My Aunt Karla was raving about this soup while I was at the cottage. I was there towards the tail end of August, so she was already starting to think about winter soup, and I heard about this soup enough times that I insisted she sent the recipe over. And so, last weekend, when I got dove head first into my autumn soup making marathon, this was the first soup I made. It’s worth all the raving.
One of the best things about this soup is that it’s both vegan and gluten free, but it’s also rich, creamy, and delicious. It’s got lots of good protein from the peanut butter and the chickpeas, good fat from the peanut butter, and some great veg from the spinach and tomatoes. Yum. I love it with some good, crusty bread.
African Chickpea & Peanut Butter Soup
2 tsp olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada)
1 onion, chopped
1–2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup smooth natural peanut butter
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp smoked hot paprika
1 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 (450mL) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (400mL) can diced tomatoes
2 cups spinach, choppedHeat the olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) in large pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, until soft and golden. Add garlic, and cook for another two or three minutes.
Whisk the peanut butter together with some of the broth to make smooth paste, and then whisk in the remaining broth.
Add the paprikas, coriander, and cayenne to the onion & garlic mixture, and sauté until fragrant. Stir in the peanut butter mixture, chickpeas, and tomatoes. Simmer for five minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper (you might also want to add a teaspoon or two of brown sugar). Stir in the spinach just before serving and enjoy!
The second October hits, I want to eat soup every day. I’ve already made one giant pot this week, so as soon as that runs out I’ll be craving another. This looks so different but delicious, and with nothing complicated in the ingredients, I can make it without a third trip to the grocery store in 4 days 😛
I know the feeling! Though I also want to eat pizza a lot these days. Odd. But delicious. Also, have you had a chance to make this yet?
Strange, we’ve had pizza more than the Fall season should warrant too. Oh well, not a whole lot beats homemade pizza!
I haven’t made this soup yet as my motivation for evening cooking has been crap the past few weeks. It’s really only weekends lately that I get a burst of energy and want to cook. I think I’ll get some chickpeas soaking, and if I lose my motivation again, there’s always hummus 😛
I just scored myself a big log of beautiful mozzarella at Costco, so I don’t see the pizza streak ending anytime soon 😀 Also, have you tried my sweet potato & black bean burritos yet? I just finished devouring a big batch of them and they are sooo good, and so easily vegan. Omnomnomnom.
No, I haven’t tried them yet! I had quinoa and black bean burritos the other day though 🙂
Ooooh, that sounds so good! Another thing for the list.
Im resurrecting this post! I completely forgot about this soup being on my mental list of things to make. My first mistake was not adding it to an actual list since I’m frequently forgetful. Anyway, I just got the new Oh She Glows cookbook in the mail, and one of the first things I made was an “African Peanut Soup” that looked/sounded delicious. After I made it, I was commenting to Adam about how strange it seemed to put pb in soup, but how amazing it was. THEN I REMEMBERED YOUR SOUP. The recipes are very similar, right down to the spinach! So I guess I sort of made this after all 🙂 And it was incredible.
Yay! You had it (sort of) and it was awesome 😀 I shall claim this as a victory 😛
This looks/sounds amazing!!! Thank you for sharing!!
~Tess
Awesome! Let me know if you give it a go 🙂
This recipe looks great. It might even entice the wife to eat chickpeas that haven’t been ground into hommus.
Awesome! Let me know how operation-eat-whole-chickpeas goes 😉
Just read your post about doing chickpeas in the pressure cooker. I was also gifted a pressure cooker and have been afraid to use it!
Can you describe what to do and share the recipe for the chick peas?
Thanks,
Thanks for reminding me about this recipe—I just made it! I just soaked the chickpeas overnight and cooked them in water for 21 minutes at pressure; any specifics beyond that will come from your instruction manual 🙂 Happy cooking!
Thanks 🙂