In the past, my exposure to specific dishes that originated in African countries was limited, for the most part, to stories my husband shared about meals he ate during his trips to Nigeria and Uganda or to comments made by a family friend about food she enjoyed when she visited South Africa. However, since setting out on a mission to make preparing cultural foods easier for busy families through recipe hacks, I’ve discovered countless dishes that are native to the world’s second-largest continent, home of some of my ancestors. And, I plan on featuring simplified versions of many of them on my blog from time to time.
One recipe that I already featured is the one for South African Yellow Rice that I made several weeks ago. The seasoned, savory rice–an iconic dish in the well-known country in the southernmost part of the continent–introduced me to a whole new way to enjoy raisins. (They were plump and juicy in that dish!)
Last week, I decided to make a hearty peanut stew that is popular in a few countries in the West Africa region of the continent. Containing creamy peanut butter (a food my youngest daughter could eat every day), collard greens (one my my favorite foods), and other veggies (which I knew would make my hubby happy), the dish seemed ideal for our family. However, every version of the recipe that I found on the internet required too much food prep, as well as had cooking times that were two to three times as long as the amount of time I typically like to spend getting dinner on the table.
So, I came up with a few recipe tweaks that allowed me to create the below 15-Minute West African Peanut and Chicken Stew recipe. (Please use the pin below the recipe to save it to your Pinterest board if you’re on Pinterest. You can also print out a PDF of the recipe using the black print button above the post.) All of the ingredients that I used for my colorful, protein-rich dish should be available at grocery stores near you. If they aren’t, check to see if you can get them on Amazon. For your convenience, I’ve included below links to a few of the items I used.
Please keep in mind that, if you decide to make a purchase using any of the links, I will earn a small commission from qualifying purchases that will help me to continue to produce content like this on my blog. Now, let’s move on to talking about the recipe!
What You’ll Need To Make 15-Minute West African Peanut and Chicken Stew (Six servings)
*3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
*12-16 ounces of Chicken–I used a bag of grilled chicken chunks to cut down on prep- and cooking time.
*1/2 teaspoon of Ground Ginger
*4-5 Cups of Chicken Broth
*2 1/2 Cups of Sweet Potato, Cubed–I used two 10-ounce bags of frozen, cubed sweet potatoes.
*1 Tablespoon of Crushed Red Pepper
*1 1/2 Cups of Frozen Collard Greens–I used half a bag of frozen, chopped collard greens.
*1 Cup of Creamy Peanut Butter
*16 ounces of Chopped Tomatoes
*Salt (to taste)
*3 Cups of Brown Rice (Optional)
15-Minute West African Peanut and Chicken Stew
1. Microwave the chicken in the microwave on a microwave-safe plate for one minute to thaw the meat.
2. Heat olive oil over high heat in a large pan. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken to the pan and stir fry it until it begins to lightly brown (approximately 3 minutes).
3. After the meat has finished cooking, add the sweet potatoes and collard greens.
4. Then, add the chopped tomatoes.
5. Next, pour four cups of chicken broth over all the contents of the pan and sprinkle in the crushed red pepper. Stir all the ingredients well so that they are evenly spread out in the broth.
6. Finally, using a spoon, fold the peanut butter into the contents of the pan and stir all ingredients well again. If you don’t feel as though you have enough broth, feel free to add another cup of it at this time. Cover the dish and allow it to cook for 11 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. If you plan on serving the stew on top of a bed of rice, you could microwave the rice while the stew finishes cooking on the stove.
8. Once the stew and rice are ready, you can plate them both and enjoy a yummy, nutritious meal!
Possible Substitutions:
1. Creamy peanut butter (made with just peanuts and salt) was used in my recipe because we always have it on hand for my youngest daughter’s peanut butter sandwiches and my hubby’s smoothies. However, you could also use chunky peanut butter. Just make sure that the peanut butter you use doesn’t have sugar or oil added to it.
2. I served the stew on top of brown rice, but you could also use white rice or riced cauliflower.
3. Many versions of this recipe called for fresh collard greens. But, I already had a bag of frozen, chopped collard greens in our freezer, so I saved time (and money) by using that. FYI, if you can’t find frozen collard greens, you could use frozen kale since it’s sometimes used in African dishes when collard greens aren’t available.
4. Chicken stock can also be used if you don’t have chicken broth in your pantry or cabinets.
5. I included frozen, cubed sweet potatoes in my recipe. If you can’t find any–or you would rather use fresh, cubed sweet potatoes–consider buying these instead.
