Sopa de Mani or Peanut Soup is a traditional Bolivian dish. It was one of my favorite dishes from when I visited Bolivia back in 2011. My husband (who was born in Bolivia) and I have tried cooking this dish so many times throughout the years and I think we finally have it down. This creamy, hearty peanut soup is the best soup for a cold, winter day!
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Variations of Peanut Soup (Sopa De Mani)
There are several challenges to cooking this Bolivian peanut soup. First, there are so many versions of sopa de mani in Bolivia and depending who you ask, their region’s recipe is the best:). Some recipes call for macaroni, some others for rice. Some add potatoes and green peas, some others red peppers and celery . Below I will share what my family likes but I will also share some other options too if you feel like trying some of these variations.
I tend to use a bit more red pepper than it is used in Bolivia so sometimes my soup might be a bit redder in color than the traditional version. Also I alternate between decorating with french fries and fried potato sticks as a matter of convenience. My kids love having fried potato sticks on top of the soup.
How To Pick The Right Peanuts For Sopa De Mani?
The type of peanuts used to make the soup matters. In one of our trial & errors I bought shelled raw peanuts but they were not peeled. It took me forever to peel them, which added unnecessary time to the whole process. Also, in one of my experiments the soup tasted a bit sweet because of the type of peanuts I bought.
Quantities of ingredients used can vary. Some recipes call for more peanuts, some less. I used about 1 cup of peanuts and if you like the soup to be thicker you can add a bit more. Also, more potatoes will thicken the soup up so feel free to experiment to get the perfect taste for you & your family.
My mother in law, who lives in Potosi, Bolivia suggests using cocktail peanuts. They’re shelled, peeled and already roasted. It shortens cooking time and these peanuts are not as heavy on the stomach.
Effect of Altitude in Cooking
The amount of time we spent cooking the soup also varied each time. Keep in mind that a lot of cities in Bolivia are really high up altitude wise. For example, Potosi where my husband was born, is at about 13,420 feet above sea level (approximately 4,090 meters). In that altitude, water will boil at a lower temperature about 86 degrees Celsius or about 187 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that everything will take longer to cook in order to compensate for the lower temperatures so definitely adjust the cooking times accordingly based on where you live.
If peanuts don’t cook long enough, they’ll cause a bit of indigestion or feel heavy on your stomach so make sure to boil the raw peanuts for at least 1 hour before blending them. As I mentioned above, my mother in law suggests using roasted peanuts, it cuts down on cooking time and they don’t cause indigestion. Roasted peanuts do usually have some salt in them, so taste the soup before adding any additional salt when using roasted peanuts. In my last version of the soup, I did use roasted peanuts and it does taste amazing.
Peanut Soup – Sopa de Mani Recipe Notes
Ok, I think we got the warnings and common pitfalls of this Bolivian soup recipe out the way. The rest is easy! You can serve peanut soup with llajua if you like it spicy or add some aji amarillo when cooking it. I prefer adding llajua on top after serving it on a bowl because that way I can give the kids the non-spicy version and make it spicy for us by adding llajua.
If you want to add some macaroni to the soup as is traditional in some regions in Bolivia, you have to toast the pasta first with a bit of olive oil (usually elbow shape pasta), set aside and then add to step 4 below.
Authentically, this Andean soup is cooked with beef. However, it is easy to make it a vegetarian soup or cook it with beef ribs. Alternatively you can use leftover meat from another dish or just use broth with no meat or poultry. All these possibilities make it so this soup can be cooked in an economical manner and be a favorite dish for a lot of families.
Peanut Soup inspired by Sopa de Mani
Ingredients
- 1 cup roasted peanuts shelled, peeled
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 white onion medium
- 1 lb chuck roast beef cut in chunks
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup green peas
- 1 red pepper use half for the soup and half for decoration at the end
- 0.5 cup chopped carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 potato
- 0.5 tsp aji amarillo optional
- turmeric just a pinch
- chopped parsley for decoration
- french fries for decoration
Instructions
- Boil the peanuts for about 30 minutes, set aside to cool down.
- Saute the chopped onions & minced garlic in olive oil until onion becomes translucent. Keep heat on medium.
- Add beef chunks and mix well so the meat can brown on both sides.
- Add chopped celery, carrots, red peppers and green peas.
- Blend the boiled peanuts with 1 cup of water, I use several settings in my blender to make sure the mixture is really liquefied. At the end it should look like a smooth paste.
- Add the peanut paste to the pot, mix well with the meat and vegetables. Add 2 cups of hot water and mix everything well.
- Cut the potato in chunks and add them to the soup. Stir everything well, add a pinch of turmeric and aji amarillo if you like the soup spicy. Add salt to taste, go slow with salt if you are using roasted peanuts because they do have some salt to start with.
- Cover the pot and lower the temperature from medium to low heat, let the soup cook for about 30 minutes or until meat is tender and soft to eat.
- Serve in a shallow bowl and decorate with parsley, red pepper strips & french fries.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
If you would like to save this recipe for later, please pin the below image to Pinterest. I would love to hear from you if you made this dish. Thank you! If you or your family cook this peanut soup differently, don’t hesitate to share your method in comments. I love hearing from my readers and learn new recipes!
Other Bolivian Recipes
If you would like to check some of my other Bolivian inspired recipes, please see below links. I’m originally from Albania but my husband was born in Bolivia and I love Bolivian food. I try to come as close to the original recipes. It’s challenging because this cuisine is so different from Mediterranean food I’m used to. Plus, I can’t find all the ingredients I need here in US. However, I’m proud to say that I’m learning and getting better at it each day:). Thank you for following my culinary journey:
Marcela
I soak Spanish raw peanuts, (I put my kids to peel them, like my used to do with us kids😀) blend them with some water and then refry them in a pan with a little oil until golden color… it gives the soup a nuttier and dipper flavor
Sonila
Thanks Marcela:). I’ll give that a try sometime.
Pamela Rodriguez
My SIL, from Ouoro, Bolivia, uses unsalted Planters dry roasted peanuts.
Thank you for spreading the recipes of Bolivia. Their food is amazing! We had sopa de mani last night for dinner.
admin
Thank you so much Pamela!! Bolivian food really is amazing and I wish more people can get a chance to try it:)).
Yes that’s great choice for peanuts to use in this soup.
It’s my dream to go to carnival of Oruro one day just to see people dancing live and try all the food
Jaclyn
I love sopa de mani!! It was by far my favorite dish in Bolivia!!
Sonila
It’s one of my favorites too Jaclyn:). Thank you for visiting my blog!
Rosa Dunaway
Cumin and oregano are missing.
Sonila
Thank you Rosa for the suggestions. Even though we make Sopa de Mani without cumin & oregano, I love both of those ingredients and will add a note to the recipe that one of my readers suggests adding these 2 ingredients as well. Thank you!!
Lizet Bowen
Yum! we had sopa de maní this week. Great for this fall 🙂
Sonila
Yayy, it is definitely perfect for Fall/Winter:)). Como lo preparas Lizet? Lo haces con mani tostados / de cocktail or mani crudos? Yo he provado con los dos y los manis crudos me tomo mucho tiempo cocinar. Gracias:)
Enriqueta E Lemoine
Bolivian Peanut Soup? I have never heard about this recipe! Now I want to make it. Thanks for sharing your step by step recipe!
Leticia Esteves
Peanut soup? OMG Firts time I hear about this promising recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
Maria Laura Rodriguez
I want to try this recipe, sopa de maní. It looks amazing and I love peanuts in general. Thanks for the explanation about the time of cooking, very interesting.
Sonila
Thank you Maria:), I’m glad you want to try my sopa de mani recipe:)) and that you found the description for the altitude and cooking time interesting. I wasn’t sure that readers would find that relevant but it did affect how long it takes to cook in Bolivia and here in Florida so I thought to share just in case. Thank you
Silvia
What’s beauriful dish! This Bolivian peanut soups is now in my list. We love peanuts at home and I collect recipes with them quite often.
Sonila
Thank you Silvia:)) We love peanuts too, thankfully no one in my house is allergic and I try to be careful if we have guests. It really is delicious, I never thoughts I could make a soup out of peanuts.
Laura Zamora
Wow, Bolivian peanut soup! I never try it. La cocinaré hoy mismo. Adoro las sopas, así que esta receta de maní me parece interesante.
Sonila
Esta sopa de mani es diferente pero riquisima:). A mi me encanto aprender a cocinarla!! Gracias Laura y si tienes alguna pregunta, avisame:)
Kelly Anthony
I’ve never had peanut soup nor have I made it but it looks delicious and perfect for a cold night.
Sonila
Yes, it’s definitely perfect for a cold night!!
Andrea Metlika
Looks delicious and sounds so flavorful! We are big fans of Mediterranean dishes and will be adding this to our menu.
Caitlin
Peanut soups are my favorite thing to eat EVER. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Sonila
Thank you Caitlin!!
Stephanie
This sounds really good. Thanks for sharing all the helpful tips. Look forward to trying this.
Sonila
Thank you Stephanie!
Anita @ Daily Cooking Quest
I grow up eating Chinese chicken and peanut soup, but we just leave the peanut whole. Your with blended peanut version must make the soup quite creamy. I can’t wait to give this a try. 🙂
Sonila
Aww I’ll definitely look that up. I’m always curious about International Cuisine. Yes, this version is quite creamy. Thank you so much:)
Cindy
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing. I love authentic dishes from other countries.
admin
Thank you Cindy:)
Krish
It had been ages since I last had peanut soup Sonila…This one definitely looks yummy..
Though I may do without the meat part..
Thank you..
admin
You can definitely skip the meat. In that case you can use beef stock of if you can’t have that vegetable stock. Also, i would increase a bit the oil in the recipe if not using meat. Thank you:)
Lauren
Oh my this looks delicious! I’m definitely going to try this 😋 It’s interesting that the altitude affects cooking time!
Sonila
I didn’t know that either. I live in Miami, pretty much as sea level as you can get. So when i exchange recipes with my mother in law who lives in Potosi, either i have to shorten cooking time or lower over temperature or she has to add more time to hers. When she comes to visit us, i try to learn as much as possible from her and we sometimes have to cook something 2 – 3 times to get it right because definitely things cook different here in Miami than in Bolivia.
WanderlustBeautyDreams
This looks very delicious, I need to try this recipe!
Ntensibe Edgar Michael
Nnniicccceeeeee….looks really tasty!
Trish Veltman
My husband does the cooking in our house… I’ve just added this to our list of must try recipes!
Sonila
That’s awesome!! If you do try it, let me know how it goes. Hope you guys like it:)
Jyoti
Looks so delicious.
Loved it. Will try it for sure.
Thanks for sharing
Nancy Cozart
Great post!
Suktara
This looks so yum! This is new for me cant wait to try. Thanks for sharing!
Sally
Can’t wait to try this! One of my favourite meals is a thai peanut soup. Growing up with a Cypriot Granddad has given me a love for mediterranean flavours too. Thanks for sharing!
admin
I love thai food but i have never tried to cook it myself. Thank you:))
I have friends from Cyprus and have learned some recipes from them, will post in the near future.
Omede Deborah
Yummy! I will definitely try this out with roasted peanuts, don’t have the patience to cook peanut an hour
admin
I agree:)). I did the mistake of trying with raw unpeeled peanuts one of the times and it definitely added too much time to cooking!!
Simon Foley
Looks lovely- have just showed this to my wife and we can’t wait to try it!