West African–style peanut stew with sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes simmered in a silky, gently spiced peanut and tomato broth, rich and warming and made almost entirely from the pantry.
- 45 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $1.30 a serving
- 390 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 sweet potatoes, large, about 1½ lb
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz
- ½ cup peanut butter, creamy
- 2 cups kale, chopped (optional)
- ¼ cup peanuts, chopped (optional)
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 4 cups water
- 1½ tsp salt
Each serving has about 390 calories, 12 g protein, 39 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $1.30 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No kale? Baby spinach works.
- No peanuts? Cashews work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1-inch . the onion and the garlic.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, 5 to 6 minutes, until soft.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin and cayenne and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the sweet potatoes, the tomatoes with their juice, 4 cups water and the salt. over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Put the peanut butter in a bowl and in a ladle of the hot liquid until smooth, then stir it into the pot.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Dolly’s tip: Thinning it first means no stubborn clumps of peanut butter floating around.to low, set the and 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sweet potatoes are very tender.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: Peanut butter likes to catch on the bottom, so scrape the pot every time you stir.Stir in the kale and cook 3 minutes, until . Mash a few pieces of sweet potato to the stew if you like.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Low heatTimer: 3 min
Taste and add salt if it needs it. Ladle into bowls and top with peanuts and cilantro.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
