African Peanut Soup – Our veggie take on a classic
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I know the combination of peanut butter and tomato paste might scandalize some of you but this African Peanut Soup is here to prove you wrong.
The best argument we can give you is that this recipe has become one of our absolute favourites, since we first published it back in 2014.
When we first came up with this recipe, our chef Hauke gave up friends, free-time, and perhaps even a little bit of sanity for a week – to create (drumroll please)… a vegan soup with peanut butter!
And put simply, it’s absolutely AMAZING.
The combination of peanut, ginger, garlic and tomato paste is just fantastic, and needs to be tried to be believed. Give this one a go and you’ll have a vegan soup recipe for life.
Why is it named ‘African’ peanut soup?
Well, this recipe is loosely based on a peanut soup recipe from West Africa, sometimes called maafe, groundnut soup, or West African peanut soup.
There are variations to be found throughout West Africa from Senegal to Mali to Nigeria, and all have their own twist. Regardless of those differences, it’s an important cultural staple from this region of Africa.
Our recipe is not, strictly speaking, the same as traditional groundnut soup, particularly those that include a form of meat.
BUT it does combine those same flavors of tomatoes and peanut butter. And both are served on a bed of rice, giving the recipe a similar feel.
I have to say thank you to the people in West Africa that came up with the combination of flavors this african peanut soup (or groundnut soup) recipe so delicious.
Vitamin Central
In order to make our blog, as well as being delicious, recipes have to be both fast and healthy.
And this african peanut soup recipe is no slouch – it takes twenty five minutes from start to finish, and is most certainly good for body and mind.
The ‘A’ in vitamin A might as well stand for ‘awesome’. Not only does Vitamin A help you see important things in the dark (like peanut soup), it’s also used to stimulate white blood cell growth, to remodel bone and regulate cell growth and division.
One serving contains 96% of your GDA of Vitamin A and packs a whole heck of a lot of protein in too, making this a high protein soup recipe (which can be tough to find – unless you’ve seen our top 50 vegetarian protein soups!).
How to make soup, specifically peanut soup
Does it matter what type of peanut butter I use?
The choice between crunchy or smooth peanut butter is up to you, but you should stick to a natural peanut butter (i.e. the ones without added ingredients) for the best results.
How should this soup be stored?
It should keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, but it will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just pop it in a tupperware and thaw it out on your next cold winter day.
Don’t freeze the soup with rice though, make a fresh batch when you defrost it.
Can I add different veggies?
For sure! We like our soup with zucchini (or courgette), but traditional recipes tend to include collard greens. The recipe is simple enough that swapping out some veggies is no biggie (btw if this kind of flexibility is what you need, try these vegetarian recipes for beginners too!)
Honestly, this is a pretty flexible recipe that you can tweak to fit your tastes.
If you’re looking for more easy vegan soups after you fall in love with this african peanut soup, check out our creamy butternut squash soup, our flavour packed corn soup, or our cozy lentil soup.
What our readers are saying
Made this for dinner tonight with brown rice and roasted string beans on the side. So good. I’m a new vegan and I’ve been wanting a peanut recipe… I GOT IT!
Fatimah Shabazz⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I have been making this soup using your recipe for awhile now and my family and I love it. I usually have chicken broth on hand and that is what I use most of the time. I have not tried adding additional veggies but I do add a whole zucchini and onion but the carrots I put into the food processor and I love the taste and texture it gives to the soup. Thank you for sharing this terrific recipe!!
Windy Lim⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Just made this. Absolutely delicious, and really easy and quick to put together. A wonderful, warm & spicy meal for a cold winter night. Great way to use low-cost (yet nutritious) ingredients like carrots and peanut butter. I’ve hesitated to make peanut soup before because most recipes are so rich from large quantities of peanut butter, but this called for less peanut butter and suggestion to serve it over rice thins it out, very good idea.
Carrie⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I made this with three grated, peeled carrots and a whole large zucchini and it could have probably stood even more vegetables so don’t hold back on the produce. Topped it off with sriracha. Yum!
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice (uncooked)
- ⅓ cup red lentils, dried
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ red onion
- 1 small carrot
- ½ medium zucchini (courgette)
- 0.2 inches ginger, fresh (or ½ tbsp powdered ginger)
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tbsp peanuts
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- A few dashes hot sauce
Instructions
- Prepare the brown rice according to package instructions.1 cup brown rice
- In a pot add the red lentils, vegetable broth and water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to low-medium heat.2 cups vegetable broth, 1 cup water, ⅓ cup red lentils, dried
- Cut the onion, carrot and courgette and add them to the broth.½ red onion, 1 small carrot, ½ medium zucchini
- Add the garlic and ginger to the broth as well.1 clove garlic, 0.2 inches ginger, fresh
- Add the peanuts.3 tbsp peanuts
- Add the nutritional yeast, tomato paste and peanut butter to the mixture.3 tbsp tomato paste, 3 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Add the soy sauce last but check it’s not already too salty.1 tbsp soy sauce
- If you like it spicy add the hot sauce.A few dashes hot sauce
- Let it simmer nicely until the rice is ready.
- Serve in a bowl, eat. Yum!
NOTES
Taste test first! If your broth and peanut butter is already salty enough then I’d leave out the soy sauce. Tip: this dish has 3 servings by default. You can easily freeze the spare serving. Make-ahead? Yes, absolutely. Inspired by: Chefkoch, Cookie and Kate
Nutrition
Hauke Fox
I’m always on the lookout for these damn smart recipes. You know, those that only take a few minutes to put together and taste delicious. Vegetarian Cooking at home is a way to take back control over what I eat. I don’t like what many companies do to animals and the environment with their products.
This article has been medically reviewed by James LeBaigue MSc Learn More
James LeBaigue MSc
James has a Masters Degree in Sport and Exercise Nutrition, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Human Nutrition.
He loves combining his scientific knowledge along with food in the real world, and these recipes are the result.
He’s on top of all the latest evidence and guidelines to make sure our nutrition advice on the website is as accurate as it can be.
By day he works as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in a busy NHS GP Practice.
Each recipe is tested and then eaten (much to James’ delight), many times before it is deemed worthy to be published. Bon appetit!
Comments
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58 comments
Hi! I linked your photo & blog and added this recipe to a vegan soup roundup post I did today. Tell me what you think. Please feel free to comment / like / promote
-Romina
Hi Romina, looks great! Hope you have the chance to try our African soup, it’s reaaaaly tasty – though of course I would say that 😉 Howie and I are actually off to yoga expo on Saturday…will we see you there?
Just made this. Absolutely delicious, and really easy and quick to put together. A wonderful, warm & spicy meal for a cold winter night. Great way to use low-cost (yet nutritious) ingredients like carrots and peanut butter. I’ve hesitated to make peanut soup before because most recipes are so rich from large quantities of peanut butter, but this called for less peanut butter and suggestion to serve it over rice thins it out, very good idea.
I made this with three grated, peeled carrots and a whole large zucchini and it could have probably stood even more vegetables so don’t hold back on the produce. Topped it off with sriracha. Yum!
Wow thanks for this amazing review, Carrie!!
I agree, too much peanut butter can be quite overwhelming, I’m glad you liked the proportions in this recipe. Actually I should have all the ingredients for this soup on hand. Could be a good idea for today’s dinner 🙂
I had to goggle courgette. It’s a ordinary zucchini!!! Learn something everyday!
Made this the other night and it came out great, I used a few extra vegetables including baby sweetcorn and asparagus, did not need the soy sauce as it already had a very good flavour. Thanks for the recipe!
Ahh, sweetcorn is a great idea! Will definitely add another flavour to the soup, like it!! 🙂
I made it and… Absolutely incredible! 🙂
wow, thanks for the feedback!!! glad to hear 😀
I’m new to this low carb thing since hubby was Dx with diabetes. Would love to make peanut soup but need to know the serving size. 65 carbs seems high???? Thanks
Hi Becky, yes this soup is not low carb. The rice and peanuts (two of the main ingredients are deffo heavy on the carb side). To be honest I don’t think you can really make a nut soup and keep it low carb. We have some low carb veggie recipes over here though: https://hurrythefoodup.com/vegetarian-keto-recipes/ hope that helps 🙂
I’ve been meaning to make a peanut soup for ages. This dish looks so delectable, dense and hearthy… definitely meat is not needed here!
Give it a try! 🙂
I also think meat is not necessary here. I tried it with chickpeas the other day, that was almost too heavy already.
Mmm!! Looks great guys. I’m a sucker for anything peanuts and that picture is gorgeous. Will be trying this out this weekend!
Yees, peanuts are awesome! If you make it, let us know how it was. I’m curious how others like the combo of tomato and peanut butter 🙂
Have a good weekend!