Maafe Recipe – This cozy West African peanut soup is a spicy stew made with beef or chicken. The spicy, savory, nutty, and sweet flavor is thanks to sweet potatoes and carrots. It’s the perfect balance of flavors. 😍
Groundnut soup, as West Africans sometimes call this dish, makes an amazing one-pot meal. But it goes beautifully over steamy rice or other traditional African sides, so there are plenty of ways to serve it. The traditional Senegalese peanut stew is the inspiration for my recipe.
The tempting combination of garlic, ginger, herbs, and plenty of spices is mouthwateringly good. As with most soups, the potential variations are endless. Customizing it to your taste or ingredient availability is easy! 👌
Content…Browning the Meat |
Browning Meat for Maafe
Traditionally, maafe features boiling the meat and then browning it. This optional step certainly adds extra flavor and a little crispiness to the melt-in-your-mouth meat. To brown the meat after boiling it, we’ll saute it on the stovetop to get it nice and crisp. We have two ways to brown the meat, and either works fine 🤎.
The first way to brown meat is to place it on a baking sheet and drizzle it with a little soup stock and 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Adjust the oven rack so the top of the beef or chicken is 4-5 inches below the broiler. Broil on high for 3-5 minutes until it becomes crispy and browned, turning frequently to ensure even brownness.
What You Need
- Meat – Chicken or beef works well in maafe. Choose your favorite, or just use what you have on hand.
- Veggies – Carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and potatoes give this soup its stew-like coziness. I like adding a scotch bonnet or habanero pepper to the mix, but the extra heat is totally optional.
- Peanuts – You can use ground peanuts, peanut butter, or peanut paste. If you go with creamy peanut butter, please use unsweetened natural peanut butter.
- Spices – Smoked paprika, white pepper, fresh parsley, cayenne, and some S&P are all you need to make this tremendously tasty dish. Black pepper instead of white pepper and red pepper flakes instead of cayenne also work fine.
- Stock – Beef stock is my go-to broth base for this recipe, but chicken broth also works great.
- Oil – You’ll need a little oil to sautee your meat and veggies, as well as for browning if you choose to brown the meat. Vegetable or olive oil works fine.
How to Make Maafe (West African Peanut Soup)
Prep the Meat
- Boil – In a large saucepan, season the meat with salt and boil until tender. Cooking time varies depending on which cut of meat you are using.
- Remove the meat and reserve the stock (broth). You should have at least 3-4 cups of stock.
- Brown – In a large pot, heat oil over low heat, then add the meat. Sauté stirring frequently to remove any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Remove and set aside. (Photo 1)
Assemble the Soup
- Blend the tomatoes, half the onion, garlic, and parsley in a food processor or blender.
- Saute Onion – Add the other half of the onion, chopped to the pan, and saute for about a minute.
- Sauce – Then, pour the blended ingredients into the saucepan. Add the paprika and white pepper and sauté for 7-10 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent burning, and add stock as needed. (Photo 2)
- Veggies – Add the potatoes, carrots, peanut butter paste, scotch bonnet pepper, and about 3 cups of broth. (Photo 3)
- Simmer – Continue cooking until potatoes tender—10 minutes or more, depending on the vegetables. (Photo 4)
- Serve – Finally, toss in the browned beef and adjust the soup thickness to the desired consistency. Serve and enjoy! (Photos 5-6)
Recipe Variations
- Protein swap. Virtually any kind of meat or protein will work well with this soup. Try it with shrimp, pork, or even tofu.
- Get creative with the veggies. This is a stew you can get creative with. Feel free to add peas, corn, green beans, or any other vegetable you like to the mix. 🌽
- Make it vegetarian. Swap out meat stock with vegetable broth and use tofu or a plant-based meat substitution and you’ve got a meat-free dish!
- Ginger. A grated ½-inch knob of fresh ginger is a delicious addition.
Notes and Tips
- You can skip browning the beef or chicken if you want to avoid frying. Just simmer the meat until tender and proceed with the rest of the instructions.
- If cooking for kids, skip the cayenne pepper and leave the scotch bonnet pepper whole. For a mild dose of heat, prick the scotch bonnet with a toothpick, but don’t cut it up. 🌶️
- If you reach the final steps in the recipe and the stew is too thick for your taste, just add a little water or broth to thin it. If it’s too thin, simmer it for a few more minutes to thicken it further.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Stews and soups are always good make-ahead dishes. Make it a day or two ahead and refrigerate it in an airtight container. You can also freeze maafe for up to three months. When ready to serve it, reheat it slowly on the stove.
Serving and Storage Instructions
Serve your West African peanut stew hot, garnished with freshly chopped parsley.
If you have leftovers, refrigerate them in an airtight container for 3-5 days. To reheat maafe, pop it in the microwave, or reheat it on the stove over medium heat.
What Pairs With Maafe West African Peanut Stew
Try a traditional African take on maafe by serving it with a side of fufu. It also tastes wonderful poured over some steamy jasmine rice.
Since it already has loads of veggies, meat, and potatoes, you can skip the sides in favor of some bread to dip in the broth. Homemade garlic bread or no-knead bread are two good options. 🥖
More Amazing African Recipes to Try
This blog post was originally published in July 2015 and has been updated with additional tips and beautiful photos
Maafe West African Peanut Soup
Ingredients
- 1-2 pounds (450-900g) beef or chicken
- ¼ cup (60ml) oil or more
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) white pepper
- 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped and divided
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 2-3 tablespoons (8-12g) parsley
- ½ cup (64g) ground peanuts or peanut butter powder
- 3-4 cups (700-840ml) broth chicken or beef (reserved from boiling)
- 1 pound (450g) vegetables or more (potatoes, carrots, etc.)
- 1 whole scotch bonnet, habanero or ½ teaspoon cayenne (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, season the meat with salt and boil until tender. Cooking time varies depending on which cut of meat you are using.
- Remove the meat and reserve the stock (broth). You should have at least 3-4 cups of stock.
- In a large pot, heat oil over low heat, then add the meat. Sauté stirring frequently to remove any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Remove and set aside.
- Blend the tomatoes, half the onion, garlic, and parsley in a food processor or blender.
- Add the other half of the onion, chopped to the pan, and saute for about a minute.
- Pour the blended ingredients into the saucepan. Add the paprika and white pepper and sauté for 7-10 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent burning, and add stock as needed.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, peanut butter paste, scotch bonnet pepper, and about 3 cups of broth.
- Continue cooking until potatoes tender—10 minutes or more, depending on the vegetables.
- Toss in the browned beef and adjust the soup thickness to the desired consistency. Serve and enjoy!
Tips & Notes:
- You can skip browning the beef or chicken if you want to avoid frying. Just simmer the meat until tender and proceed with the rest of the instructions.
- If cooking for kids, skip the cayenne pepper and leave the scotch bonnet pepper whole. For a mild dose of heat, prick the scotch bonnet with a toothpick, but don’t cut it up.
- If you reach the final steps in the recipe and the stew is too thick for your taste, just add a little water or broth to thin it. If it’s too thin, simmer it for a few more minutes to thicken it further.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Jodel says
This dish looks so delicious! I will love to try this out.
imma africanbites says
Yes, it is! Please do let me know how it turns out for you. Happy cooking!
helen a white says
EXCELLENT!!!
Camilla says
How would you adjust the spices if making this without the protein?
Courtney says
Turned out amazing! Thank you as usual for taking my meals up a notch.
Immaculate Bites says
Woohoo! Thank you, Courtney 🙂
denelian says
i really want to try this — but i am allergic to tomatoes. is there a possible sub for them? i run into this ALL THE TIME, it’s sad, i really want this but.
ImmaculateBites says
Leave it out completely, add about 1/2 cup more onions.
Justin says
Hi there, I noticed you said sweet potatoes in the introduction to the recipe, but then listed potatoes as the ingredient in the actual directions. Can sweet potatoes be used in this? That sounds delicious! Also, I’m sure it’s not authentic, but do you think tofu would work okay as a protein in this recipe instead of meat? Thanks for your recipe, can’t wait to try it!
imma africanbites says
Hi, Justin. Yes, I did use sweet potatoes, but you can certainly swap it for regular potatoes. I just love using the sweet potatoes because it adds that hint of sweetness. As for the tofu, I haven’t tried it tho, so I cannot answer with certainty.
JDR says
This is delicious! Wondering why boil the meat first and then brown? To save time I skipped straight to the sautee stage and it was great. Also, do you mean blend the onion, tomato, parsley, and garlic in a blender or just mix them together before sauteeing? I blended them and it was delicious! Thanks!
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Jocelyn! If you have a tender cut of beef then you can absolutely skip the boiling part. And you did everything just right :). Glad you loved it!
Martine says
salut, avez-vous un livre de recettes avec toutes les recettes de tous les plats africains quelque part à acheter?
ImmaculateBites says
Salut Martine! Je travaille actuellement sur un. Je serai sûr de vous le faire savoir dès qu’il sera disponible, alors restez à l’écoute :). En attendant, n’hésitez pas à parcourir la catégorie des plats africains de mon blog pour découvrir de délicieux plats faciles à préparer. Merci d’être passé.
Fatima says
This was so delicious. One of the best recipes I have tried. Kids loved it. Thanks for sharing.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! My son loves this too. Glad it was a hit with your family. Thanks for the feedback, Fatima 🙂 !
Beth Karschnick says
We used to live in West Africa(guinea) and we love this. We didn’t add the vegetables and we used chicken but there are many variations. One year we had all the traditional American fixings for Christmas. Our neighbor also fixed us some traditional dishes from their. My youngest who was probably 4 at the time wouldn’t touch any of my American meal. He would only eat the Guinean food. That’s how much he loved it! Hahaha
ImmaculateBites says
Nice! Thanks for taking the take to share your thoughts with us .
Emma says
I’ve been meaning to try making this for a while. Loved it! Great to make to – not complicated, but a great way to spend some quality time in the kitchen making some tender and delicious food! Thanks for the recipe.
Emma says
I’ve been meaning to try making this for a while. Loved it! Great to make to – not complicated, but a great way to spend some quality time in the kitchen making some tender and delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
imma africanbites says
You’re welcome. So glad you loved it. And thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Jonathan Chan says
could i try this recipe in the crockpot and cook it on slow
ImmaculateBites says
Yes you sure can.
Monique says
What beef would you recommend. I tried your recipe with chicken and it is DELICIOUS. This recipe is a staple in my house.
FutureDoc2021 says
Can I used peanut butter?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes you can.