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African Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup [Dehydrated Meal Recipe]

5 from 1 vote
Serves 6.
Dehydrated weight: ~100g per serving.
Rehydrating time: < 5 min with boiling water (or cold soak 45-90min)
Nutrition info per serving: 305 Calories; 9g Protein; 41g Carbs; 14g Fat
Shelf life: 1-3 months or more if vacuum sealed (For longer shelf life, omit the 120g of peanut butter. After dehydrating the soup, add 80g peanut butter powder to the full dehydrated soup mix, then portion into servings).
Make it a curry by adding dehydrated rice, chickpeas or lentils, and pretty much any vegetable you want. Learn more about how to make homemade dehydrated backpacking meals.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Dehydrating Time 12 hours
Servings: 6
Course: Soup
Cuisine: African
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger grated
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes or 1 fresh red chilli to taste
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 750 g sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
  • 1 red pepper or carrot chopped
  • 1 litre good vegetable stock
  • 120 g unsweetened peanut butter or dry roasted peanuts
  • 1 tin 400g chopped tomatoes
  • Salt & black pepper to taste
  • Juice of ½–1 lime
Garnishes (optional but tasty!)
  • Fresh coriander
  • Toasted peanuts
  • Extra chilli
  • A drizzle of good olive oil
  • Warm flatbread or rice

Equipment

  • 1 dehydrator

Method
 

At home
  1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion with a pinch of salt and cook 6–8 minutes until soft and translucent.
  2. Stir in garlic, ginger and chilli. Cook 1 minute until fragrant.
  3. Add cumin, coriander and smoked paprika. Stir for 30 seconds.
  4. Add tomato purée and cook 1–2 minutes to caramelise slightly.
  5. Add sweet potatoes, red pepper, chopped tomatoes and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer 15–20 minutes until sweet potatoes are very tender.
  6. Add the peanut butter (or peanuts) and mix through the soup. (Omit this step if using peanut butter powder.)
  7. Blend until smooth (or keep it chunky if you like, but a smooth soup works better for dehydrating)
To dehydrate
  1. Let soup cool completely.
  2. Spread thinly (3–5mm thick) on lined dehydrator trays.
  3. Dry at 57°C (135°F) for 8–12 hours. It should become brittle and snap easily.
  4. Break into flakes or ideally blend into a powder with a food processor (if using peanut butter powder, add this now). Divide the soup into portions (I use a kitchen scale to do this). Store in an airtight container (ideally vacuum-sealed pouches).
On the trail
  1. Add a portion of soup flakes/powder to a pot. Add ~350–400ml boiling water (roughtly a 1:3 ratio of dried mix to water).
  2. Stir well and cover.
  3. Wait 5-10 minutes then stir again.
  4. Adjust thickness with a splash more water if needed.
  5. Garnish if you'd like with toasted peanuts and a drizzle of oilve oil or salsa macha.