This recipe took me well outside my comfort zone, but the payoff was well worth it. The combination may seem unusual — chicken, sweet potato, peanut butter, tomatoes — but the sauce comes together and thickens magnificently as it cooks, melding the flavors to create a warm, comforting, aromatic stew.
I’ve included directions below to make this as a vegan stew. Essentially you increase the amount of sweet potato and add greens — like kale or collard greens — and leave out the chicken. This is, in fact, often made and served without the chicken, so it is easily adaptable.
Ingredients
- 2 onions
- 4 tbsp. oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1-inch piece ginger, minced
- 2 red chilli peppers, finely diced
- 1 tbsp. ground coriander
- 2 lbs. chicken breast
- 4 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 400-gram can diced tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups peanut butter
- 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock (use water if you don’t have either)
- 2 sweet potatoes
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- Serve with: toasted peanuts, cilantro, rice, steamed greens
Directions
- Peel the onion and slice it into quarter rounds. In a large frying pan, saute the onion in the oil until translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger, chili, and ground coriander and cook for 3-4 minutes until you begin to strongly smell the spices.
- Cut the chicken into bite-size chunks, add to the pan, and cook for a few minutes until the chicken is sealed.
- Transfer the mixture to a large pot and add the tomato paste, diced tomato, peanut butter, and broth (or water). Cut the sweet potato into bite-size pieces and add to the pot.
- Cover and cook over medium heat until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through but still soft and juicy.
- Serve with rice and garnish with cilantro (use parsley if you don’t like cilantro) and toasted peanuts.
- OPTIONAL: To make this vegan, don’t use the chicken and use vegetable broth in the sauce. Use extra sweet potatoes and add greens, sliced into ribbons, — like kale or collard greens — when you transfer all the ingredients to the pot.
Refrigerates well for 3-4 days.
Serves: 6-8

Credit for this recipe goes to Kitchen Sanctuary. I made very minimal changes.
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