Delicious African Chicken Stew, loaded with chunks of chicken, and crunchy peanut butter bits. All this goodness, and ready in 30 minutes! Serve this zesty stew with some crusty bread, or homemade sourdough bread for a filling meal. Now with Instant Pot directions!
The peanut butter gives the stew a creamy texture, while the garlic, curry, ginger, and crushed red pepper add an incredible flavor depth. Tender chunks of chicken and crunchy bits of peanuts make this stew a new favorite around my house!
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🧐About this Recipe
Recently, we were invited to lunch at Marguerite's house. Marguerite is my husband's second cousin and lives 45 minutes away in Whitefish, Montana. One of the perks of moving to Montana has been getting to know Marguerite, who is just a treasure.
Marguerite served this soup with some delicious crusty bread and followed the fantastic lunch with homemade pumpkin pie! I made very slight changes to her recipe because honestly, it was pretty close to perfect already.
🛒What Goes into This Recipe
🍲How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Chop chicken breasts into 1"- 2" chunks and roughly chop the onion.
Step 2: In a large Dutch oven, heat the sesame oil. Mix salt, black pepper, curry, ginger, and crushed red pepper until combined and stir with chopped chicken and onions.
Step 3: Sauté the spiced chicken and onion mixture in a Dutch oven until the chicken is browned, for approximately 5 minutes. Add garlic during the last minute.
Step 4: Mix stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth in the same bowl the chicken was in. Stir the mixture in with the chicken and onions.
Step 5: Simmer, covered, over medium heat for 15 minutes. Next, stir the crunchy peanut butter into the stew and cook for an additional 10 minutes on low.
Step 6: Meanwhile, toast peanuts in a hot pan for a couple of minutes.
Step 7: Serve stew in deep bowls, topped with a tablespoon of roasted peanuts and chopped fresh cilantro (optional).
Step 8: Another option is to serve the stew with sliced crusty bread for dipping. Or, serve the stew over creamy coconut rice.
🥘Instant Pot African Chicken Stew
- Chop chicken breasts into 1"- 2" chunks and roughly chop the onion.
- Add the sesame oil to the Instant Pot and choose "saute."
- Mix salt, black pepper, curry, ginger, and crushed red pepper until combined and stir with chopped chicken and onions.
- Add the chicken and onions to the Instant Pot and set a timer for 5 minutes.
- Sauté the spiced chicken and onion mixture until the chicken is browned for approximately 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic during the last minute. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot, to avoid "burn" error.
- Mix stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth in the same bowl the chicken was in. Stir the mixture with the chicken and onions.
- Cover with the lid and lock it into place. Set the valve to the "seal" position, choose "high pressure," and set the time to 20 minutes.
- When the time is up, "quick release" the pressure. Unlock the lid and mix in the peanut butter.
- Lock the lid once more and move the lever to "seal." Cook on high pressure for another 5 minutes, followed by a "quick release." Enjoy!
🍽Serving Suggestions
African Chicken Stew is delicious on its own or with some crusty bread. If you want a more authentic side, try it with Fufu! Not Sure what that is, I'm sure you're not alone! This What is Fufu blog post from Louisa at Food Plus Words will tell you everything you want to know and more!
🤷🏻♀️Recipe FAQs
The internet is littered with versions of this stew. Some of the recipes are listed as African Chicken Stew, while others are called African Peanut Soup.
Some of the recipes have sweet potatoes, collard greens, and a wide array of spices including cinnamon, cloves, and cumin.
Still, others call for coconut milk, which I plan on experimenting with in the future. I love it in my Goat Curry Stew recipe, so I'm sure it would go perfectly in this recipe too!
This recipe is just one of the many versions available online. I recommend starting with this recipe and making adjustments to your liking.
According to Wikipedia, peanuts stew or soup is a staple food in Western Africa and originated from the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali.
👩🏼🍳Pro Tips
- The original recipe called for ½ cup of sesame oil and one cup of peanut butter. If you don't mind the additional calories, experiment with the peanut butter and sesame oil ratios.
- If you prefer a creamy stew consistency, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon. Blend the soup with a hand-held immersion blender until it reaches the desired consistency then add the cooked chicken.
- Although you can use creamy or chunky peanut butter, I prefer the added crunch that the chunky peanut butter provides.
- For a chunkier stew, add one chopped sweet potato when you add the chicken. If cooking the stew in an Instant Pot, add the sweet potato when you add the peanut butter.
🍖Related Recipes
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📖 Recipe
African Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 3 cups cubed chicken breast (20 oz or 3 breasts)
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon curry
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or less for a milder stew)
- 5 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 14.5 oz diced stewed tomatoes
- 2 14.5 oz chicken broth
- 3 oz tomato paste (half a can)
- ¾ cup peanut butter (or up to one cup)
- roasted/chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Chop chicken breasts into 1"- 2" chunks and roughly chop the onion.
- In a large Dutch oven, heat the sesame oil. Mix salt, black pepper, curry, ginger, and crushed red pepper until combined and stir with chopped chicken and onions.
- Sauté the spiced chicken and onion mixture in a Dutch oven until the chicken is browned for approximately 5 minutes. Add garlic during the last minute.
- Mix stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth in the same bowl the chicken was in. Stir the mixture in with the chicken and onions.
- Simmer, covered, over medium heat for 15 minutes. Next, stir the crunchy peanut butter into the stew and cook for an additional 10 minutes on low.
- Meanwhile, toast peanuts in a hot pan for a couple of minutes.
- Serve stew in deep bowls, topped with a tablespoon of roasted peanuts, and chopped fresh cilantro (optional).
- Another option is to serve the stew with sliced crusty bread for dipping. Or, serve the stew over creamy coconut rice.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Chop chicken breasts into 1"- 2" chunks and roughly chop the onion.
- Add the sesame oil to the Instant Pot and choose "saute."
- Mix salt, black pepper, curry, ginger, and crushed red pepper until combined and stir with chopped chicken and onions.
- Add the chicken and onions to the Instant pot and set a timer for 5 minutes.
- Sauté the spiced chicken and onion mixture until the chicken is browned for approximately 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic during the last minute. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot, to avoid "burn" error.
- Mix stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth in the same bowl the chicken was in. Stir the mixture in with the chicken and onions.
- Cover with the lid and lock it into place. Set the valve to the "seal" position, choose "high pressure," and set the time to 20 minutes. When the time is up, "quick release" the pressure.
- Unlock the lid and mix in the peanut butter.
- Lock the lid once more and move the lever to "seal." Cook on high pressure for another 5 minutes, followed by a "quick release." Mix to combine the peanutbutter.
- Serve stew in deep bowls, topped with a tablespoon of roasted peanuts, and chopped fresh cilantro (optional).
Notes
- The original recipe called for ½ cup of sesame oil and one cup of peanut butter. If you don't mind the additional calories, experiment with the peanut butter and sesame oil ratios.
- If you prefer a creamy stew consistency, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon. Blend the soup with a hand-held immersion blender until it reaches the desired consistency then add the cooked chicken.
- Although you can use creamy or chunky peanut butter, I prefer the added crunch that the chunky peanut butter provides.
- For a chunkier stew, add one chopped sweet potato when you add the chicken. If cooking the stew in an Instant Pot, add the sweet potato when you add the peanut butter.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on Feb. 15, 2020. It was updated on Oct. 5, 2020 by adding Instant Pot instructions.
Rasheedah says
Thank you for this recipe! It comes together so quickly but is amazingly flavorful. It's one of my favorite things and I had not been able to find it locally. I made this today for lunch and it made me so happy. A dash of hot sauce at the end puts it over the top. (Personal preference).
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Rasheedah,
Thank you for the sweet review. I'm so glad you like the stew. I totally approve of the hot sauce and do the same. Unfortunately, not all my readers like spicy food as much as I do, so I have to keep everyone happy. 😉
Carol Holcomb says
I’d like to prepare this dish and freeze it ahead of time. Will freezing it work?
Hilda Sterner says
Yes, I have frozen it when I had leftovers and enjoyed it months later.
Kelly Methey says
This is so delicious! What a special treat to hang with friends and get this fantastic dish for lunch! I loved it and can’t wait to make it for my soup loving husband! Thank you Hilda!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Kelly, definitely one of my favorites too! I think Art will also love it.
Kathy Fisher says
All of us girlfriends loved having this amazing soup/stew today. It was delicious. As always Hilda our outdo yourself. Thanks.
Hilda Sterner says
You're so sweet to leave a review, thank you!! ❤️
Janelle Leatherwood says
This is a wonderful stew and even my pickiest eater liked it! Woot! Woot! It was fantastic poured over plain Basmati Rice, but if I'm making it for company, I'm definitely going the extra mile to make it with your creamy coconut rice, which also sounds divine.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Janelle,
Thank you so much for the comment and the review. I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed it. I haven't met anyone who hasn't liked it yet!
Saundra says
Easy and yummy! And novel (at least for me.)
HildaSterner says
Hi Saundra,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a review. I really appreciate it! 🙂
Kelly Methey says
This sounds so delicious and easy to make! Looking forward to trying it soon!
HildaSterner says
You will love it, everyone does!
Terry says
I made your African Chicken Stew tonight. It was amazing. I even went to the store today to get all the the exact ingredients to make it. The only thing I did differently was to use cooked leftover rotisserie chicken from Costco which I spooned over Spanish rice. We had crusty bread and butter on the side. Thanks, this one is a winner!
HildaSterner says
Hi Terry,
Glad you guys liked it, and thanks for coming back and leaving a review! I definitely think this is a keeper and look forward to making it again and again!
Kathy Fisher says
Delicious is an understatement. Tasting is believing. You won't be disappointed. Thank you and Marguerite for this great recipe.
HildaSterner says
I wasn't exaggerating, right? We just enjoyed some for lunch too!