Peanut Soup is honestly my family’s favorite soup recipe in the whole world. I’ve made peanut soup probably more than 100 times and love this soup more each time I make it. The perfect peanut soup have the perfect balance of flavor and texture. Savory, spicy, rich and nourishing. Then you get the deliciousness of the okra, spinach or the kale greens.
What Makes This Peanut Butter Soup Special?
I kid you not, even my 2 year old twin girls could eat a healthy bowl of this soup with their spaghetti or rice all day for 3 or more days in a row. I know you will be wondering why peanut soup with spaghetti. Yes, the soup is that versatile and can go with pretty much a lot of things.
I have made this perfect African peanut soup several times and I am never tired of eating it. It always comes out delicious and full of flavor. Especially during the cold months, you can make this soup with a bunch of extra ginger and garlic for the entire family to kick out the flu.
I remember the last time I made this soup, one of my toddler twin girls was sick but she managed to eat a healthy bowl of this soup, and we all know how hard it is to get a sick toddler to eat right? This peanut soup is easy on a sore throat and can helps improve your appetite.
This perfect African peanut soup is relatively simple to make. It is hearty, comforting, warm, and satisfying soup that is well balanced both in terms of flavor and texture.
The more the greens, the better. The soup tests even better the second and third night and it’s perfect as leftovers. Freezes well and in my opinion tastes even better after freezing and reheating.
You can’t go wrong with this peanut soup recipe. The end result is always a thick, creamy, nourishing and delicious soup made from basic ingredients and kitchen tools. This soup certainly does not require much prep and the best part, it is a one pot soup. which means you only need one pot and no unnecessary dish washing.
NOTES
- For the rich orange color and added thickness to the soup, I highly recommend using tomato paste for this recipe. However, you may substitute 1 can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce for tomato paste. Note that crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce will produce a runny soup.
- If you choose to use crushed tomatoes, reduce the amount of water by 1 cup or cook the soup for a longer time to thicken up.
- To make the soup vegan or vegetarian, use more okra and omit chicken and any animal protein I used in this recipe. You can also substitute kale for okra for a more hearty and delicious peanut soup. Use this same recipe for Spinach or Kale.
What Type of Peanut Butter Should I use?
All Natural Peanut Butter. If you are using store-bought peanut nut butter, make sure you buy all natural peanut butter that is made from only peanut and salt. Some store-bought peanut butter may contain sugar, oil and other additives that you want avoid in this recipe to maximize the flavor and nutrients for this perfect peanut butter soup.
How to Store Your Peanut Soup
Refrigeration Instruction: Properly cooked peanut soup should stay for about a day on the countertop in the cold season, or 3-4 days in the fridge. Store any leftover in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Freezing Instructions: You can freeze your leftover soup in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat frozen peanut soup, thaw the soup in the refrigerator first before bringing it out to microwave or reheat on stovetop when you are ready to eat.
Substitutes for the Nourishing and Flavorful Peanut Soup
You can substitute okra for any hearty leafy greens like spinach, kale, mustard greens, collard greens and the list go on and on. The only caution is to make sure you don’t use very strong tasting greens as they may compromise the flavorful taste of your peanut soup. Mild tasting leafy greens are best.
P.S: In Ghana, bitter tasting leaves are sometimes used to make soups like this soup and Egusi soup (melon seed soup) for new mothers to help with breastmilk supply and for nourishment in general. It is believed that new mothers loose fluid, blood and sometimes body mass (especially through c-section) so making soups not only help nourish them and their babies but also the bitter leaves added will help to balance acidity as well.
Can I make Peanut Soup Vegan?
Absolutely yes! To make this vegan, leave out the chicken broth and any animal protein used, and substitute with tofu, mushroom, more greens (my favorite is kale and mustard greens) or sweet potatoes.
How To Make the Perfect Peanut Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Can All Natural Peanut Butter creamy is preferred. You can also use regular peanut butter if you don't have Natural.
- 2 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 1 Medium Red or Yellow Onion
- 1 Medium Whole Tomato
- 2-4 Garlic clove peeled
- 1 Bunch Fresh Okra or 2 cups kale or Spinach chop off the heads
- 4-6 Cups Water Use less or more depending on your preference
- 2-3 Cups Chicken or Vegetable broth
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1 Teaspoon All Purpose Seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin powder or anise seeds
- 1 Tablespoon Cray fish (Herrings powder) or Shrimp powder
- Your choice of Protein Cooked chicken/Fish/tofu/Fried Cheese(paneer) or anything you can use as protein.
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients to be used.
- Add peanut butter in the pot and turn heat to medium low.
- Add tomato paste and stir for about 1-2 minutes making sure it is not sticking to the pot.
- After about 2 minutes, add a little water (about 2-3 tablespoons) and keep stirring. Continue stirring and adding water bit by bit until oil starts to generate on the surface.
- Add the amount of water you want to use. For a runny soup add more water. For thick soup add less water.
- Add tomato, onion, garlic, chicken broth and all the spices and herbs. Cover and allow to boil for about 5mins under high to medium heat or until tomato and onion are tender.
- Remove the tomato, onion and garlic and blend until smooth. Pour the blended mixture back in the soup.
- Add shrimp powder or the crayfish, your protein and okra (or greens)
- Add salt to taste and cook for about 5-10 minutes. Now reduce the heat to lowest setting and allow to simmer for about 5-10 minutes.
- Serve with Rice, Potatoes, Fufu, Banku or enjoy it as is.
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I only have plastic containers of peanut butter. About how many ounces is in a can?
A 16oz can is perfect. That should make you a big batch of soup. If you like, you can use half of the 16oz container if you are only cooking for yourself and should last you for about 3 days.
Any good replacement ideas for the shrimp powder/crayfish? I don’t have anything like that on hand. Thanks! Looks delicious!
Hi Jean, thank you for your comment. You can easily substitute shrimp powder or crayfish with canned tuna, canned salmon or by mashing into pieces any regular sauteed fish like salmon.