It is the cold season again and what better way to warm up than with a West African staple that is peanut butter soup? With the creamy peanut butter, spicy chili powder and black pepper, it is packed with flavor and nutrients.
My first bowl of peanut butter soup was many years ago in Virginia and this version, that I tested many times to get the flavors right, tastes just like I remember.
A lot of peanut butter soup recipes are chunky (like my beef cabbage soup) but I wanted to make it the way I remembered it, which is puréed. You can, of course, skip that step if you don't like to stray from a chunky soup.
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What is Peanut Butter Soup?
Also known as groundnut soup in Ghana, peanut butter soup is a comfort food that uses ground-up peanuts as the star ingredient plus sweet potatoes, broth, tomato sauce and spices. The peanut butter helps thicken the soup and adds fiber, nutrition, and flavor.
Ingredients
- peanut butter - Go for a smooth peanut butter. You can use natural or the more common peanut butter, which has ingredients like sugar and salt that help enhance the flavor (the regular peanut butter tastes better in this soup and it's the kind I use).
- sweet potatoes - Sweet potatoes and yams are often mixed up, but they're different plants. You want to buy the sweet potatoes that have that nice and bright orange colored flesh. Yams have a rough skin and are brown in color; we don't want to use those here.
- red bell pepper - I have had people accidentally use hot peppers instead of red bell pepper in this soup, which I'm sure was unpleasant. Bell peppers aren't spicy and that is what we are using in this recipe.
- onions - Just your basic yellow cooking onions.
- vegetable broth - If you wish to use a different broth for dietary or flavor reasons, use chicken broth.
- cilantro - Fresh cilantro is an optional garnish, along with the peanuts and curry powder.
*Check recipe card for ingredient amounts.
Chef's Note: A cooked protein can be added after blending if you like chunkier, meatier soup: tofu or chicken work best. I prefer it without.
How to Make Peanut Butter Soup
Step 1: Cook the vegetables. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onions and bell peppers and cook until softened (around 5 minutes). Careful not to brown the onions. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
Step 2: Add broth. Add the vegetable broth, tomato sauce, sweet potatoes, black pepper and chili powder. Bring to a boil.
Step 3: Simmer. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 4: Add peanut butter. Add peanut butter and stir to melt it into the soup.
Step 5: Blend. Pour everything into a blender. Make sure the steam vent is open. Cover the vent with a kitchen towel to avoid splatter and process until smooth and creamy. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to process the soup directly in the pot.
Step 6. Serve. Season with some salt, if needed. Top with cilantro, peanuts and a pinch of curry powder. Serve!
Tips
- Dicing the onion. To dice your onion evenly, cut the onion in half through the root and peel the skin off. Cut narrow vertical slices while keeping the root attached. Hold the onion and cut horizontally into it, again leaving the root attached. Slice the onion halves downward to get diced onions.
- For a thicker soup. I tested this recipe to make it thicker, as that seems to be what many of you were looking for. Here is what you need to do to thicken it:
- Add an extra 2 cups of peeled, chopped sweet potatoes to the pot before simmering (so instead of 2 cups, you will use 4 cups).
- Use ½ cup less broth (instead of 4 cups broth, you will use 3 ½ cups).
- Note that you may have to adjust the seasoning if you make this change.
- Blending. If you don’t have a regular blender, an immersion blender will work well. You have more control, more room to blend, and you don’t need to worry about overheating your blender. Since the pot does not have a cover while blending with an immersion blender, be careful about spilling or splashing.
What to Serve With it
- Bread. Nothing pairs better with soup than slices of bread: try this garlic naan bread or pretzel buns. The bread soaks up the last drops of soup when you are finished.
- Rice. Another great side dish is plain rice to make it more filling. The soup’s thickness is often compared to curry, so the soup will get absorbed into the rice in a similar way.
- Drinks. Peanut butter goes well with whiskey but if that's too hard for you and your guests, try a pale ale or a chocolatey stout if you're looking for something with sweet notes.
Storage & Reheating
- Fridge Storage: Let the soup cool for no more than 2 hours at room temperature and then transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezer Storage: Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Leave room at the top of the container for expansion. Label the container with the date it was placed in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Reheating Instructions: Reheat the soup back up to a hot temperature on the stove.
Recipe FAQs
Peanut butter soup originated in West Africa.
In this peanut butter soup, there is 14 grams of protein per serving.
More Cultural Dishes You Will Love
Do you prefer your soup smooth or chunky? If you tried this 🥜 Peanut Butter Soup Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. And please share the recipe!
📋Recipe
Peanut Butter Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onions - chopped
- ½ cup red bell pepper - chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh garlic - minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cups sweet potatoes - peeled and chopped
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ⅔ cup peanut butter
- Garnishes: fresh cilantro, chopped peanuts and curry powder
Instructions
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onions and bell peppers and cook until softened (around 5 minutes). Careful not to brown the onions.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
- Add the vegetable broth, tomato sauce, sweet potatoes, black pepper and chili powder. Bring to a boil.
- Lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add peanut butter and stir to melt it into the soup.
- Pour everything into a blender. Make sure the steam vent is open. Cover the vent with a kitchen towel to avoid splatter and process until smooth and creamy. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to process the soup directly in the pot.
- Season with some salt, if needed. Top with cilantro, peanuts and a pinch of curry powder. Serve!
Equipment
Notes
- Fridge Storage: Let the soup cool for no more than 2 hours at room temperature and then transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezer Storage: Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Leave room at the top of the container for expansion. Label the container with the date it was placed in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Reheating Instructions: Reheat the soup back up to a hot temperature on the stove.
- For a thicker soup all you have to do is:
- Add an extra 2 cups of peeled, chopped sweet potatoes to the pot before simmering (so instead of 2 cups, you will use 4 cups).
- Use ½ cup less broth (instead of 4 cups broth, you will use 3 ½ cups).
- Note that you may have to adjust the seasoning if you make this change.
Nutrition
Nutrition information on In the Kitch is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may not include toppings and/or sauces.
Joss says
This soup has incredible flavor! It’s warm and comforting.
lisssen says
Very good recipe. Great combination of flavors and textures.
Thank you!
Joss Dyckson says
Thank you!
Lou M. says
Is the red pepper a bell pepper? I used crushed red pepper - a bit spicy, which I really enjoyed - my wife - not so much. Thank you.
Joss D says
Yikes, must have been hot! Sorry for the misunderstanding Lou. It should have been red bell peppers.
Erin says
This soup is so good! Perfect comfort food for a chilly day. The only change I made was to add a tsp. of curry powder and a tsp. of salt to the pot to really make the flavors pop.
Joss D says
Thank you Erin! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It really is nice this time of year.
Audrey says
I have had creamy and thick peanut soup before and loved it! Unfortunately my attempt at this soup recipe was very thin and runny. It did have great flavour.
I was looking forward to a thick and creamy peanut soup.
I'll try again using more sweet potatoes and tomato paste.
Joss D says
I am sorry to hear it wasn't as thick as you would have liked.
Sean says
I've been wanting to explore African cooking (and particularly sub-Saharan) a lot more lately, so I was delighted to see this. I love peanuts as a focal point in meals, so it's a perfect dish for me. Lovely photography too!
Joss D says
Thank you so much Sean. It is a wonderful African dish! I've fed it to people who do not even like peanut butter, but they love this soup.
Colleen says
Yum! This soup is beyond delicious!
Joss D says
Why thank you. 🙂
Vijitha says
Never knew we could make soup with peanut butter! I love peanut butter! You have inspired me to try this 🙂
Joss D says
Thanks Vijitha, I'm so glad you're inspired! It's a very tasty soup.
Vanessa says
I have never heard of this soup before. Apparently I have been missing out - such a great flavour combo.
Joss D says
Thanks Vanessa 🙂
Wanda says
This soup looks so comforting! I've had something similar here and loved it so will definitely have to try making your recipe for our next soup night!
Joss D says
Thanks Wanda! It is a very comforting soup. Enjoy your next soup night!