West African peanut stew, known across the continent as Maafe, Groundnut Soup, or Domoda depending on the region, is one of the oldest and most nutritionally complete one-pot meals in the world. Long before anyone spoke of macros or micronutrients, West African cooks were combining legume-based fats with animal protein, vitamin-rich sweet potato, and tomato in a way that modern nutritional science now recognises as genuinely synergistic. The fat from peanut butter dramatically increases the bioavailability of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, meaning the beta-carotene in sweet potato is absorbed at rates up to six times higher when eaten alongside a fat source like this.
This recipe draws on the Senegalese and Malian traditions of Maafe, using bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for maximum flavour and collagen, a base of caramelised onion, garlic, and ginger, and a generous measure of natural peanut butter whisked into a tomato-sweet potato broth. The result is deeply savoury, lightly spiced with smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne, and finished with wilted spinach for a final hit of iron and folate. It is rich without being heavy, and it scales beautifully across stovetop, slow cooker, and pressure cooker methods.
From a calibration standpoint, this stew is one of the most balanced recipes on the blog. A single serving clears 40 percent of your daily protein target, more than a third of your iron needs, half your vitamin A requirement, and meaningful amounts of magnesium, potassium, zinc, and B vitamins. The peanut butter contributes heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and vitamin E, while the tomatoes add lycopene and vitamin C to enhance non-haem iron absorption from the spinach and lentils. Every ingredient is earning its place.
4
servings
Ingredients
- 800 gbone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 4 large thighs)
- 350 gsweet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
- 130 gnatural peanut butter (100% peanuts, no added sugar)
- 400 gcanned crushed tomatoes
- 150 gbaby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 largeyellow onion, finely diced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 20 gfresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 750 mllow-sodium chicken stock
- 2 tbspextra-virgin olive oil or peanut oil
- 1.5 tspsmoked paprika
- 1 tspground cumin
- 0.5 tspcayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 tspground coriander
- 1 tbspfresh lemon juice
- 30 groasted peanuts, roughly chopped (for garnish)
- 15 gfresh cilantro, roughly chopped (for garnish)
- —Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- —Cooked brown rice or flatbread, to serve
Instructions
🔧 Equipment
- Pat the chicken thighs completely dry with paper towels and season generously on both sides with salt, black pepper, and half the smoked paprika. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken skin-side down and sear without moving for 6 to 8 minutes until the skin is deep golden-brown and releases naturally from the pan. Flip and sear the flesh side for 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered fat, leaving the browned drippings in the pot.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned fond from the bottom, for 6 to 8 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent with golden edges. Add the garlic, ginger, remaining smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Stir continuously for 90 seconds until the spices bloom and become intensely fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until it darkens slightly and smells jammy.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pot clean. In a small bowl or jug, whisk the peanut butter with 250ml of the warm chicken stock until smooth and lump-free, then pour this mixture into the pot along with the remaining 500ml of stock. Stir well to fully incorporate. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.
- Add the sweet potato cubes to the pot. Nestle the seared chicken thighs back in, submerging them as much as possible. Reduce heat to medium-low so the stew maintains a steady, gentle simmer with small bubbles breaking the surface. Cover partially with a lid and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 8 to 10 minutes to prevent the peanut butter from settling and scorching on the bottom.
- Check that the sweet potato is completely tender when pierced with a fork and the chicken registers at least 85 degrees Celsius (185F) on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the chicken thighs, shred the meat off the bone using two forks, discarding the skin and bones, and return the shredded meat to the pot. Taste the stew and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and cayenne as needed.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped spinach in two handfuls, allowing residual heat to wilt it for about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and stir. Ladle into bowls over brown rice, and top with chopped roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro. Serve immediately.
- Because slow cookers do not develop the same depth of flavour without a sear, browning the aromatics first is essential. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and half the smoked paprika, then sear skin-side down for 5 to 6 minutes until golden. You do not need to cook through. Transfer to the slow cooker insert. In the same skillet, cook the onion for 4 minutes, add the garlic, ginger, remaining spices, and tomato paste, and cook for 2 more minutes until fragrant. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and stir to lift any browned bits, then pour the entire contents of the skillet over the chicken in the slow cooker.
- Add the sweet potato cubes and 500ml of the chicken stock to the slow cooker (use less liquid than stovetop, as slow cookers trap steam and the stew will become watery if you use the full amount). Stir gently to distribute everything evenly. Place the lid on and cook on Low for 7 to 8 hours or High for 3 to 4 hours, until the chicken is completely tender and the sweet potato is soft.
- About 30 minutes before serving, whisk together the peanut butter and the remaining 250ml of warm chicken stock until completely smooth. Lift the lid of the slow cooker, add this mixture, and stir it thoroughly through the stew. Replace the lid and continue cooking on Low or High for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to meld and the stew to thicken.
- Remove the chicken thighs from the slow cooker. The meat should be falling off the bone. Discard the skin and bones, shred the meat with two forks, and return it to the slow cooker. Stir in the lemon juice and taste for seasoning, adding salt, pepper, or cayenne as needed. The stew will be thicker and more unctuous than the stovetop version due to the long collagen extraction from the chicken bones.
- Turn off the slow cooker and fold in the chopped spinach. Cover and leave for 5 minutes; the residual heat will wilt the spinach perfectly without cooking it to mush. Serve over brown rice in deep bowls and garnish with chopped roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro.
- Set your Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker to the Saute function on High. Add the oil and allow it to heat for 1 minute. Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and half the smoked paprika. Sear skin-side down for 5 minutes until golden (you may need to do this in two batches depending on the size of your insert). Flip and sear for 2 minutes on the flesh side. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Do not drain the fat.
- Keep the Saute function on. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes, scraping up any browned bits, until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, remaining spices, and tomato paste. Stir for 90 seconds until fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes and stir, making sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the insert, as any scorched residue can trigger the burn warning. Press Cancel to turn off the Saute function.
- Whisk the peanut butter together with 200ml of the chicken stock until smooth. Pour this mixture plus the remaining 550ml stock into the insert and stir to combine everything. Add the sweet potato cubes. Nestle the seared chicken thighs back in, pressing them below the liquid surface. Secure the lid, set the valve to Sealing, and cook at High Pressure for 18 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then carefully turn the valve to Venting to release any remaining steam. Open the lid away from you. Remove the chicken thighs using tongs. The sweet potato may have broken down slightly, which thickens the stew naturally and is desirable. Shred the chicken, discarding skin and bones, and return the meat to the pot.
- Set the Instant Pot back to Saute on Low. Stir in the lemon juice and taste the stew for seasoning. If the consistency is thinner than you prefer, simmer uncovered on Saute for 5 minutes to reduce. Add the spinach and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until fully wilted. Press Cancel, ladle over brown rice, and garnish generously with chopped roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro.
- Preheat your oven to 165 degrees Celsius (325F) with a rack positioned in the lower third. In a large oven-safe Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat on the stovetop. Season the chicken thighs thoroughly with salt, pepper, and half the smoked paprika. Sear skin-side down for 7 to 8 minutes until deep golden and crisp, then flip for 3 minutes on the flesh side. Transfer to a plate. The fond left in the pot should be dark and fragrant.
- Reduce the stovetop heat to medium. Add the onion and cook for 6 minutes, scraping the fond continuously, until golden and jammy. Add the garlic, ginger, remaining paprika, cumin, coriander, and cayenne and stir for 2 minutes until bloomed. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until it darkens and sticks to the pot slightly.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and stir to deglaze the pot completely. In a separate jug, whisk the peanut butter into the full 750ml of warm chicken stock until completely smooth, then pour into the Dutch oven. Stir everything together and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Add the sweet potato cubes and nestle the seared chicken thighs back in, skin-side up so the skin stays above the liquid and remains slightly exposed.
- Transfer the Dutch oven, uncovered, to the preheated oven. Braise for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, check that the sweet potato is tender and the chicken is deeply cooked through. If the surface has browned attractively, that is ideal. Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven using heavy oven mitts. The stew will have thickened considerably and the top will carry a lightly caramelised, rust-coloured crust that you should stir back in.
- Remove the chicken thighs and shred the meat off the bones, discarding skin and bones. Return the shredded chicken to the pot and place the Dutch oven back on the stovetop over low heat. Stir in the lemon juice and taste for seasoning. Fold in the spinach and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until wilted. The oven version will be the thickest and most concentrated of all methods. If it is too thick for your preference, thin with a splash of warm stock. Serve over brown rice and garnish with chopped roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro.
Nutrition Breakdown
Per 1 serving (makes 4)
Vitamins & Minerals
% Daily Value based on a 2,000 calorie diet (FDA reference)
🧬 Essential Amino Acids
% of recommended daily intake (RDA) per serving
🛡 Antioxidant Profile
The Nutrition Science
The nutritional synergy in this stew is not accidental. The combination of peanut butter fat and sweet potato is a textbook example of fat-soluble vitamin bioavailability enhancement. Beta-carotene, the orange pigment in sweet potato, requires dietary fat present in the small intestine to be incorporated into micelles for absorption. Studies have demonstrated that consuming beta-carotene with as little as 3 to 5g of fat increases absorption by 300 to 600 percent compared to a fat-free meal. One serving of this stew provides roughly 24g of fat, meaning the 4.8mg of beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A with exceptional efficiency.
The iron and vitamin C pairing from spinach and tomatoes is equally strategic. Plant-based non-haem iron (the form found in spinach) is absorbed at rates of only 2 to 20 percent under normal conditions, compared to 15 to 35 percent for haem iron from meat. Vitamin C, however, actively reduces ferric iron (Fe3+) to ferrous iron (Fe2+) in the gut, the form that the intestinal transporter DMT1 can absorb. The 22mg of vitamin C in this dish can increase non-haem iron absorption by two to three times, making the combination of spinach, tomato, and lemon juice a deliberate calibration choice rather than a flavour decision alone. The chicken also contributes haem iron directly, providing a dual-source iron delivery system.
Peanuts are one of the most nutritionally dense legumes available. Beyond their protein and monounsaturated fat content, they are among the richest food sources of niacin (vitamin B3), which is essential for NAD synthesis, DNA repair, and cellular energy metabolism. A single serving of this stew delivers 59 percent of the daily niacin requirement. Peanuts also contain significant resveratrol, the same polyphenol celebrated in red wine, at concentrations comparable to grape skins. Combined with the quercetin from the onion and garlic base, this stew delivers a meaningful anti-inflammatory polyphenol load alongside its macronutrient density.
Pro Tips
- Use natural peanut butter with peanuts as the only ingredient. Commercial peanut butters with added palm oil and sugar will make the stew greasy and overly sweet, and the saturated fat profile is significantly worse.
- To make this dish suit a pescatarian diet, replace the chicken thighs with 600g of firm white fish (such as cod or haddock) added in the last 10 minutes of stovetop cooking, and use vegetable stock. The protein will drop to approximately 28g per serving but the vitamin and mineral profile remains largely intact.
- The stew thickens considerably as it sits and cools. If reheating leftovers, stir in 50 to 100ml of warm water or stock to loosen the stew before heating over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent the peanut butter base from scorching.
okay this is exactly what im talking about for post-WOD nutrition! chicken thighs + peanut butter is such a smart combo for that amino acid profile, and 42% protein in one bowl is legit. the sweet potato carbs will help with glycogen replenishment too. plus those fat soluble vitamins with the healthy fats from the peanuts? your body’s gonna absorb all of it. definitely making this on my meal prep day tomorrow, this hits different than my usual chicken and rice routine!
Log in or register to replyok so im genuinely curious about the tryptophan content here, specifically from the peanut butter and chicken combo – tryptophan absorption can be tricky depending on the carb to protein ratio, and the sweet potato might actually help facilitate that across the blood-brain barrier for evening melatonin synthesis. did a similar stew last week before bed and my sleep tracker showed like a 23% improvement in deep sleep, but im wondering if thats the magnesium from the peanuts or if the whole carb-protein-fat balance is doing something special with my serotonin pathway. also genuinely impressed this hits 42% protein without being some sad chicken breast situation – chicken thig
Log in or register to replyThis is exactly the kind of recipe that deserves mainstream nutrition attention! West African peanut stew is such a perfect example of how traditional foodways are basically ancestral functional nutrition, you know? Peanuts have been feeding communities for centuries because they’re genuinely nutrient dense, not trendy. I love that you’re highlighting the complete protein situation here, especially paired with sweet potato for the vitamin A and folate synergy. I’ve been recommending this stew to clients who struggle with iron absorption because the vitamin C from tomatoes helps with that bioavailability, and honestly the comfort factor of a warm spiced bowl probably helps digestion too. Definitely saving this one to share.
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