Peanut Butter Soup
Sometimes I have a problem…I pick up recipes that are either difficult to make or sneakily expensive, but sometimes I even amaze myself with the recipes I come across that are super easy and affordable.
During last couple weeks, I have been on a personal quest of testing and trying new soups that are both nourishing and suitable for everyone’s wallet. Among all the budget-friendly soups, I think I have found my favorite one – delicious peanut butter soup.
I found similar recipes but all were kind of stews. I mean there is nothing wrong with stew, but these did require some extra ingredients, like chicken, or greens, or some other kind of additional ingredient.
So, I took the base of peanut butter stew, and with some adjustments, I made this delicious peanut butter soup.
The main ingredient of this soup is peanut butter. Regardless which peanut butter you use, you will have same amazing soup, but with a slightly different texture.
Which Peanut Butter To Choose
When it comes to this soup, we must agree on one thing: unflavored peanut butter.
It does not matter if you choose organic peanut butter, or processed like Jif, as long as it does not have any extra flavor, like cinnamon, banana, or chocolate.
In the terms of the texture, I went with the smooth peanut butter. If you prefer more texture, you can choose the crunchy peanut butter.
If you have peanut butter powder, it is fine to use too. Peanut butter powder has a more intense taste in this soup, so if you are looking for that, make sure you have peanut butter powder.
When it comes to the ratio of peanut butter and peanut butter powder, you will need more peanut butter powder. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of peanut butter, you will have to use 1 1/3 cup of peanut butter powder.
So, smooth, crunchy, or peanut butter powder – they all work, just make sure it is not flavored with anything.
Is This Soup Thin Or Thick?
This soup lays somewhere in the middle. If you want to make this soup thick, you will use more cream, and if you want it to be thinner, you will use more chicken stock.
That is the beauty of this soup, because you can easily adjust it without compromising flavor too much.
Can I Add Some Special Spices?
Inspired by African peanut stew, I made a version of this soup with common spices that are used in the stew. You can elevate the soup with the following:
- Minced ginger – It will bring some sharp and refreshing notes.
- Chili powder – If you are about heat, then this spice will provide it.
- Ground cumin – This spice gives earthy flavors and sweet and bitter undertones.
You can choose one spice or make a mixture with all of these. Also, you can use coconut milk and vegetable stock for a vegan version
How To Make Peanut Soup?
This is really easy soup and requires minimum cooking skills. The most important thing is not to burn veggies.
As with any soup, this one starts with a base. The base of flavors for this soup are onion and celery. Before you use celery make sure, you remove strings from the celery stalk. Slice up the celery very thin.
Cook onion and celery in butter until they are tender. Add flour and cook the flour until it changes color. It will take around 3 minutes.
Once the flour is cooked, pour in warm chicken stock. Stir the cooked flour with stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the soup from the heat and allow it to cool down a bit. Puree the celery and onions with an immersion blender or blend in a regular blender.
Stir in rest of the ingredients and cook the soup for 2-3 minutes. That’s it!
Peanut Butter Soup
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 2 oz butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- Salt, and pepper, to taste
- Crushed peanuts, for garnish
Instructions
1. In a sauce pot, melt butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add onions and celery. Cook stirring until the veggies are tender, for 5 minutes.
3. Add flour and cook the flour until it changes color and starts to smell like popcorn. It takes around 3 minutes.
4. Pour in the chicken stock and give it a good stir.
5. Simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or blend using a food blender, until smooth.
6. Stir in rest of the ingredients and simmer the soup for few minutes.
7. Serve soup warm, garnished with crushed peanuts.
Peanut Butter Soup
This savory peanut butter soup is as easy to make as it is delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 2oz. butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- Salt, and pepper, to taste
- Crushed peanuts, for garnish
Instructions
- In a sauce pot, melt butter over medium-high heat.
- Add onions and celery. Cook stirring until the veggies are tender, for 5 minutes.
- Add flour and cook the flour until it changes color and starts to smell like popcorn. It takes around 3 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken stock and give it a good stir.
- Simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or blend using a food blender, until smooth.
- Stir in rest of the ingredients and simmer the soup for few minutes.
- Serve soup warm, garnished with crushed peanuts.
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