This Chicken, Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew is a comforting recipe with a little heat, that’s similar to a curry, but with fewer spices and (no curry powder). It’s rich, with a creamy nuttiness from the peanut butter and toasted peanuts. You can serve it on its own or with rice.
Chicken, spices, peanut butter, sweet potato and a few other goodies, all combine to make a tasty dinner.
Whilst the peanuts and coriander hint at a slightly Thai-flavour-inspired dish, it’s the addition of tomatoes, stock and sweet potato that really brings it closer to a more African-inspired stew.
I love the depth of flavour and the thick heartiness of this stew.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients
Toasted Peanuts – To make the toasted peanuts, simple dry-fry them in a hot pan for a minute or two (keep and eye on them, as the burn quickly). When they’re browned, place on a plate to cool.
Cayenne Pepper – This stew has a nice background heat to it. If that’s too hot for you’re tasted then you can swap out the cayenne for paprika and halve the amount of chillies that you add to the stew.
Chicken – Use chicken breasts for this recipe, chopped into bite-sized chunks.
Stock – Use either chicken stock, or vegetable stock. A stock cube and water is fine, or make Homemade Stock.
Sweet Potatoes – Use one large sweet potato or 2 medium ones, roughly 400g in total, peeled and chopped into bite-size chunks.
Seasonings – I use a blend of garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, ground coriander, chilli peppers, and bay leaf for flavour.
How to make it:
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post***
- Cook the onion in a large frying pan with oil until softened. Then stir in the garlic, ginger, seasonings, chilli peppers and bay leaf.
- Turn up the heat and stir in the chicken until its coated with the seasonings.
- Stir in the rest of the ingredients besides the peanuts, then bring to a boil, turn down the heat, cover, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
- Then, uncover and remove the bay leaf, add in the peanuts and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Pro Tip
I like to add a couple of red chilli peppers to mine to spice things up a bit, but if you’re serving this for kids, you can either:
- Leave the heat out entirely by missing out the chillies and swapping the cayenne for paprika
- Reduce the chillies
- Replace the chillies with a tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce
I like to serve this dish with some toasted peanuts, garlicky kale and boiled rice. Sooo good!
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Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
- I love to serve this alongside Boiled Rice, and garlicky kale.
- Also, you can serve it with a Homemade Flatbread or Chapati to mop up the rest of the sauce.
- It’s also great served with couscous or extra vegetables – such as green beans or spring greens.
🍲 More amazing savoury recipes with nuts
? Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, cook the stew, then cool, cover and refrigerate for up to two days. Reheat in a pan, on the hob, over a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until piping hot throughout.
To store in the freezer, allow the stew to cool, then place in an airtight container and freeze. When you are ready to serve, defrost in the fridge overnight, then reheat in a pan until piping hot.
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Chicken, Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tbsp oil
- 1 large onion peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper See notes on heat level
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 2 red chilli peppers finely chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 chicken breasts chopped into bite-size chunks (approx 600g or 1.3lbs)
- 150 g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) smooth peanut butter
- 480 ml (2 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
- 400 g (14 oz) can chopped tomatoes
- 1 large sweet potato or 2 medium ones, (roughly 400g/14oz in total), peeled and chopped into bite-size chunks
- 110 g (1 cup) roughly chopped peanuts
To Serve:
- boiled rice
- fresh coriander/cilantro
- toasted peanuts*
- garlicky kale**
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat until it start sto soften.1 1/2 tbsp oil, 1 large onion
- Add the garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, ground coriander, chilli peppers and bay leaf. Stir and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp minced ginger, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp ground coriander, 2 red chilli peppers, 1 bay leaf
- Turn the heat up to high and add the chicken. Stir so the chicken is coated in the spices, and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the chicken is sealed.4 chicken breasts
- Stir in the peanut butter, stock, tinned tomatoes and sweet potato. Bring to the boil, turn down to a gentle simmer, then place a lid on the pan. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every so often.150 g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) smooth peanut butter, 480 ml (2 cups) chicken or vegetable stock, 400 g (14 oz) can chopped tomatoes, 1 large sweet potato
- After 30 minutes, take off the lid, remove the bay leaf and add in the chopped peanuts. Cook for a further 2 minutes. (you can cook for longer with the lid off if you want the sauce to be thicker).110 g (1 cup) roughly chopped peanuts
- Turn off the heat and serve with rice, coriander and toasted peanuts (and some kale if you like).boiled rice, fresh coriander/cilantro, toasted peanuts*, garlicky kale**
Notes
Heat level of the stew
This stew has a nice background heat to it. If that’s too hot for your taste then you can swap out the cayenne for paprika and halve the amount of chillies that you add to the stew.Toasted peanuts
* To make the toasted peanuts, simple dry-fry them in a hot pan for a minute or two (keep and eye on them, as the burn quickly). When they’re browned, place on a plate to cool.The garlicky kale
** To make the garlicky kale, simply add a large bag of washed kale to a pan with 1 clove of minced garlic, 3 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp water. Stir, then place a lid on the pan and heat on high for 2-3 minutes until the kale has wilted. Nutrition info is for one serving of this recipe, and does not include the serving suggestions of rice, toasted peanuts or garlicky kale.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was first published in April 2016. Updated March 2025 with new photos and housekeeping.
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Absolutely delicious. A nice level of heat plus a touch of sweetness.
Yet another brilliant recipe from you – thanks. Simple but tasty – so clever. All the recipes I’ve tried so far have been delicious.
Can you use diced pumpkin instead of sweet potatoes? Don’t get me wrong, I love sweet potatoes.
Love the way this comes out, it’s been in my rotation of regular recipes for years now.
Made this beautiful recipe this evening. It was absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for posting!!! This is a keeper for me!!
I made this stew last night for dinner. I had been wanting to try it for a long time, and I’m so glad I finally did! I was hesitant as my spouse does not like sweet potatoes or ginger. I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I used roasted chicken I had leftover and a homemade chicken stock. I used ground ginger as it is what I had, and fresh jalapeno peppers as I had some leftover. It smelled fantastic and tasted even tasted better, but best of all, my husband loved it and couldn’t believe he even liked the sweet potatoes! It’s a winner and will become a regular in my soup lineup.
I’m not a big fan of Peanut Butter or Sweet Potatoes but in this recipe they work really well to create a very tasty stew. Much as I like chili I think that I would use just the one next time to let the other flavours come through a little more. Another winner.
I did but forgot to add peanut butter but was still yummy and tested sweet thanks for the recipe 😋