baby is born. Thanks Ashley!
The flavors were just too weird/exotic for my family. Makes me realize how much I like American food.
Made this today to take to my parents for family dinner. It was delicious and a hit with everyone. I followed the recipe exactly except I didn't add any chicken, used one green and one red pepper and used jasmine rice, cooked separately. In the reviews someone said the 3 cups of carrots was way too much so I scaled back to 2 cups but think the 3 would have been fine. Next time I will add a little more red pepper flakes for a bit more kick.
Made it as close to recipe as possible. I used a sweet onion and did not measure the sweet potato or carrots because I wanted lots of veggies. I reduced it to 10 servings and cooked it 10 hrs on slow. I found that the brown rice was not cooked only adding it for the last 3 hrs of the cooking time so next time I will add it about halfway. If I had cooked it on high maybe the 3 hrs would have been enough. Absolutely delicious and better on day two. I added about an additional cup of broth at the end of the cooking time. This makes a very substantial soup (very thick). I would estimate that I did get 10 servings approx. 1 cup each.
Made this a few days ago and made some edits per other people's suggestions and my own preferences: halved the recipe, doubled the spices, omitted cayenne (because I have a young child), used Quinoa instead of rice. We still found the flavor a little bland, which I could not believe given the additional spices I used PLUS having cut the recipe in 1/2 which means quadrouple strength of the spices. As with most soup recipes it got better and better as a left-over with yesterday's left-over being extremely yummy! That being said, I still think the recipe is missing that one extra something and if you can just figure out what that something is . . . WOW it's going to be great!
This soup is DELICIOUS!!! I will need to halve it next time because the full recipe didn't really fit in my crock pot. My husband likes soupier soups, but I LOVED the consistency of it...very thick. My husband thought it was delicious too....the peanut butter is the key to the whole thing!!
Pretty good soup. I took other reviewers' advice and doubled the spices (which was a really good idea). This soup just gets better and better every day after it's made. Delicious!
This recipe is good but not amazing. I'm not sure what it needs, honestly. I like the peanut with curry spices. The tomato seems a little wrong.
Fantastic! Made on snowy winter day when hubster had a cold and wow, did this soup hit the spot! Changes: subbed PB2 for half the peanut butter; after tasting, adjusted spices as follows: increased curry to 1-1/2 tsp; doubled cinnamon and chili powder; garnished with parsley just because it needed something green. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!
This is wonderful. I plan on freezing some so I made the rice seperate
A peanut lovers dream! I made it on the stovetop in a big pot because some of the reviews mentioned it getting too soft in the slow cooker. I brought it to a boil and turned it to medium until the potatoes got soft. It took about an hour. I also added a teaspoon of fresh ginger in the chicken stock toward the beginning and I used creamy peanut butter towards the end since it's what I had. I cooked the rice separately. Will totally make it again.
Love! Delicious, filling, and easy. Can't ask for better :)
Turned out great! Easy enough for a guy who doesn't cook "fancy stuff" too often. As tasty as it was, I think I'll use a little less peanut butter next time, as ours turned out pretty thick, especially the leftovers.
I like the veggies and overall flavor of this dish, but mine did seem overrun with peanut butter flavor. maybe I'll add only 1/2 cup next time. the spice combo really nice and got lost in the PB for me. I just threw everything in the Crock-Pot, except the rice and PB added according to the recipe's timing.
Loved this recipe. I've tried a couple of peanut soup recipes and this one is by far my favorite. I think the only thing I changed was to use less liquid as I like a thicker stew.
I loved this soup until I added the 1 cup of peanut butter. It was too much for my taste. I will make it again but, I will start with a small amount of peanut butter (1/4 cup) and add more to taste if needed. The other spices are perfect!
My husband is the one who actually made this stew for diner last night. He made only one change. We didn't have any peanut butter so he substituted some almond butter and some crushed roasted peanuts. The flavor was really good, the texture, not so much. It was mushy ! Neither the children or myself liked the texture. I think that cooking the rice separately would make this stew much better.
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I love these flavors and this could quite possibly be just as wonderful as is...but since it's similar to another stew that I love...and because I'm trying to avoid carbs, I used this as a base and changed a few things I used rotisserie chicken and ground turkey to bulk up the protein. Omitted the sweet potatoes, carrots, and rice. Instead added grated cauliflower to sub for the rice and spaghetti squash to sub for sweet potato/carrots. Threw in a little spinach too for fun. I also swapped out one of the cups of broth for a cup of coconut milk. Added some ginger, thai red chili paste and red pepper flakes in there too for some zing...so I guess I really changed things up...but this was a fabulous base to build on and play with to suit your preference.
My husband and I loved the recipe. I'm spice avoidant, but was able to double the spices for my husband and still eat it myself (with a glass of milk).
I would consider making this again, but wouldn't put the rice in as part of the recipe. I'd make the rice separate, then pour it over. It was very mushy as-is.
I've made this three times and my co workers love it. I substituted tofu for chicken and used a vegetable based stock. This recipe is easy. And lasts the week. It freezes well too.
I absolutely loved loved loved this recipe!!! I followed this recipe pretty much closely although I'm not a precise cook. I simmered on the stove for 5h and used canned tomatoes. Did use all ingredients except I made broth from bones and added salt. This recipe is sooooo good and I will definitely make it again!
YUM! A pleasant comfort soup with a hint of heat....perfect for cool fall evening indoors! We only used about 2 cups of carrots (which was perfect in my opinion), and substituted quinoa for the brown rice. We did add some salt and a South African smoke seasoning blend. Great soup----a must try!!
This is one of my favorite things to make! I've made it too many times to count. I have found a few changes that seem to enhance the already yummy flavor combo! The changes I've made are 1 lb. chicken thighs instead of breasts. I use about 3/4 cup peanut butter and 3/4 cup rice. I also double the amount of spices. I have made this vegan by substituting vegetable stock and using chickpeas for the protein. It was still just as delicious!
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