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
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 recipe was originally inspired by a friend’s 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. Recipe yields 6 bowls.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 medium jalapeño (optional, for heat), seeded, ribs removed, and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fine salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons finely grated or minced fresh ginger
- 4 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter*
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 medium bunch collard greens or kale (about 8 ounces), tough ribs removed and leaves chopped into bite-size pieces
- Hot sauce, preferably Sriracha
- For serving (optional): 1 batch of cooked brown rice
- For garnish (optional): ¼ cup roughly chopped roasted peanuts and a handful of chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or soup pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion, jalapeño (if using), and a dash of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and water, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Meanwhile, in a heatproof medium bowl, combine the peanut butter and tomato paste. Transfer 1 to 2 cups of hot broth from the pot to the bowl. Whisk the mixture until smooth, then pour the peanut mixture into the soup and mix well.
- Stir the collard greens into the soup and continue cooking until the soup is nice and thick, with sufficiently softened greens, 15 to 25 minutes longer. Season the soup with hot sauce to taste (I usually add over 1 tablespoon Sriracha, but I like spicy soups). Remove the pot from the heat and add more salt to taste, if necessary (I often add up to ½ teaspoon more).
- Serve the soup in bowls as desired—perhaps over cooked rice, with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts and cilantro on top. Serve with additional hot sauce on the side.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Local Bounty: Vegan Seasonal Recipes by Devra Gartenstein and my cookbook, Love Real Food.
Change it up: Add 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice, with the onion. You can also stir 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained, into the soup with the collard greens.
*Peanut butter options: I use unsweetened natural peanut butter in this recipe (salted or unsalted both work). If you’re allergic to peanuts, substitute almond butter or sunflower butter and skip the peanut garnish.
Recipe edits: In 2025, I retested this recipe and matched it to my cookbook’s cooking method, which yields superior flavor and texture. The ingredients are the same, besides adding some olive oil to sauté the onion and an optional jalapeño, for heat.
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.
Hi Kate! I love this recipe (and many more of yours!) and have made it many times. I just took a look again to refresh my memory since I have an abundance of spinach and kale to use up – gonna try them both out in it. I’ve used both in the past, but never together. I’m sure it will turn out great! My question is: why is the sodium content so high for this soup? Does that come from the broth specifically? Thanks!
Hi Stephanie, thanks for the note! I just double-checked the nutrition information for this recipe, and it was actually inflated—the recipe calls for low-sodium broth but the facts were based on regular. Head smack. I’ve switched it to low-sodium, and also changed the recipe to call for 4 cups broth plus 2 cups water, since most broths are sold by the quart. Anyway, the sodium content is now reduced by half, but please keep in mind that nutrition information is always an estimate and depends on the brands used, etc.
I just had this soup for lunch at a Buddhist silent retreat!! It was wonderful! All the attendees loved it! So glad I found this recipe!! Thank you
Very nice and interestingly different tasting soup added one small chilli and small peri peri sauce
We love this! Have you tried freezing it?
Hi Courtney! I haven’t, but you could check the other comments to see what others may recommend.
One of my favorite soups ever! I opted to swap the collards for kale and was really happy with that decision. This soup is proteinaceous/hearty and filling without being too indulgent. It smells fantastic and everyone in my office wanted the recipe!
Definitely took me longer than 10 minutes to prepare but doesn’t really matter.
Thanks for all of your great recipes :)
Thank you for sharing your awesome recipes. Love how colorful they are. I grew up in Africa and this recipe doesn’t ring a bell, but, the peanuts and hot sauce combination is definitely present in a lot of delicious dishes. And deliciousness has no borders. Thank you Kate.
Made this delicious peanut soup today. Added a sweet potato and extra ginger and garlic. It’s the perfect food for a cold day while homebound. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
You’re welcome, Linda!
Hi there Kate!
I can’t wait to make this soup -and have a fresh jar of ginger and garlic PASTE bought at the local Indian market. My question is whether or not I can substitute this for the garlic and ginger in the soup. I also have only tomato sauce and no paste- so possibly I can thicken the soup with a starch?
Sincerely,
as I contemplate leaving the isolation to go to grocery store,
Laura
You could try it with paste for those, although I haven’t it. That would be a good way to get creative! As for thickening it, the paste doesn’t thicken it. It’s a mater of flavor.
Why did you change it?
Hi Brian, I’m not sure what you mean?
This was delicious! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Madeline!
This looks yummy! I can’t wait to try it when it’s cold again. (Of course, I’m going to try it well before then.)
Someone may have already asked this but… I can’t find fresh ginger so how much powdered ginger should I use instead?
Hi Alexandra! Here is a great reference in my food storage post! When substituting dried herbs for fresh, use one-third of the amount specified (so if a recipe calls for one tablespoon—which is three teaspoons—fresh dill, use one teaspoon dried dill). You can always add more if desired. https://14.canadaremotejob.infinityfreeapp.com/food-storage-tips/
This soup is absolutely delicious! It is my new favourite! I added sweet potato and red pepper to give it more colour! Amazing!
the flavor is great! i added in extra kale, carrot, and spinach and it was sooo great. my soup came out a little less thick than shown but it was still DELICIOUS! Been dying to make this recipe for a while now. potatoes would definitely thicken it up. thanks!
You’re welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment, Kate.
Another amazing recipe! Thank you Kate! While we are all stuck at home, we are doing theme nights and “traveling around the world.” Tonight we had the West African Peanut soup and watched Big Cats of Africa. My family loved the soup!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you all could enjoy it, Robyn. Thanks so much for your review!
Made this twice now. It’s fantastic as written. Does it freeze ok?
Hi Aubrey! I don’t freeze all my recipes, but this one might freeze ok. I believe others have tried it and didn’t mind the result! I would check in the comments to be sure. :)
Great dish! We didn’t have veg broth so I just used water and it was still great!
I will say that I agree with the comments about the name of the recipe. You’ve said repeatedly, “I’m sorry this recipe frustrates you,” but that does miss the point, because the *recipe* is not frustrating. It is not possible, as you’ve said, to make something simultaneously authentic AND put your “own spin” on it. And that’s ok! It’s tasty soup!
It would be a very simple fix to just change the name of the recipe to “West African-Inspired Peanut Soup”. Why not? When people whose culture you are, admittedly, profiting off of, tell you not to, just don’t call it that thing.
Hey Rachel, glad to hear the soup worked well for you, and thank you for the feedback. I’ve changed the name to “vegetarian peanut soup” and addressed its authenticity (or lack thereof) within the post.
I applaud your willingness to respond to constructive criticism. Keep up the good work, love what you’re doing here! Going to try the wild rice salad next :-)
OMG so good and so easy. We will make this a lot, thanks.
I love this recipe so much. I’ve made it several times and honestly I don’t change a thing (which is unusual for me!)
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times now, my boyfriend and I LOVE IT! I wanted to suggest to you this hot pepper oil we get from a market down the street. It’s called Akabanga and I believe it’s from Rwanda. It’s also amazing with fried rice. You gotta find it.
alright, I was skeptical about this recipe – peanut butter and tomato paste, really?? and I’d never tried collard greens, and where’s all the spices? just ginger and garlic and add sriracha at the end? hmmmm.
nevertheless, I was intrigued. And the ingredients aren’t expensive, so I decided it was worth a try.
the verdict: I followed the recipe exactly, and this is *seriously* SO dang good – even more so the next day (k, hold on while I have another bite)! The peanut butter gives it a creamy mouthfeel and it looks like a bisque, but no dairy! I love the collards in there (and I love how nutrient-dense they are). As others did, I served this with brown rice, and also roasted sweet potatoes (made separately – I highly recommend!). This is vegan-beauty-in-a-bowl…and I’m not even a vegan.
For reference, I used a scant Tbsp of the sriracha, which gave it a just-right mild kick and still kid-friendly. The only mod I might make next time would be to use an immersion blender on the base, just before adding the greens, to pulverize the small cooked bits of onion/garlic/ginger. This would be mostly for aesthetic value and personal preference.
Thank you for your detail, Elisha! I’m so happy you loved this recipe. I appreciate you taking the time to review!
Hi Kate, made the peanut soup tonight and it was okay, not ‘wow’ for me and my boyfriend, unlike most of your recipes. Just didn’t really love the flavour, but fun to try something different. I’m trying to do every recipe in your cookbook! Take care.
Sorry you didn’t love this one, Catherine. I appreciate your feedback!
It was much better when we had leftovers with rice – think the soup on its own is too rich and heavy for me.
Thank you for the GREAT recipe. During these times I had to use a can of Rotel tomatoes with green chilies (mild) since I didn’t have any tomato paste. I also added cubed sweet potatoes leftover from another meal about a cup. I only made 1/3 of the recipe for 2 of us. I had to eliminate the kale but it wasn’t missed at all. All I had was chunky peanut butter but it worked because I used an immersion blender to purée at the end.
It really was fantastic. I had leftover brown rice and put a little in the side of the bowl and added the soup. Huge hit! I hope these substitutions help others. I wish I could give it 6 stars.
This is now my fellas favourite dish!! He loves peanuts! Thank you for this take on this dish!
It’s a shame people have to spoil it by bringing race into it, your interpretation of it is lovely, as I’m sure an authentic west African take would be, people are more than happy to change and create European dishes without a thought spared for the culture etc where it comes from but for some reason this dish is getting all the hate!!
Well done, definitely having this again!
Hi Kate,
I’m excited to try this recipe but would like to add more protein to it. What do you think might work best- lentils, beans, chickpeas?
Chickpeas would be my preference!
My children and I are watching the show “Who Was?” and they featured George Washington Carver. They did a little jingle about peanut soup. I didn’t even know it was a real thing. So I looked it up and found your recipe. Looking forward to trying it out. Sounds delicious! I think I will use white rice instead. Can’t wait to make this for my family!
I love that! Thank you for sharing, Tammie.
Hi Kate – LOVE your site! And I live in West Africa and I am excited to try a vegetarian option. However I have no acess to kale or collard greens. Can I use frozen spinach?
Sure! That could work. Just make sure to drain the excess water prior to adding.
Hi Kate,
I haven’t made this yet but I was just reading the reviews and wanted to add this. There are some pretty grumpy people in this world. I hope their stupid comments don’t put you off. Really, who cares if it isn’t exactly an authentic African dish.
I look forward to trying it. Sounds excellent.
This is a family favorite! Kids are 12, 14 and 17 and there is not a single drop ever left in their oversized pasta
bowls. Thank you for this vegan treasure!
Delicious as always! I added a little bit of honey to give it a little more of the “salty/sweet” peanut butter flavor! It was a hit with my whole family!
It was ok, but maybe a bit runny? I expected something more creamy, maybe I did something wrong?
I’m sorry to hear that! Did you let it simmer?
This recipe has instantly gone into my “make over and over and over again” files! Unbelievably good, especially for the amount of work (exceedingly manageable) it requires. (Obligatory info for other readers, I used Sambal because I didn’t have Siracha.)
This is the 3rd recipe of yours I’ve tried forced me to start cooking for myself instead of grabbing takeout from my nearest favorite restaurant. All 3 have been no-reservation winners. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You’re welcome, Erika! I’m happy you love this one and doesn’t make you miss takeout.
This recipe was amazing. My family and I loved it. We used chunky unsalted peanut butter (no added ingredients so I had to mix it well to integrate the oil). I was generous with the fresh ginger, might have been a bit more than 2 tbsp but there’s no such thing as too much ginger for us. Did not have your hot sauce but did add a little more than 1/4 tsp very hot harissa spice mix. That was perfect. Slightly undercooked a large sweet potato, peeled it and cut it into chunks, threw that in when I added the collard greens. The greens were fantastic. Served over a (leftover) brown rice and farrow mixture.
This is delicious! I was worried that the peanut butter would be too overwhelming, but it mixes well with the tomato paste. I made a few modifications, though–I added chopped sweet potato at the beginning, and omitted one cup of water. I like a thicker stew. Overall, though, this is very good! I think this dish will go into my meal rotation.
I love this recipe! It is one of my favs from your cookbook. I make it all the time! Sometimes I add less liquid and then have it more like a stew.
Hi Emma! That sounds great. Thanks for sharing and for your review.
Is your recipe four servings. In the servings is that four one cup servings?
Hi Deb! Yes, a single recipe is roughly 4 servings at 1.5-2 cups for a serving. I hope this helps!
Please try this authentic African (Sierra Leonean) pepper sauce: Salone Fire by Maria Bradford.
I’ve made this three times now and it’s fast becoming a favourite! We have it with black rice and extra kale! Yum! Thank you
Okay… Honestly my new favorite recipe. I found I can empty my refrigerator. Sometimes I add fine sliced cabbage, small dice sweet potatoes, red lentils, baked tofu… The possibilities are endless. I love my food to awaken my taste buds so I liberally sprinkle the crushed red pepper flakes. Thank you!! Fresh grated ginger is so much easier to grate when I put it in the freezer to get it nice and hard. Again, my thanks. Delicious.
Hey Kate
So i just wanted to bring up an issue with the naming. It’s quite problematic to label a dish as west african with no mentions of the country of origin as for example peanut soup/stew is found in sierra leone but not in nigeria for example. It sends the idea that africa is monolithic as you wouldn’t call a tofu dish east asian tofu or western european lasagna or spaghetti. This is just so you are aware if you get to read this because without you or people realising it continues to paint africa as a single country vs a continent where even within the same country some dishes belong to a specific ethnic group because ethnic group dictates language hence why speaking ghanaian isn’t a thing or south african etc. It dictates cultural practices, clothing wear, food, tradition etc.
Hi Tomi, Thank you for your comment and I apologize I didn’t see this until now. When sharing recipes that originated in other cultures, I always strive to explain how the recipe is traditionally made and how my recipe may differ. I may have missed the mark on this one. I appreciate your details and have worked them into the post to try to offer a more accurate representation. 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. All my best.
Hi Tomi, I wonder why you say groundnut stew isn’t found in Nigeria? My very Nigerian husband and his mother who learned to cook in Nigeria, would have to disagree. This dish (well obviously not this version) exists in East Africa as well, I’ve even had it in Kenya. It seems counterproductive to try and point out the differences across nation-state boundaries, when those boundaries were created by colonizing Europeans. No Africa is not monolithic, but there are foods, music, and clothing that cut across borders, regions, and even the continent.
So good! The title says “Vegetarian,” but it is vegan, right?
Hi SK, Yes, this is vegan.
Has anyone tried sautéing the aromatics in coconut oil rather than the initial boil? Really looking forward to trying this.
It came out really well! I added two baked sweet potatoes, two yellow squash, and some grated carrots. I simmered the garlic, onions, and ginger in toasted sesame oil first rather than how the recipe says. Also, I used SunButter rather than peanut. Next time I may add a can of chickpeas for crunch and more fiber.
Yum!! I love this recipe – I made it for dinner tonight… Definitely a keeper! It’s simple, filling and delicious. I didn’t have Sriracha, so I used some ground cayenne pepper instead, which worked great.
Just bought a bunch of collard greens and wanted to see what YOU make with them, so this soup looks like a complete winner, esp by the comments! This will be dinner tomorrow :) Question- the nutritional info says 12 grams of sugar. I recently started watching sugar intake and wonder where the sugars come from. Guessing some is from tomato paste. What else would have sugar? I enjoy your site so much Kate, thanks!
Hi Wendy! I hope you love it. I would confirm your ingredients and adjust brands as necessary, but there is some sugar in tomato paste.
Wondering if Kate, or anyone else, has tried this in a slow cooker? If so any guidance on time? Planning to make it this week but not sure I have time to devote to stove top cooking it.
Thanks!
Hi Nichole! I haven’t tried it in a slow cooker, I prefer this stovetop. You still want to follow the vegetable cooking instructions or you miss out on all the good flavor from the start!
Kate and Cookie,
I have been following you for about a year now and continue to love your recipes. Used many and all have been great! And best of all, EASY. Even retired it is nice to have these to try, use and keep for later. I have been using the Forks Over Knives” concept and your recipes fit the lifestyle (minus the oil) for us. We have switched to your recipes, easy to follow.
Thanks so much!! Martha P
I’m glad you have been able to enjoy them, Martha! Thank you for your comment.
Had your recipe in the back of my mind for a while but never found the « right » moment to try it. Yesterday evening was that time !! So simple yet so so delicious. The perfect soup for gloomy days.
Thank you Kate !
Love this soup. I made it with the recipe from your cookbook which has you sauté the sweet potato with the rice and jalapeños and can not imagine it any other way. Love the spicy creamy flavors and the crunch from the peanuts with the cool from the cilantro. I highly recommend your cookbook. So many good soups and salads.
Thank you, Melody! I’m happy you love my cookbook. I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Hey! Do the nutrition facts include the brown rice, or just the soup?
Hi! What is listed in the recipe. I hope you love it!