These West African Peanut Chickpeas over sticky white rice make for a soothing and satisfying plant-based meal.
The chickpeas are coated in smoky peanut sauce with hints of tomato, ginger, garlic and lime with an echo of a traditional West African Peanut Stew. Only in a hearty bowl format. This fast and flavorful meal can be yours in under a half hour..
Some other bean bowls recipes to check out:
- - Coconut Curry Chickpea Rice Bowl
- - Easy Peanut Curry Chickpeas
- - Macro Bowl
- - Speedy Fiesta Bean Bowl
- - Eureka Salad Bowl
- - Seven-Layer Fiesta Bean Bowl
- - Edamame Curry Rice
- - Quinoa Black Bean Fiesta Salad
- - Lemon Pepper Kidney Bean Salad
Tips for This West African Peanut Chickpea Recipe:
- Peanuts burn quite quickly, so you want to make sure your pan is on a very low setting or off, but still warm when you fold in the sauce.
- Salt is necessary, but you can add it to taste. I started with ⅛ teaspoon and that was enough for me, but add to taste.
- The combo of tomato and peanut may feel really odd at first, but trust me. That is what makes African Peanut Stew so yummy and unique, so go with it..
- Ginger + Garlic. You can absolutely add more ginger and garlic if desired.
- Spices can also be added to taste. I started with a few pinches of smoky paprika and a pinch of cayenne.
- Leftover sauce. You might have some leftover sauce. This can be prevented by using another can of chickpeas or tossing the rice right into the sauce and saturate everything for maximum flavor.
- Lime. Lime juice as the acid adds a beautiful undertone. If you do not have fresh limes, apple cider vinegar or even lemon juice could be subbed.
- Grain. You can use white, brown sticky, jasmine.. any variety of rice. Quinoa would be great too.
- Sweet Potato Addition. I would love some roasted sweet potato on the side of this for even more flavor and fiber, nutrition and satisfaction.
- Spinach. Next time I will add even more spinach. This sauce is SO good on the wilted spinach. You could easy just pour it over spinach and have a yummy side dish.
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West African Chickpeas
Ingredients
Start with:
- 14 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sauce:
- ⅓ cup peanut butter, soft and oily
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- ⅔ cup warm water
- 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- a few pinches of smoky paprika
- pinch of cayenne
- salt and black pepper to taste
Also:
- 1 cup baby spinach, chopped
- chopped peanuts
- fluffy rice or quinoa to serve
Instructions
- Prepare your rice. You can use any variety. Quinoa works too. You can even use pre-cooked rice in frozen bags for super quick meal prep. cook and set aside to stay warm.
- Add to blender or food processor: peanut butter, tomato paste, garlic, ginger, maple, water, lime and a starting amount of the paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. Blend from low to high and back to low again for a few minutes – until nice and smooth. Do a small taste test and adjust the heat and salt to your tastes. Note: the flavor WILL condense and evolve after you cook the sauce.. Set blender aside.
- Warm a large skillet over high heat. Add one tablespoon olive oil. Then add the drained and rinsed chickpeas. Toss in the oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, to lightly toast the edges and remove any excess moisture.
- Turn the skillet heat to low (or off if your skillet is really hot.) Then slowly pour the peanut sauce over the chickpeas. NOTE: I only used about ¾ of my sauce. You can use it all or sauce any excess for another meal. Toss the chickpeas in the sauce. Don’t worry if some of the sauce clumps a bit, it doesn’t ruin the flavor – you just do not want too many clumps. Clumps mean that your skillet is still too hot. You just want a silky, thickened sauce draping your chickpeas.
- Fold the spinach into the chickpeas.
- To serve: Add the rice and chickpeas to a bowl. Top with chopped peanuts, lime wedge garnish is optional. Optional hot sauce or sriracha on top is nice if you want more heat.
Equipment
- skillet
nutrition estimate | per serving
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