This Slow Cooker Peanut Stew is a hearty dish made with chickpeas, sweet potatoes and peanut butter. It's also gluten-free and vegan!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like avocado, grapeseed or canola oil.
- Garlic – I like using fresh minced garlic, but the jarred variety works as well.
- Yellow onions – white onions would work in a pinch.
- Sweet potatoes – butternut or acorn squash are great alternatives.
- Curry powder – make your own blend using cumin, coriander, chili, turmeric and pepper.
- Cumin – chili powder, paprika or more curry powder are good substitutes here.
- Chili powder – use a combination of paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and cayenne.
- Vegetable broth – chicken broth is a good non-vegan substitute.
- Peanut butter – try another kind of nut or seed butter like almond butter or tahini.
- Crushed tomatoes – you could try passata (jarred strained tomatoes).
- Chickpeas – lentils or kidney beans would work in a pinch.
- Red pepper – or any other bell pepper of your choice like orange or yellow.
- Spinach – use any type of leafy green like chard or kale.
- Cilantro – parsley would be the next best option but has a different taste.
- Crushed peanuts – leave these out altogether if you don’t like or are allergic to peanuts.
- Basmati rice – use any rice variety of your choice like jasmine or brown rice.
- Salt – to taste.
How to make slow cooker peanut stew
- Add everything but the spinach, cilantro, peanuts and rice to the slow cooker.
- Cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours.
- Stir in the spinach.
- Top with peanuts and cilantro.
- Serve over basmati rice and enjoy!
Stovetop and Instant Pot instructions
Don’t have time to make this vegan African peanut stew in the slow cooker? You can easily make it on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot! Just follow the instructions below.
Stovetop instructions:
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over med-high heat, then sauté onions, garlic and spices for 2-3 minutes until softened.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot except for spinach, cilantro, peanuts and rice.
- Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When ready to serve, stir in spinach. Top each bowl with peanuts and cilantro and serve with basmati rice.
Instant Pot instructions:
- Dump everything into the Instant Pot in order that it appears listed above except for red pepper, spinach, cilantro, peanuts and rice.
- Cook on high pressure for 2 minutes and then do a quick release of the pressure.
- Remove lid, then stir in red pepper and spinach. Top each bowl with peanuts and serve with basmati rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
This slow cooker peanut stew is inspired by the peanut stews that originated from western African countries like Mali, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Gambia and more.
You can cook this vegan African peanut stew on high for four hours or on low for eight hours. It’s a great hands-off meal option – let it simmer all day before enjoying in the evening. You can also make this peanut stew on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot if you’re looking for a faster cook time.
I like to serve this peanut stew with basmati or jasmine rice, but you could also serve it with quinoa, wild rice, crusty bread, a side salad, soba noodles or rice noodles.
This slow cooker peanut stew is super thick and delicious – but if you accidentally add in too much vegetable broth, you can add a little potato starch, cornstarch or chickpea flour to thicken it up.
Storing and reheating
This slow cooker peanut stew will last in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store any leftovers in a large container or in individual portion sizes in glass meal prep bowls. To reheat, just stick it in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. It's super easy and the leftovers taste just as good as a fresh serving!
Freezing this recipe
This vegan African peanut stew is also freezer-friendly! Freeze individual serving sizes for up to 3 months, then reheat right from frozen in the microwave for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring halfway through. Garnish with fresh cilantro and peanuts and dig in.
Make healthy eating easy! Join our Dinner Prep Pro app.
- ZERO ADS on over 450 recipes
- Customizable weekly meal plans
- Grocery and meal prep checklists
- Bonus resource library and community
More slow cooker recipes
Meal Prep Tools
- Get your Instant Pot here!
- Get your Slow Cooker here!
- I also love these glass meal prep bowls for reheating this peanut stew in individual portions.
- **Get my full list of tools here**
Slow Cooker Peanut Stew {Gluten-Free + Vegan}
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 small yellow onions, diced
- 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, cubed
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1 (796mL) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 2 cups spinach, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (for garnish)
- 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
- 3 cups cooked basmati rice (optional side)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to slow cooker except for spinach, cilantro, peanuts and rice. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours.
- When ready to serve, stir in spinach. Top each bowl with peanuts and cilantro and serve with basmati rice.
- INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS: Dump everything into the Instant Pot in order that it appears listed above except for red pepper, spinach, cilantro, peanuts and rice. Cook on high pressure for 2 minutes and then do a quick release of the pressure. Remove lid, then stir in red pepper and spinach. Top each bowl with peanuts and serve with basmati rice.
Comments & Reviews
Christine Staley says
I cooked this on the stovetop last night and it was great! I added a bit more curry and peanut butter and served it with basmati rice. It made a ton, though. The recipe said 6 servings but that would only be in the Land of the Giants! I am going to freeze some of it and see how it holds up. Thanks again for the yummy recipe.
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed Christine 🙂
Natalie Hicks says
This has quickly become one of our family staple meals!! It’s amazing. I have tweaked it for personal preference but guests remark on how delicious it is.
I cook on high for 8 hours in slow cooker until the sweet potatoes go mushy and thicken the sauce. I add coconut milk for a treat sometimes too! I often make with lean steak beef cubes which is amazing.
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you love this recipe Natalie 🙂
C says
Very tasty. Do you have nutrition info without the rice?
Taylor Stinson says
Unfortunately I do not, sorry about that! You can always use an app like Myfitnesspal to calculate it without rice!
Kristiania Dudek says
Delicious!!! Absolutely love it. Brought it to work just as a soup!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed Kristiania! 🙂
Kristin says
This was wonderful!! My roommate and partner loved it and it’s definitely going on my make again list! It’s healthy and easy and really economical! I did replace the peanut butter with almond butter because that was what I had in my pantry but it was still excellent! It actually reminded me of dishes I had in Africa but it wasn’t swimming in oil. Thanks for sharing!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed Kristin! And so good to know it can be made with almond butter too. Thank you for reporting back 🙂
H.G. says
Hey!
I’m making this for a group this weekend but I have a quick question. In the recipe it says red peppers and chickpeas at the end, but I’m the video it shows the red peppers and chickpeas going in with everything else. Does it matter which one I do?
Thanks!!
Taylor Stinson says
Sorry for the confusion! You can add them in all at once – I’m updating the recipe to reflect this 🙂
Stephanie Lovett says
Made this today 11/16/2019 and it was super delicious. My kids (ages 2, 5, and 6) loved it along with rice and papaya for dessert. Thank you for such a simple yet delicious recipe. Oh and I only had to substitute veggie broth with chicken stock cus that’s all I had.
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed Stephanie!!! Thank you 🙂
Judy says
This is delicious but I would recommend cooking 4 minutes in the instant pot. I had to put mine back on cause the sweet potatoes were not done. I may have cut the cubes to big though.
Jane Longstreet says
This is delicious! I love crockpot recipes that can be prepped the night before and stored in the fridge until it’s time to cook. I am a sucker for anything with peanut butter/peanuts, and this combination was just right. I served it with basmati rice and it was a very satisfying meal.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Jane 🙂
Andrea says
Is the nutritional information listed including the rice or without?
Taylor Stinson says
It includes it!
Jay Braun says
I, and my family , liked it, but I probably won’t make it again soon. Way too many carbs for my wife and me at 59g per serving.
Stephanie Lovett says
What a party pooper … just watch your portions.
Kristin says
If you use something besides rice with it, you could easily cut way down on tee carbs! That’s where most of those carbs coming from.