This easy Ethiopian Sweet Potato Stew came from my desire to have dinner cooking in my crock pot while I worked on other things around the house, kept my 3-year-old alive and entertained, and tested other recipes for the blog. The result was too good not to share! Even Picky Husband gave it two thumbs up! 🙂
This Ethiopian sweet potato stew is perfect for those cooler days when you just want something filling and warm. It’s seasoned with anti-inflammatory turmeric and my favorite blend of Ethiopian spices known as berbere. You can make your own berbere, but it’s so much easier to buy it. I’ve seen it on occasion at various grocery stores, but I order it from Amazon. I’m wary of buying special spices just for one recipe, but I’ve found that I use this one all the time to season soups, sauces, etc. and love it. For example, try my Ethiopian Roasted Brussels Sprouts!
The marinade for these Brussels sprouts is also great on other roasted veggies, such as cauliflower, potatoes, and broccoli.
Anyway, back to the stew!
The combination of sweet potatoes, onion, red bell pepper, spinach, chickpeas, and coconut cream makes this stew a complete and filling meal on its own, but to make it even more hearty, serve it over your favorite grain. Adding rice satisfied my husband, who believes (incorrectly) that soup is not a meal.
- 1½ lb (roughly 2 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
- ½ red bell pepper, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3½ cups low-sodium veg broth
- 1 tsp. ground turmeric
- ½ tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. berbere (or more if you like a lot of spice)
- 1 fat pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 cups chopped baby spinach or kale
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- 2-3 T. coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tsp. agave or maple syrup
- 1 T. tapioca starch or corn starch, dissolved in 2 T. cold water
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 cups cooked grain of choice
- Optional: fresh cilantro, fresh lime juice
- Stir together sweet potatoes, onion, red pepper, garlic, broth, turmeric, paprika, berbere, and red pepper flakes in a slow-cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs or on high for 4 hours.
- Roughly 30 mins before serving, blend about half of the soup in a blender (or use an immersion blender and leave some chunks) and return it to the slow-cooker. Stir in the spinach, chickpeas, coconut cream, agave, and starch. Re-cover and continue to cook a few mins to wilt the greens. In the meantime, cook your grain.
- Taste your stew and add more berbere for more heat, more salt, or more pepper if needed.
- Serve over a small portion of grain and top with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime if desired.
Enjoy! 🙂
♥  ♥  ♥
Also try my African Lentil Stew!
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