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West African Inspired Peanut Lentil Soup. with lentils and veggies, Harissa Spice, peanut butter, Sweet potato. Serves 3 to 4. Lentils make this one filling meal. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Recipe
African inspired Peanut Stew is one of the favorite recipes on the interwebs, with many variations and interpretations. A creamy peanutty stew with spices and veggies is definitely needed after all the loaded holiday meals and desserts. Many countries in West Africa have their versions of Peanut stew which can include different vegetables such as okra, eggplants etc, spices, and meats.
My version of the soup has red lentils along with the vegetables. Red lentils make the stew thick and filling and you can reduce the peanut butter/nut butter. It makes a great one bowl meal. Use vegetables of choice like sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, zucchini, eggplant, etc. Top with toasted peanuts of other nuts, cilantro or other herbs a dash of lemon. Serve as is or with crackers or flatbread.
This Christmas we had a no gift policy. We just wanted Chewie to be better and he is. We made a jar of things we want for the next year, mostly things or events we would love to accomplish the next year. That jar will be opened next year to see if everyone got their wishes. Hope you had a fun and love filled Christmas!
Try this African Peanut Stew with Lentils with spices to keep you warm through the snowy cold front.
More stews and soups from the blog. Glutenfree GF, Soyfree SF
- Peanut Carrot Soup GF
- Creamy Spinach soup GF SF
- Chickpea Mushroom Soup GF SF
- 1 pot Chickpea Sweet Potato Spinach Stew. GF SF
- Roasted Asparagus Basil soup. GF SF
- Chipotle corn Chowder GF
- Moroccan lentil soup SF GF
- Cream of Mushroom Soup GF
Cook this soup in a saucepan or in a pressure cooker. Soup in the pictures was cooked in a stove top pressure cooker.
VIDEO:
West African Peanut Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 medium onion
- 2 juicy tomatoes
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 tbsp sambal oelek or asian chili sauce or other hot chile sauce to taste
- 1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 to 1.5 tsp Harissa Spice Blend
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup nut butter like peanut butter or almond butter
- 2 tbsp peanuts
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 2 cups veggies, chopped small or thin slices - zucchini, sweet potato or potato, carrots, eggplant, broccoflower etc
- 2.5 cups vegetable stock or water
- 3/4 tsp to 1 salt
- 1 tsp or more lime or lemon juice
- 1/2 cup packed baby spinach or other baby greens.
Instructions
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. 5 minutes
- Meanwhile, blend the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, chili sauce, tomato paste, spices until pureed. Add to the saucepan. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add peanut butter, half of the nuts, lentils, veggies, stock, salt and lemon juice. Mix, cover and cook.
- Stir at 15 minutes.Taste and adjust salt, heat and check if the veggies are al-dente. Add in the baby spinach. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the veggies and lentils are cooked through. Add more water if needed.
- Garnish with rest of the peanuts, cilantro, more lemon juice. Serve with flatbread, crackers or as is.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was great.. I used Almonds instead of peanuts .. and roasted them.. so good !!!!
Thanks for the yummy meal …
Awesome!
Didn’t have peanuts so I added some brown rice to this, it was delicious.
Great!
Made this dish last night and it was wonderful! My daughter had seconds and wanted the leftovers for her lunch today. Next time will double the recipe so I can freeze some and take for my lunch. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Awesome!!
My husband made this soup yesterday, following instructions exactly. It took an hour, which included cleaning up as he went, and that’s good for us! This is right up there with the best soups I have ever had. It might be THE best. Vegan Richa now joins Angela Liddon as my vegan cooking guru(s) and I just purchased her book. Delicious, rich in flavor and texture. For us, it’s 4-5 servings.
Awesome!! Thank you for making it and loving the soup! <3 Thank you for buying my book!
This sounds so warm and comforting. I’m all for anything that combines harissa + peanut sauce…can’t wait to try! 🙂
This sounds and looks wonderful! The flavours sound dreamy.
Nourishing Amelia | Food, Health and Lifestyle Blogger
I made this for lunch today and it tasted great. I had to do without the tomato paste and I’m not sure if that altered the taste but it still tasted fantastic. We had this with Turkish Pide. It’s a simple recipe and will definitely be one of my go to recipes. Thanks Richa.
Awesome! you can add more lemon for the tangy profile that the tomato paste will add.
Peanuts and lentil soup seem SO unlikely together, but this is actually a fantastic idea!
Riicha, this recipe sounds lovely. I think I will pressure cook a double batch this afternoon. Glad to hear that Chewie is better. And I love your idea of the jar. Maybe my hubs will do a jar of hopes and desires for the new year. I wish all your dreams and hopes come true in a healthy and happy 2016! Thanks for everything you share with us. I’m giving you five stars as a general opinion of your entire blog!! 🙂 But the star function isn’t letting me do it. 🙁
Hi Richa. Just wondering if you are still doing your jar of hopes and plans. I love that idea so I’m wondering how it worked out. Thanks. I love your blog, the way you share yourself with us, and all of your winning recipes, which I can always count on.
Yes we open it every christmas! our friends who visit around the time added their plans as well and we open and check. We also had a gratitude jar going for per day, which we now try to do every week or every other week. That was a nice one to pause to think of the good things that have happened.