African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans

My partner and I recently moved back to Sydney so I’m in the process of setting up my new kitchen. I’ll share the process of building-up my vegan pantry again in an upcoming post, but until I’ve finished all that… we need to eat! And this vegan African peanut stew with sweet potatoes and beans is the answer.

African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans - Vegan + Gluten-Free

A few days ago, I was texting back and forth with my good friend Jodi from Toronto. (Side note: how people maintained overseas friendships before iMessage is beyond me! It’s a life-changer!) Jodi was making an African peanut stew for dinner. She said that it’s one of her all-time favorite healthy recipes. I took a look at it and fell in love instantly. Peanut butter? Beans? Sweet Potato? Stop right there… You had me at peanut butter!

African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans - Vegan + Gluten-Free
African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans - Vegan + Gluten-Free

Seriously though, since this sweet potato stew was already vegan and the ingredients are fresh or really basic pantry items, it was a perfect recipe to make in my “new” but sparsely stocked kitchen.

Recipe Notes – Vegan African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans

  • I substituted kidney beans for black beans. This is probably going to sound weird to those of you in North America, but canned black beans are almost impossible to find in Sydney. As soon as I find a place that sells them, I buy them out and hoard every single last can of them. Sure, I know that dried black beans are available here and are “pretty easy” to prepare. But based on the amount of email I get from Australians looking for canned black beans, I know I’m not the only one looking for the convenience of cans. (Hmm… Maybe I should look into starting a canned black bean import business?)
  • I used vegetable broth instead of water. Feel-free to just use plain water, but I’m one of those people who thinks everything taste better with broth.
  • I used frozen peas instead of frozen corn. I got home from buying the sweet potato and the kidney beans for this recipe, only to realize that I had forgotten to pick up frozen corn. Luckily, I had just made my mom’s Minestrone Soup a few days before, so I had some frozen peas leftover. Sometimes you just have to work with what you’ve got, and luckily the peas worked out beautifully.
  • I used crushed red chili flakes instead of fresh chili peppers because they’re consistent and I can control the heat.
  • I upped the garlic, and added fresh ginger. Before tossing the greens in at the end, I tasted the stew and thought that it was missing something. I did a quick Google search for similar stews and found that most of the recipes used more garlic, as well as fresh ginger and dried coriander. Because I’m still in the process of building my pantry, I didn’t have any ground coriander on hand, but I did have a knob of fresh ginger in the fridge. I quickly fried up some minced ginger with an additional clove of garlic and added it to the stew. It made a big difference to the overall taste, so I’ve included that in the recipe below. I’ve also included the ground coriander as optional, as I’m sure it would be even better with that if you’ve got some on hand.
African Peanut and Sweet Potato Stew - Vegan + Gluten-Free
African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans - Vegan + Gluten-Free

Look at that delicious African peanut and sweet potato stew. Give it a try, I’m confident you’ll love it as much as I do!

African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans - Vegan + Gluten-Free

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African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans

This delicious vegan and gluten-free stew is made of pantry staples. It’s hearty enough to hold-up on its own, or serve it with rice or quinoa and get more servings out of it.

  • Author: Angela @ Vegangela.com
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 55 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Cuisine: African, Vegan

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh minced ginger
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red chili pepper
  • 114.5 oz (400 g) can crushed or diced tomatoes
  • ½ cup peanut butter (or almond butter or sunflower butter)
  • 1 tsp dried coriander (optional)
  • 2 cups vegetable broth (or water)
  • 1 medium sweet potato (about 1 lb), peeled and diced
  • 1 can kidney or black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 ½ cups frozen peas (or frozen/canned corn)
  • 2 cups hearty leafy greens (spinach, arugula, kale, collard)
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. If you’re using a can of diced tomatoes, blend them along with their juice for a few seconds in the food processor or blender, just to break them up.
  2. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, ginger and chili and cook for about 5 minutes to soften.
  4. Add the tomatoes, stir to combine then add the peanut butter (and coriander, if using), stirring it in until smooth.
  5. Stir in the broth add sweet potatoes. Cover the pan and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender but not falling apart, about 15 minutes.
  6. Add the black beans, peas/corn, greens and cook until the beans and peas/corn are heated through and the greens are wilted.
  7. Season with salt and pepper, and add additional crushed chili flakes, as per your heat preference.

Notes

Adapted from http://www.sunbutter.com/recipes-African-Stew

Keywords: arugula, bean, corn, easy, favorite, freezer-friendly, ginger, gluten-free, kale, make-ahead, nut butter, one-pot, pea, soy-free, spinach, stove top, sweet potato, vegan, african food, african peanut stew

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag me — I can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans - Vegan + Gluten-Free
African Peanut and Sweet Potato Stew - Vegan + Gluten-Free

85 thoughts on “African Peanut Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Beans”

  1. Oh wow! I had never tried West African cuisine before but was craving kale, beans, tomatoes, some spice, and peanut butter. Lol. This led me to your recipe. It was a 100% match to my craving. Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Hi Angela,

    Just happened on you site as I was looking for low carb recipes. I thought that sweet potato and beans were not allowed on low carb diets. I was recently told that i had to start eating low carb foods.

    Reply
    • Hi June, thanks for your comment. By “low carb”, I mean “low refined carbs”, as that’s what I try to avoid personally. I consider sweet potatoes and beans to be “healthy carbs” but I am not a medical professional so please ask your doctor whether you’re allowed to have this recipe. If you are, I hope you enjoy it 🙂

      Reply
  3. We made this over the weekend and served it with brown rice. Absolutely delicious. Might top it with some toasted coconut next time, but it was really excellent as written. Thanks!

    Reply
    • I’ve made this many times and freezer the extras. The only thing that doesn’t hold up well is the fresh green. Although they don’t look very appealing after thawing they still taste wonderful. The longest I’ve had it in my freezer is a couple of months

      Reply
  4. This recipe is amazing! So easy to make, using ingredients you probably already have, and in no time at all. I used froze peas, frozen spinach and kidney beans as my options. I added the kidney beans at the same time as the potato straight from the can because they needed cooking and it worked perfectly! Didn’t need to add any salt or pepper because it tasted so good already! Thank you so much, this is definitely going to be a regular dish now!

    Reply
  5. Can not wait to make this and other of your recipes. I can already taste it. One of my favourite recipes is African Beans and Rice from a cookbook called Meals Without Meat, Vegetarian Recipes, by SIMON and Alison Holst. It’s not Vegan but I’ve easily adapted many of my favourite dishes are easily adaptable just by using a butter option and using egg replacer. .

    Reply
  6. This recipe is so good!!!! I made it years ago, and have had a taste for it since. So glad I was able to find it again.

    Reply
  7. Made this Tiga Diga Na last night. (I spent some time in Mali, West Africa where this dish originates.) Used a little fennel and cumin because I was out of coriander. Used arugula because I was in that mood (spinach can overwhelm this dish) and black beans though it looks good with the kidney beans here. I used both peas and corn. I remembered later that we used to add carrots to this dish. I had not made it in years though I used to make it regularly prior to being vegan. I also added a little cinnamon and sprinkled it with unsweetened coconut. Forgot to make a grain. Will do that today. This recipe goes lighter on the tomatoes. I used to make it with a bunch of plum tomatoes and tomato paste but this version really let the peanuts live. Thank you. It was easy and my spouse really enjoyed it.

    Reply
  8. made this unexpectedly last minute for a vegan friend, what a success! making it regularly now. I prefer less peppers, I find it over powers the peanut taste. I also add crushed cashews on the top, at service time, and serve the stew on a bed of couscous! yum!

    Reply
  9. I just finished eating the leftovers for lunch! I stumbled across your blog just yesterday, and decided to give this recipe a go. I just have to say it was absolutely amazing! and filling! Thank you so much! I will be trying more of your recipes now!

    Reply
  10. Just made this.. and wow, I love it. I needed to expand my vegan based repetoire especially when I have a bunch of meat eaters over for dinner and I want to ensure they don’t feel their missing out! Thanks for posting 🙂

    Reply
  11. Absolutely delicious, thank you. Am going to make this for the second time again and am very excited!

    Reply
  12. Really enjoyed making this, lovely dish. Got a great photo of my version if you’d like to see it?

    Reply
  13. Thank you so much..I came across your site a couple days ago and pinned this recipe. I made it for lunch today, and it is so delicious and satisfying! I used a can of 6 bean medley as that is what I had in my pantry, and all natural crunchy peanut butter so it added a bit of crunch. YUM! And so easy., I have no excuse not to eat healthy! Now, what to make next from your site? Everything looks delicious..lol

    Reply
  14. Stumbled upon this recipe on reddit last year and made it. Then I made it again, and again..
    I’ve probably made this about 20 times by now. It’s the most delicious stew I’ve ever had! Can’t get enough!

    Reply
  15. Your onion in the picture looks like a rough chop, but the directions ask for a very finely minced onion. I am going to give it a shot and make it tonight.

    Reply
  16. Will have to give this a go thank you. If you haven’t tried the African Peanut Stew from “Oh She Glows” by Angela Liddon, it is an absolute MUST. Similar ingredients….been making it in bulk for years now and have tried lots of variations but nothing beats this version. Give it a go!

    Reply
  17. Omg!!! I’m new too vegan and found your site and LOVE it!!! cooked this tonight and its amazing! yum thank you can’t wait to cook more of your recipes xx

    Reply
    • Hey Misty, if you’re new to being Vegan you absolutely must buy Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon. She also has an amazing blog. Her recipes are amazeballs and very simple to make. Truly changed my life when I went Vegan 2 years ago!

      Reply
  18. I made this recipe yesterday for dinner and loved it! I did not change anything. It was not time consuming and I will have leftovers for the next couple of days. Thank you for providing this recipe. I’ll definitely make it again!

    Reply
  19. New to the whole food plant based diet and cooked my first six things one Sunday. I didn’t pick this recipe, but our of everything I’ve cooked so this is my favorite! So yummy and guilt free, making it again tonight! Thanks muchly!! Best – Spence

    Reply
  20. I made this for lunch today. We loved it! I had to use cumin, and added a teaspoon of pure New Mexico red chili. Almost made it too spicey but hubby loves it hot. Will be great winter stew. My kitchen smelled wonderful!

    Reply
  21. I buy tinned black beans from the Health Food Store in Edgecliff. If I only need half a tin, I freeze the rest and use it in stews etc. I love them 🙂

    Reply
  22. I made this with corn instead of peas, kale for the greens, and a mix of butters (peanut and sunflower). It was AMAZING! I only wish the habanero I used in place of the chili flakes was hotter, I feel like the delicious richness could really take the heat. Look forward to making this again.

    Reply
  23. Hi there,

    went on a cooking spree last night and prepared this stew and the Quick and & Easy Indian Quinoa Curry to re-stock my freezer.
    Both were absolutely delicious!

    I stuck to the recipe pretty much, using black beans, corn, kale & sun flower and peanut butter. Never in a million years I would thought to combine these ingredients and get something this tasty – so thanks for the recipe.

    Furthermore, it was my first time using fresh kale…even though kale stew is a popular dish in Germany, I’d never tried fresh one. Hm, it even works as a salat…never would have guessed.

    So far I haven’t tried anything from your blog that I didn’t like, so I’ll definitely be back:-)

    Reply
  24. I really love this recipe because it is so full of goodness. There are a couple of modifications that I tried that worked. I used home made vegetable broth. This is the recipe I usually use: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/basic-vegetable-stock/. A little time consuming, but really makes for a fresh tasting soup. The left over veggies from making broth make a great, light and cleansing side dish to meat or beans. If you use this vegetable broth you don’t need to add as much garlic or onions. I also made fresh beans instead of canned. This will reduce the sodium/gas in the soup and cheaper! Lastly, I love the thickness of this soup, but if you want to make it stretch further, it still tastes amazing. Those peanut and ginger flavors are intense! You could add one more cup of vegetable broth (or more).

    Reply
    • Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. I really do need to start making my own broth so thanks for sharing your recipe. Good to know that the recipe can be stretched out and still taste great 🙂

      Reply
  25. This was a real hit with the family. At the first two bites they weren’t certain, but on bite three everyone declared it to be a winner. Next time (and there will certainly be a next time) I’ll make it a tad spicier.

    Reply
  26. Okay, so something came up ad I couldn’t make it when I wanted to; however, I just made it tonight and it came out great. Good recipe. I didn’t use ginger because I’m not a fan of it. But I had some vegetable broth lying around.I made a big pot of it to eat on all week. I”m a poor single guy, so this helps save money on food. Anyway, thank for this recipe. I”m going to try some others soon.

    Reply
  27. Thank you for a unique and yummy recipe! I made this stew a while ago when I was iced in due to polar vortex madness. I went online searching for a soup I could make with the ingredients I had on hand, and this is what I found.
    I made a couple of modifications- I was really craving an extremely thick, rich, hearty stew after being out in the snow with my dogs all morning, so I tripled the amount of peanut butter and used a can of kidney beans and a can of black beans. It was delicious and filling, but next time I make it I’ll try following the recipe exactly.
    I really like your site- lots of recipes I’m planning to try. Tonight’s dinner is going to be broccoli and potato soup!

    Reply
  28. This looks good. I think I’ll make this tonight, I have most of the ingredients home and I think I can get the rest for less than $5. I just have a silly question. Did you use crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

    Reply
  29. This recipe is simply wonderful. Today is the typical damp winter day in New York City and this is the perfect meal to make it all seem so much better.

    Thank you so much for sharing this.

    Bob

    Reply
  30. Hi Angela! I just found your web site while looking for a recipe for peanut stew. I’m making it right now and I can’t stop myself from tasting and tasting (it’s got another 5-10 minutes and then we’re eating!!

    Thanks so much. This web site is AMAZING.

    Reply
  31. Thanks for a delicious recipe. I cooked this today and shredded some coconut over the dish before serving 🙂 Great stuff and super easy!

    Reply
  32. Just made this and I love it. I used stewed tomatos since it is what I had on hand and actual red chili peppers. I also added 2 t yellow curry and it made it soooo good.

    Reply
  33. I just wanted you to know how much I love your website and I loved this recipe. I made a batch of it up and even my non-veggie husband loved it. I made a big batch of this and put it in freezer containers and grab for a quick lunch at work. It tastes just as amazing from the freezer state than it did on the day I made it! This has to be my all time favorite recipe. I also loved the mexican quinoa casserole dish that you had on here. I also freeze that. Since I’m the only vegetarian in the family I’m learning to fill my freezer full of meals for just me, and I am finding that my hubby is raiding my meals because they taste so good. Thanks so much for all you do! I really appreciate you!!! Not to mention I have several cookbooks and I keep coming to this site as I know it’s good stuff.. we must have the same taste preferences.. numminess!!

    Reply
  34. Another Masterpiece. I really loved the sauce and the multi-level taste – the subtlety of the chilli. My bf’s also in love with it.

    I didn’t have spinach but I added rice on the side + sprinkled a bit of lime. Super yummy.

    You are making my vegan cooking life really interesting & way easier :))) Thanks!

    Reply
    • Thank you so much for the kind words and for taking the time to comment on all the recipes you’ve tried. It means the world to me!
      Glad to hear that this was a hit with your mister. My man likes it too 🙂

      Reply
  35. I made this for dinner tonight and it was so amazingly delicious! The only changes I made were to replace half of the peas with okra and to add millet. I used 1 cup of millet and an extra 3 cups of water to cook the millet (added when the sweet potatoes were put in).

    Thanks for another wonderful recipe. (:

    Reply
  36. This was delicious. I used a combination dried black beans and dried kidney beans. Will definitely make this again and shared this recipe with our Facebook fans as well. Thank you, Angela.

    Reply
  37. This was so delicious and easy to make! I didn’t see when to add the ginger, so I just used my best judgement. Maybe I missed it?

    Reply
  38. Hi Angela!

    Exciting to see you’re back in Sydney. This recipe looks delicious! I’m always looking for African inspired dishes.

    Canned black beans: I see someone else has found them in Sydney from the above comments! For years I complained about not being able to find them, and then I discovered the fruit and veg shop near my parents stocks them! (Mount Colah – about 40 mins out of city centre if you’re ever heading North and want to stock up).

    Reply
  39. I’ve never made something like this with the PB, but wow, this recipe totally surprised me! I doubled it, included the black beans (as they are easy to find in the US) and added lots of spinach and a whole bag of frozen peas to the mix. I was going to make quinoa to serve it over but it’s perfect without. And this was such an easy meal to make! Thanks for the delicious recipe!

    Reply
  40. Hi Angela,

    Yes, canned black beans are extremely hard to find! They do sell them at Harris Farm Markets at Broadway Shopping Centre and i’ve heard that Fiji Market on King Street in Newtown also sells them.

    Reply
    • Hannah! What a whirlwind summer I had, trying to wrap up my job of 10 years and move (back) to Sydney. I’m going to go catch up on your blog now. I hate that we missed each other but hopefully we can meet up someday soon 🙂

      Reply

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