Vegetarian Peanut Soup
This West African peanut soup recipe is made with pantry staples and collard greens. It's a creamy, spicy vegan soup that's easy to make on busy weeknights.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 5, 2024
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I know that peanut butter, tomatoes and collard greens may seem like an unlikely combination, but I hope you’ll trust me on this one. This homely soup is good—so good that I’m almost tempted to:
- Put on my big puffy coat.
- Shovel my car out from under 10 inches of snow.
- Drive to the store for collard greens so I can make more soup.
Almost.
This recipe is courtesy of my most handsome fellow. He’s a good cook (jackpot!), one who is more apt to follow his instincts than consult a cookbook. This recipe is from one of his two cookbooks, a random, photo-less vegan cookbook called Local Bounty. With the author’s headnote, “Of all the soups we serve in my restaurant, this one is by far the most popular,” and his endorsement, I trusted that this soup was a safe bet.
If you love this recipe, be sure to check out the revamped peanut soup with sweet potatoes and chickpeas in my cookbook!
We taste tested the soup with a few different hot sauces (none of them African) and decided that we liked sriracha was the best. It provides just the right punch of heat.
The end result is a creamy, nourishing soup made of basic pantry ingredients, herbs and greens. It doesn’t require much prep and the hot sauce cuts down on the total number of ingredients, so it’s perfect for cold days and lazy weeknights.
I originally titled this soup “West African Peanut Soup.” While it’s inspired by West African peanut soups, it’s not authentic by any stretch. I’m told that authentic recipes do not contain collard greens, and I believe they often contain meat, among other details.
As a vegetarian, this recipe may be the closest I’ll ever taste to the authentic dish, and I love it for all of the aforementioned qualities. Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, or follow any diet under the sun, I hope you love it, too!
Vegetarian Peanut Soup
This West African-inspired peanut soup recipe is a creamy and comforting, spicy vegan soup. Made with a simple combination of peanut butter, tomato paste and collard greens, this soup comes together quickly and would be a great weeknight meal. If you love spicy flavors like me, don’t hesitate to use liberal amounts of ginger and garlic.
Ingredients
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 bunch collard greens (or kale), ribs removed and leaves chopped into 1-inch strips
- ¾ cup unsalted peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
- ½ cup tomato paste*
- Hot sauce, like sriracha (AKA rooster sauce)
- ¼ cup roughly chopped peanuts, for garnish
- Cooked brown rice, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the broth and water in a medium Dutch oven or stock pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the onion, ginger, garlic and salt. Cook on medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
- In a medium-sized, heat-safe mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter and tomato paste, then transfer 1 to 2 cups of the hot stock to the bowl. Whisk the mixture together until smooth, then pour the peanut mixture back into the soup and mix well. Stir in the collard greens and season the soup with hot sauce to taste.
- Simmer for about 15 more minutes on medium-low heat, stirring often. Season with additional salt or hot sauce if desired. Serve over cooked brown rice if you’d like, and top with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts.
Notes
- Adapted from Local Bounty: Vegan Seasonal Recipes by Devra Gartenstein.
- *The cookbook author suggested that 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes is a suitable substitution for the tomato paste, but commenters report that the crushed tomatoes produce a runny soup (unlike the thick soup shown here). I highly recommend using tomato paste if you can find it. I also recommend Muir Glen‘s organic tomato products—they come in BPA-free cans and seem to be readily available.
- Most African peanut soup recipes include sweet potatoes. I suppose you could toss in a chopped sweet potato when you bring the stock to a boil, but I liked the soup as is.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
One of my favorites! I make it all the time!
Great to hear, Kate!
Very good, added a tablespoon or so of fish sauce to round out the flavor. And yes this freezes nice
I love your version of this tasty soup! I’ve made it many times. It’s quick, easy and filling. Thank you for sharing
Love this recipe. First African peanut soup I taste. Can I make it ahead and freeze it? I am looking for meals I can freeze and then heat post-partum. Thank you for the recipe!
If you try it, let me know! I’m glad you love it, Vilma.
I love this soup! I am living in Turkey and right now, no sweet potatoes available nor chard. I substituted fresh pumpkin for the potatoes and spinach for the chard. Absolutely yummy! Oh, and no tomato paste so I blanched, pureed and made my own tomato paste. More labor, but so worth it! Thank you for your creative genius!
I just made this for the first time, and the flavor was spectacular!
I love this recipe! And I do put the sweet potato in! So delicious!
Great to hear, Gwen!
Sounds and looks so good. We don’t like spicy so would leave out the hot sauce but I am guessing it would still be good.
I just made this soup for New Year’s Day and added 2 cups of cooked black-eyed peas. I believe I saw you post that somewhere, which is where I found the recipe. OMG it is so delicious! I’m eating my second bowl right now. Next time I make it, I am doubling the recipe! I didn’t serve it over rice or anything. I just added A LOT of collard greens and the black-eyed peas which made it chunky. I also used an immersion blender before adding the collard greens and black-eyed peas. I hope it brings me lots of good luck in 2024! Happy New Year!
I’m glad it was a hit! Thank you for sharing how you made this soup, Tami.
This is so good and simple to make! Definitely on our weekly soup rotation :)
Can I use salted peanut butter and leave out the teaspoons of salt or lesson it?
Amazing!!!
Thank you, Chantal!
Delicious! All your recipes are delicious!
I followed it exactly as written. My husband and I enjoyed every mouthful. Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow
Thanks Kate
Great to hear, Jane!
Hi Kate! Getting ready to make the Aftican peanut soup from your cookbook. I want to add a protein-maybe boneless chicken breasts. Would I be able to do this in a crockpot/slow cooker? If so, any specific instructions? Or is it best in a dutch oven?
Thank you!!
I don’t have specifics for you since I am a vegetarian, sorry!
This was a delicious and rich soup. For somebody who is both gluten and lactose intolerant, it felt like a gift to be able to look at the creaminess of this soup and know that it is safe to eat. Instead of the hot sauce, I chopped a few hot, green chilies and added them to the onion, garlic and ginger mix.
Very good and will definitely make again. Thank you, Kate
Great to hear, Shoba! I appreciate your review.
Made this tonight for the first time. It was fantastic! So flavorful.
Great to hear, Patti!
I’ve made versions of African peanut Soup over the years, inspired by the spices of a local, much missed restaurant, Le Petit Dakar. Mine is different every time. Today’s adds sorrel and chives from the garden, chick peas and beans with a home made chicken stock built from leftover chicken in tomato sauce. For heat, a local artisan’s giner and chili mix is perfect. What strikes me about your recipe is something I had not thought of before: blending tomato paste into the (organic) peanut butter. Such a simple thing, but it has somehow made a great difference—thank you! Another takeaway from your site is the rather lovely exchange of ideas and appreciation shown in your followers. Congrats to all…we need much more of that. Happy eating!
This is a favourite recipe of mine – I add a sweet potato and just cook it from the same time as the red onion, and then when I add the kale I add a can of chickpeas too.
It’s so hearty and so dang delicious, and freezes really well. 10/10 soup/stew. I don’t eat it with rice but it goes beautifully with some toasted bread!
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it, Rose!
My husband (non-vegetarian) and I (vegetarian) absolutely love this soup. It’s so simple to throw together, filling, and delicious. It’s blazing hot outside here in TN, but he just requested me to make it tomorrow. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
You’re welcome, Ashley!
I make it with chicken since I am a strict meatatarian It is fabulous. Best soup ever.
I love this soup and have been making it for years! It is especially tasty with a can of coconut milk added to it!