Ghanaian peanut soup (nkate nkwan) with rice (omo tuo)
This peanut soup from Ghana is rich, creamy , and incredibly flavorful! And yet… it is very easy to make yourself. You just need some time. In Ghana, they serve peanut soup (nkate nkwan) with rice balls (omo tuo). And you can easily make those yourself with this recipe too!
Prefer a video?
In the video below you can see how Nana (@connectingflavors) and I make the soup in less than a minute.
Ingredients:
For the soup
- 2 chicken legs
- 5 tomatoes
- 2 large onions
- 1 Adjuma pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 pieces of ginger (approx. 4 cm)
- 150 g peanut butter (100% peanuts)
- 3 tl tomato puree
- 2 Maggi cubes or 1 stock cube
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tl paprika
- Salt and black pepper
- Water, as needed
For the rice
- 300 g white long grain rice (e.g. jasmine rice)
- 750 ml water
- 1 tsp salt
Preparation Nkate Nkwan / Ghanaian peanut soup:
Wash the chicken and cut the legs each in 3 pieces. Pat dry and season them generously with turmeric, cayenne pepper, paprika powder, salt and black pepper.
Place the spiced chicken in a large pan. Blend 1 onion with the ginger and garlic to a coarse paste and add to the pan together with 1 maggi cube.
Add the whole tomatoes, the remaining onion (whole) and the Adjuma pepper. Add water until everything is just covered and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile: heat the peanut butter with the tomato puree and half a cup of water in a pan. Let this simmer for 10-15 minutes until the oil floats to the top.
Remove the tomatoes, onion and pepper from the pan and blend until smooth. Add back to the pan.
Now add the peanut mixture to the soup. Stir well. Add some extra water if the soup is too thick.
Now add the second Maggi cube, taste and season further if necessary.
Let the soup simmer on low heat for another 30 minutes until the oil rises to the surface again. Stir occasionally.
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Preparation of omo tuo / rice balls:
Rinse the rice 3 times to remove some starch.
Bring the rice, salt and water to the boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Reduce heat to low and let rice cook gently until most of the water is absorbed. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn.
Mash the cooked rice in the pan with a sturdy wooden spoon. Use a 'mash & fold' technique until the rice is soft and sticky.
Wet a bowl with water. Scoop some rice into the bowl and roll it in circles until it forms a ball. Repeat 3 more times until you have 4 rice balls in total.
Serve the peanut soup in a bowl with one rice ball per person and eat it with your hands!
Fancy more?
Are you crazy about soup recipes? Then also try the Antillean sopi di galiña or this spicy pumpkin soup.









