Sweet potatoes cooked in onion, ginger, garlic, Serrano peppers, tomato paste, and peanut butter-based sauce with earthy flavors from cayenne pepper, this African Peanut Stew is ridiculously easy, delicious, and ready in a fraction of the time.
This stew is made in Instant Pot, is Vegan, Gluten-free, perfect for a weeknight meal, and is freezer friendly.
This recipe also shows you how to make the rice at the same time using the pot in pot technique so you have a full meal to enjoy in under 20 minutes.
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Happy New year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays with your near and dear ones.
Our holidays were fantastic. We mostly spent time at home watching tv and eating lots of treats. 🙂
Now, I am back with yet another easy and comforting Instant pot recipe.
Every January, I try to cut refined sugar and refined flour from my diet, it’s because I eat way too much sugar and unhealthy carbs in December.
Who doesn’t indulge too much in Desserts, cookies, and whatnot during the holidays? We all do, right! Holidays are meant for Relaxing, parties and lots of food.
But Holidays are over and It’s now time to reset the body system.
Soup, stews, and salads are the best options to get back on track after too many merry nights.
So today I am sharing our favorite stew recipe – African Peanut Stew made in Instant pot.
If you’re new to African Peanut Stew, I’m so excited for you to try it!
It’s extremely easy to make and is packed full of healthy ingredients.
I originally titled this soup “African Peanut Stew.” While it’s inspired by West African peanut soups, it’s not authentic by any stretch. I read that authentic recipes do not contain spinach, and they often contain meat.
As a vegetarian, this recipe may be the closest to the authentic dish. Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, or follow any diet under the sun, I hope you love it, too!
Why I love this stew?
It checks all the boxes –
- This stew is cozy and lovely.
- Creamy, satisfying texture and has extremely awesome flavor;
- It’s vegan and super nutritious
- It has just the right balance of creaminess and kicks and it reminds me of another version of a good-for-you curry.
You have no excuses. I am not letting you get out of making this recipe. 🙂
You can cook this Peanut stew with various method
Okay, you’ve got choices here.
- Instant Pot: Raise your hand if you got one for Christmas. Yeah? Good news, because making this stew in an instant pot is the easiest method.
- Slow Cooker: also yes!
- Stovetop: yes! In almost the same amount of time! You just need to babysit it a little more.
Ingredients required to make this Instant pot stew
Below is the ingredients list and possible substitutions. The exact ingredient amounts are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Sweet potatoes – If you don’t have sweet potatoes, you can use regular potatoes too.
- Tomato paste – You can use fresh tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, or diced tomatoes too. IF you are substituting the paste, use 14 oz. of crushed or diced tomatoes.
- Ginger, garlic, and Onions for the flavors ad aroma
- Spinach – I love the flavor of the spinach in this Vegan Peanut Stew, but I’ve seen versions using all sorts of different greens, so feel free to substitute with kale, collard green, mustard greens, or whatever hearty greens you prefer.
- Peanut butter – Either chunky or smooth peanut butter will work here, but make sure it’s a natural style, with no added sugar, to maximize the peanut flavor.
- Oil – I have used peanut oil. Use whatever you have on hand.
- Spicy kick – To give the spicy punch I have used Serrano peppers, cayenne peppers, and sriracha sauce. If you are not a spicy stew lover, you could just reduce or omit the Serrano peppers, cayenne peppers, and hot sauce altogether if you were worried about that.
- Salt
- Liquid – I have used a combination of vegetable broth and water. You can use completely water or completely vegetable broth.
- Peanut, cilantro, and lemon juice for garnishing – The peanuts give a great texture and crunch. Don’t skip the cilantro, and lemon juice, it brightens up this dish.
- Add-ons – To make this recipe more nutritious, you can add Chickpeas, kidney beans, or tofu.
How to make this recipe?
- In a bowl, take peanut butter, tomato paste, sriracha sauce, salt, cayenne peppers, and water.
- Mix everything well and keep it aside.
- Place washed, soaked, and drained basmati rice, water, and salt to taste in stainless steel or other small pot in a pot container for the Instant Pot. Cover it. Keep it aside
- Select the Saute function.
- Add oil to the inner pot of Instant Pot and allow it to heat up.
- Stir in onions, garlic, ginger, Serrano peppers and saute for few seconds.
- Add sweet potatoes and spinach. Add vegetable broth and Deglaze the pot. Stir to remove any brown bits. There should be nothing stuck to the bottom of the inner pot.
- Now add prepared peanut sauce on the top. DON’T stir.
- Now place long trivet. Place the rice pot on top of it. (Skip this step if you don’t want to do PIP).
- At this point, secure the lid on your Instant Pot, making sure the valve is set to sealing.
- Turn off the IP from saute mode and press the Manual/pressure cook button and set the timer on high pressure for 4 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and do a Quick Release (QR) of remaining pressure.
- Select Cancel and open the Instant Pot lid.
- Take out the rice pot and trivet carefully.
- Mix the stew well.
- Take the stew in a serving bowl with some rice, top it with some lemon juice, cilantro, and peanuts.
- Enjoy!
How to serve this?
White basmati rice is my carbs of choice to go with this dish because it does not just taste delicious but also you can cook with the stew doing a pot in pot method in the instant pot.
That being said, it can certainly be served with brown rice, quinoa, or without rice as well, or even with some crusty bread or with Indian flatbread like this tandoori roti for dipping.
Meal prep or freezing it.
This recipe holds up well both in the refrigerator or freezer. I like to pack up this stew with rice and everything in an airtight container. Then refrigerate for a week or freeze for a longer period, about a month or 2.
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African Peanut Stew (Instant pot and stove-top)
Ingredients
For pot in pot method (optional)
- 1 cup – white basmati rice washed and soaked for 30 minutes
- 1.5 cup – Water
- salt to taste
For the sauce
- ½ cup – creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon – sriracha sauce
- 6 oz. – Tomato paste
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon – Cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ cup – water
Other ingredients
- 3 cups – diced sweet potatoes Dice the sweet potatoes into 1 inch thick pieces
- 1 cup – finely chopped onions
- 1 teaspoon – minced or grated garlic
- 1 teaspoon – grated ginger you can use ginger paste
- 2 tablespoon – finely chopped Serrano peppers
- 2 cups – baby spinach
- 2 cups – vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon – oil
- Cilantro peanut, and lemon juice for garnishing
Instructions
For rice
- Drain soaked basmati rice completely. Take the rice, water, and salt to taste in stainless steel or other small pot in a pot container for the Instant Pot. Cover it. Keep it aside.
For sauce
- In a bowl, take peanut butter, tomato paste, sriracha sauce, salt, cayenne peppers, and water.
- Mix everything well and keep it aside.
Instant pot stew with pot in pot
- Select the Saute function.
- Add oil to the inner pot of Instant Pot and allow it to heat up.
- Stir in onions, garlic, ginger, Serrano peppers and saute for few seconds.
- Add sweet potatoes and spinach. Add vegetable broth and Deglaze the pot. Stir to remove any brown bits. There should be nothing stuck to the bottom of the inner pot.
- Now add prepared peanut sauce on the top. DON’T stir.
- Now place long trivet. Place the rice pot on top of it. (Skip this step if you don’t want to do PIP).
- At this point, secure the lid on your Instant Pot, making sure the valve is set to sealing.
- Turn off the IP from saute mode and press the Manual/pressure cook button and set the timer on high pressure for 4 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and do a Quick Release (QR) of remaining pressure.
- Select Cancel and open the Instant Pot lid.
- Take out the rice pot and trivet carefully.
- Mix the stew well.
- Take the stew in a serving bowl with some rice, top it with some lemon juice, cilantro, and peanuts.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
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Take peanut butter, tomato paste, sriracha sauce, salt, cayenne peppers, and water in a bowl.
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Mix everything well and keep it aside.
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Add oil to the big pot/pan and allow it to heat up.
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Stir in onions, garlic, ginger, and Serrano peppers and saute for a few seconds.
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Add sweet potatoes and vegetable broth and Deglaze the pot. Stir to remove any brown bits. There should be nothing stuck to the bottom.
- Cover the pot and let everything cook for about 8 to 10 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.
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Once sweet potatoes are cooked, add prepared peanut sauce and spinach. Give everything a good stir.
- Let the stew cook for about 2 minutes. Adjust the consistency according to your liking. Switch off the flame.
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Take the stew in a serving bowl with rice and top it with lemon juice, cilantro, and peanuts.
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Enjoy!
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For ingredient substitution, Click here
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This recipe holds up well both in the refrigerator and freezer. I like to pack up this stew with rice and everything in an airtight container. Then refrigerate for a week or freeze for a more extended period, about a month or 2.
Nutrition
Warm Regards,
Dhwani.
This tasted so Great, was really filling, and easy to make (Even on a stove top :)). Thanks, Will make this again soon.
So glad to know Lisa. Thanks a lot. <3
One of our family recipes now 🙂 love it! I just add a little less chilli for my 3 year old :).
So glad to know. 🙂