Beef Mafé - West African Peanut Stew

Mafé, or maafe, is a traditional West African peanut stew that can be made with beef, lamb, chicken, seafood, or just vegetables. This oven version of mafé features succulent diced beef slowly simmered in a nutty peanut butter sauce. Finish this dish in the oven, you will get melt-in-your-mouth tender beef and perfectly thickened, splatter-free gravy. It is easy to make and tastes even better the next day. Serve it with rice or couscous, but if you are watching your carbs, you can easily enjoy this with cauliflower rice. If you have a peanut allergy or simply want to experiment, you can use almond or cashew butter.


2 tbsp Tallow (or olive oil) 1-1.2 kg Chuck roast, cut into bite-sized cubes 1 Yellow onion, diced 1 Red bell pepper, diced 2 tbsp Tomato paste 3 tbsp Fish sauce 1 tsp Habanero pepper powder (or cayenne pepper) 750 ml Beef stock ¾ tsp Sea salt 1 tsp Freshly milled black pepper 120 g Unsweetened smooth peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.
Melt half of the tallow in a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed large pot over medium-high heat. Add in half of the beef cubes and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Add the chopped onions and red pepper and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onions are translucent, scraping up the delicious browned bits from the bottom of the pot as you stir them occasionally. Add in tomato paste, fish sauce and habanero pepper powder. Saute for a few more minutes.
Add creamy peanut butter and stir until it is fully incorporated. Pour in beef stock and season with salt and pepper. Return the browned beef cubes and any accumulated juices. Stir to mix everything together.
Transfer the stew to the oven, roast, covered, for about 75 minutes until the beef is tender. In the last 25 minutes of cooking, remove the lid to allow for slight reduction.