Groundnut soup is a popular kind of Ghanaian soup made from, as the name reveals, groundnuts. Depending on where in the world you are, you may either call them groundnuts or peanuts. Groundnut soup is deeply comforting and can be made with a variety of proteins. In this recipe, I use chicken to make this mouth-watering and slightly spicy, satisfying soup. It can however be also made solely with beef, or more commonly with a mix of fish, crabs, and meat. This soup can be eaten with boiled ripe plantains, boiled plain rice, boiled yam, fufu, kenkey, kokonte, or gari.
Apart from cooking and eating Ghanaian groundnut soup, I have also eaten Mafé, a Senegalese groundnut stew which is much thicker than a Ghanaian soup (the name would already imply that) but is just as delicious.
Groundnut soup is sometimes called peanut butter soup, however, locally it has always been groundnut soup. In some local languages, it is known as Azi Detsi (Ewe), Gige Honyu (Ada), or Nkatenkwan (Twi).
Groundnut soup has several variations, usually depending on the protein used just like okro soup can have various ways of preparation like this no-oil goat meat okro or this palm oil-based version with fish, shrimp, and crabs.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this soup are fairly simple yet the end result is a very flavourful soup.
You may not be able to get pure groundnut paste (meaning, without any additional sugar, salt, or additives). In that case, you can use peanut butter in a jar but it still pays to have a look at the ingredient list and choose a jar that doesn't have an endless list of additives in it.
When I did not have access to pure groundnut paste and have had to use peanut butter out of a jar, the soup turned out well. As long as I am in Ghana and have the time, however, I will always choose to make groundnut paste myself (a long and arduous task but well worth it) and use that to prepare the soup. Or put that on bread.
When it comes to hot peppers, the choice is entirely yours. I do find however that with groundnut soup, you do need a bit of heat to counter that creamy and nutty profile of the soup.
Instructions
The very first and most important step in making groundnut soup is to "cook" the paste. The groundnuts used to make the paste are already roasted and made into a paste so the term "cooking" is used loosely.
Water is mixed with the groundnut paste until a smooth consistency is achieved. Then onions, hot peppers, and some tomato paste are added. The mixture is then cooked under low to medium heat until the paste has thickened and the oil has risen to the top.
Then some more water is added to the cooked mixture and strained into a large pot for making the soup.
The chicken is going to be steamed before putting that into the soup. Cut up the chicken and steam with ginger, salt, onions, basil, and scotch bonnets. Add some water so that enough of a broth is formed as this will also be added to the soup.
Add tomatoes, scotch bonnets and tomato paste to the soup and leave to simmer. The steamed chicken pieces are added once the soup has reduced somewhat. The tomatoes and scotch bonnets are taken out of the soup, blended, and then strained back into the soup.
Add some of the broth and leave to simmer making sure to taste for salt. And that's basically your groundnut soup with chicken all ready! Check the recipe card for a detailed list of instructions.
Substitutions
- Beef - instead of chicken, you can use beef for this groundnut soup.
- Fish - You can also use fish to make this soup. My preference is to go for fish which is smoked dry. This way it doesn't fall apart in the soup.
Storage
Groundnut soup lends itself very well to freezing. It is great to make a large batch and then portion it into storage bowls for later use. In general, I like to make soups in advance and freeze them for later.
Tip
- If you find that your groundnut soup is too thick and you want a thinner consistency, you can thin out the soup by adding, water, broth or stock or a mixture of both.
- The longer you leave your soup to simmer the thicker it will end up being.
- You can also use less water when mixing the cooked paste and water to achieve a thicker consistency.
Groundnut Soup with Chicken
Ingredients
- 400 grams groundnut paste or peanut butter
- 1.8 kg whole chicken cut into smaller pieces
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 large onion blended
- 7 scotch bonnets
- 3 tablespoons ginger blended
- 3 large tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- salt
- basil
Instructions
- Mix the groundnut paste with about 1 litre of water.
- Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and, about 3 scotch bonnets (slightly crushed), the chopped onions and mix thoroughly.
- Over low to medium heat, cook until thickened and there is oil on top. This should take roughly 20 minutes.
- Mix the cooked groundnut paste with about 3 litres of water and then strain into a large pot. The pot should be large enough with some extra space to accommodate overboiling or overflowing. (See notes 2)
- Turn on the heat over medium and let the groundnut soup come to a rolling boil for about 30 minutes and then leave to simmer.
- Add tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, and about 4 scotch bonnets, and leave to simmer further.
- In another pot add chicken, ginger, about ½ of the blended onions, scotch bonnets, salt, and basil, and steam for about 20 minutes making sure to add a bit of water to get a broth.
- Add steamed chicken plus the broth to the soup.
- Take out the tomatoes and scotch bonnets from the soup and blend until smooth.
- Strain the blended mixture and add it back to the soup. Also, add the rest of the blended onions to the soup.
- Leave the soup to simmer for further 60 minutes and add salt until the soup has thickened.
- Serve hot with fufu, boiled rice, kokonte, yam, or boiled ripe plantain.
Video
Notes
- I use a broiler chicken in this recipe so the steaming time will be significantly shorter. If you are using a layer, then you will either need to steam for longer or put the steamed chicken into the soup early on to soften.
- When you mix the cooked paste with water you can reduce the amount if you want a thicker consistency soup without having to let the soup simmer for longer.
- The basil type used to steam the chicken is more commonly known as Akuko Mesa or Akuko Besa (Ocimum Basilicum) and is quite common in Ghana.
Anna says
Why do you have to strain the groundnut paste after heating?
Can it be used as a whole or the straining is necessary
Edinam says
Hello Anna, thank you for checking out this recipe. The straining simply serves to catch any bits of onions, hot peppers, or undissolved bits of groundnut paste. It also makes for a silkier and smoother soup if you do strain. If you do not have the luxury of time to do that entire straining process, you can leave it out. It is not a necessity but it makes for a better soup in my opinion. I hope this helps.
abigail owusu says
Thank you dear may God richly bless you
Steezer says
I almost typed Pidgin but let me be all posh and ask "what is the best strain to use please?"
Edinam says
Hey Steezer, you could have typed in Pidgin- I'd have loved that :-)! You can use any sieve or strainer that doesn't have very large holes. For reference, check out the video for this recipe on YouTube to get an idea.
Sarah says
I will be making this for my family tomorrow! But I was wondering what to make with it? Would white rice be okay? I’d love to make fufu, but never have.. also, are there any other ingredients I can add with the chicken to make it more “filling?”
Edinam says
Hi there Sarah, yes white rice is amazing with groundnut soup but you could also try boiled potatoes. In terms of making it more filling, you can add chunks of carrots or zucchini. This is not something that is traditionally done with Ghanaian groundnut soup but in other cultures, vegetables are sometimes added. All the best and let me know how it turns out!
Pius kofi says
I want to make groudsoup with chicken please can i add fresh tomatoes and pepper and blend to seasoned the the chicken
Edinam says
You want to season the chicken with onions, salt, ginger and pepper first before you add the tomatoes.
Fasol says
This is such a perfect recipe - it turned out so well!
Dee says
I love it