This Peanut Butter Soup recipe is inspired by West African Peanut Soup and has a lot of similar ingredients, but with a bit of a Caribbean twist. It's a hearty soup full of vegetables, savory flavor, and a bit of spice. Top with cilantro and chopped peanuts, and serve with rice for a delicious meal.
For more soup recipes, try my Creamy Heirloom Tomato Soup and Bacon Cauliflower Soup!
I have such a strong connection to this recipe. When I studied abroad, I went to Ghana for 5 days and ate everything I could get my hands on. I fell in love with banku, jollof rice, fufu, and this creamy peanut soup (also known as groundnut soup).
I walked into a small restaurant and ordered this spicy soup on a hot day and was sweating and enjoying every single drop. It was full of veggies, super tender fall off the bone chicken, spices, and a delicious creamy peanut butter flavor that was just to die for. The soup was served with rice and little bits of peanuts on top and to this day is one of my most fond memories.
Fast forward to today, who knew I'd be chronicling my travel memories via a food blog (I was supposed to go to medical school - didn't happen) and talking about one of my favorite soups?
In 2023, the theme of Black History Month is Black Resistance and Eat the Culture is recognizing the remarkable and, frankly, underrated resistance of our ancestors in bringing culinary traditions across the Atlantic to shape the vibrance of Black cuisine that we know and love today. They physically and mentally carried African foodways across the deadly Middle Passage to pass down through generations. This year’s Black History Month Virtual Potluck traces popular dishes of the Diaspora from their West African roots to North America and beyond. You can grab the full list of recipes from this year’s collaboration on the Eat the Culture website.
Share these recipes with your friends and loved ones and follow each participant by using the hashtag #BHMVP2023 on Instagram.
Maafe/mafe or groundnut stew, is a West African staple that commonly includes chicken, tomato, onions, and garlic. Today, I’m teaching you how to make Peanut Butter Soup with ingredients commonly used in the Caribbean to show the influence of African cuisine on Caribbean cooking via the transatlantic slave trade.
Enslaved African people brought this savory tradition to the Americas dating as far back as the 16th century, with a large portion of people being transported to the Caribbean. From this displacement, many enslaved Africans used the vegetables that were readily available to them and began merging their native cuisine and cooking methods with foods indigenous to the Caribbean.
This peanut butter soup recipe, in particular, is inspired Ital cuisine and combines the traditional African peanut soup recipe with Rastafarian influence.
Ital, meaning "vital", is a belief system held by Rastafarians. This belief system dictates that they should consume a diet that comes from the Earth, or a plant-based diet full of vegetables and fruits that nourish the body. To incorporate these flavors, this soup is full of Jamaican flavors like ginger, curry, turmeric, and veggies like sweet potato, carrots, and squash.
Rastafarianism was culture developed from enslaved Afro-Jamaicans who integrated their African beliefs with Christianity. It was a spiritual movement that encouraged people to live naturally. I encourage you to follow the story through Maafe from West Africa and Southern Peanut Soup from the Southern US.
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Let's stay connected on social media and continue to cook together! Also, if you decide to make this recipe, please leave a star rating on the recipe card and leave a comment below! Tag @BritneyBreaksBread on Instagram and hashtag #britneybreaksbread so I can see your creations! I hope that you love this recipe as much as we do!
This soup is delicious!!!! Even my picky teenage daughter thought so. I used collards instead of okra and scotch bonnet pepper sauce bc I couldn’t find the peppers. Adding some chicken for more protein might be a nice addition that I’ll try next time. It’s really something else. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much!
I can't wait to make this soup! Sorry to be a bit naïve but, the recipe calls for squash and I'm not sure which type of squash to use...Butternut? Zucchini? Acorn? Crook Neck? I feel like any of these types would be delicious but, I'm interested in making the soup exactly as written the first time. A close up glance of the pic looks like you used acorn (greenish skin with orangish flesh). I would really like to know which one YOU use in this soup?
Hi! I actually used acorn squash and chopped it into chunks but you can use whatever kind of squash you have on hand! Chayote squash is most traditional however, use what you have/enjoy!
Wonderful! I reduced the sugar to one tablespoon instead of three, used a peeled and cubed yukon gold potato instead of squash (my parents don't care for squash), and 2 serrano peppers instead of a scotch bonnet (not available). The combination of the coconut milk, peanut butter, fresh lime juice and hot peppers was wonderful. I've made many variations of this soup and really enjoyed this one. Delish! xoxo
So glad to hear this, thank you!
Such a soul warming soup that's full of flavor!
This soup was a hit last night at dinner and the leftovers were even better. It didn't' even need bread, it's a really hearty soup that is great by itself. We loved it.
When is the sugar used? I see it in the list of ingredients but not in any of the directions.
You add the coconut oil and sugar to the pot at the same time. See step #1. Enjoy!
This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! What kind of squash did you use? The recipe does not specify, and “squash” is a very broad category. Thank you 🙂
Hi! For this recipe, I used acorn squash but you can really use whatever kind you like. Chayote squash would be most authentic to the cuisine.