This 1 pot mafe recipe (also known as African Peanut Stew) is incredibly easy to make, full of plant-based protein, and absolutely delicious. If you love peanut butter, you’ll love this hearty stew!
This Maafe recipe is one of the first recipes I shared on the blog. I recently traveled to West Africa where I was first introduced to Maaf and I knew I needed to share this naturally vegetarian recipe with my readers. This African Peanut Stew is perfect for my family because we love adding peanut butter to anything from peanut butter swirl brownies to creamy peanut butter curry. If you love peanut butter, I know you’ll love this vegan muffin, which, in addition to peanut butter, is full of sweet potatoes, beans, and leafy greens.
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Why you’ll love this recipe!
- If you love peanut butter, you’ll love this Senegalese peanut stew! Salty peanut butter combines with saucy tomatoes to create a delicious base for hearty potatoes, beans, and greens.
- This mafe recipe Uses a lot of pantry and freezer staplesThis makes the perfect recipe to whip up with you without a lot of fresh produce or time.
- Although there are some ingredients that are traditional to African groundnut stew, this The recipe is quite versatile. If you don’t have kidney beans, you can use a different type. If you are out of fresh greens, use frozen. If you don’t like sweet potatoes, chuck in some white potatoes. Really, anything this recipe adds to the peanut butter and tomato base will surprise you.
Materials
- garlic – I love garlic! Better in my opinion, especially if it’s fresh garlic. If you want to use more than 3 cloves, I would definitely say go for it. If you don’t have fresh garlic, you can use pre-minced garlic or garlic powder.
- ginger – Fresh ginger is an ingredient I always have on hand and I rarely find it bad. I just store it by itself in my vegetable drawer. You’ll want to peel your ginger before mincing it or grating it in a zester.
- Canned diced tomatoes – If you don’t have diced tomatoes on hand, you can use whole canned tomatoes and chop them up a bit.
- Nut butter – Make sure you use natural peanut butter. You don’t want to add any extra thickeners or sugar to this maffe recipe. I almost always use my homemade peanut butter.
- Vegetable broth – Use whatever brand of vegetable broth you like best. You can use broth from a carton or add water to veggie stock cubes.
- sweet potato – If you don’t mind potato skins, leave your potato skins on. Either way, you’ll want to cut your potatoes into the same size cubes so they cook evenly.
- Canned kidney beans – Kidney beans are traditionally used in African groundnut stew and they add some extra protein to this recipe.
- Frozen pulses – Frozen peas are a vegetable that I always have stocked in my freezer. They add a nice burst of color to this maffe recipe as well as some extra protein.
- in time – I like to use hearty kale in this recipe. Be sure to remove the stems from your kale and chop it before adding it to this stew.
See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.
replacement
- sweet potato – If you don’t have or prefer sweet potatoes, use regular white potatoes.
- Kidney beans – Kidney beans can be substituted with beans of your choice or already in your pantry.
- in time – Any vegetable will work in this recipe! Whenever I don’t have fresh greens on hand, I just use frozen spinach.
How to Make Vegan Maffei
Step 1: Heat some olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and fry for a few minutes until translucent. Add garlic and ginger batter and cook for few more minutes.
Step 2: (optional) Add the red pepper flakes, diced tomatoes, and peanut butter and stir until combined.
Step 3: Next stir in the vegetable stock and diced sweet potatoes and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let the stew simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender, but not mushy.
Step 4: Finally stir in the kidney beans, frozen peas and kale and let the beans warm and the greens wilt. Taste and add more salt and black pepper if needed.
Expert tips
- Be sure to cut your sweet potatoes into the same size cubes so they cook evenly. You want to avoid some potatoes being al dente and others mushy.
- I always like to add some citrus to my soups and stews, so I recommend squeezing some lime juice over this vegetable muff before digging in. Some fresh cilantro would also go a long way to enhance this simple peanut stew.
Recipe FAQs
Another common name for African groundnut stew is mafe or groundnut stew. It is a staple food throughout West Africa, especially Senegal. As the name suggests, it is made with a ground peanut base that forms a thick stew or sauce. I was inspired by my trip to Nigeria to recreate this African Groundnut Stew and now it seems everyone understands how easy, delicious and hearty this dish is!
Maafe is pronounced “ma” (as in mama) and “fe” (as in Fayetteville). It is also called African groundnut stew or groundnut stew.
Traditional mafe often contains meat and meat broth. However, since the broth is naturally vegetarian, it is easy to make the entire recipe vegetarian by substituting meat and meat broth for plant-based protein sources and vegetable broth.
This muffey should keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. I think it will taste better the longer it sits in the fridge because the flavors have more time to meld!
More Vegan 1 Pot Soups and Stews!
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating on the recipe card below and a review in the comments section further down the page
📖 Recipe
Mafe (African Peanut Stew)
This 1-pot African Peanut Stew is incredibly easy to make, full of plant-based protein, and absolutely delicious. Everyone in your family will love it!
Materials
instructions
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Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and fry for a few minutes until translucent.
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Add garlic and ginger batter and cook for few more minutes.
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(optional) Add the red pepper flakes, diced tomatoes, and peanut butter and stir to combine.
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Next stir in the vegetable stock and diced sweet potatoes and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let the stew simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, but not mushy.
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Finally stir in the kidney beans, frozen peas and kale and allow the beans to heat through and the kale to wilt for another 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt and black pepper if needed.
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Serve hot with cilantro, lemon or lime wedges and more red pepper flakes!
Comment
- Try to cut your sweet potatoes into cubes of the same size so they cook evenly.
- Any dark leafy green (spinach, collard greens, etc.) will work.
- Leftovers will keep sealed in the fridge for a few days.
nutrition
Calories: 286kcalSugars: 35gProtein: 10gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fats: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 566mgPotassium: 801mgFiber: 8gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 12478IUVitamin C: 41mgCalcium: 120mgIron: 3mg