Senegalese Mafé

A cash crop that became a national dish

The peanut in this recipe is not native to Africa — it crossed the Atlantic twice. Portuguese traders carried it from South America to West Africa in the 16th century, where it took to the soil so well that colonial administrations later turned it into a forced export crop, grown for European oil presses rather than local kitchens. That a dish built on that same commodity became a national favourite, thickened into a sauce and eaten over rice, says something about how West African cooks reclaimed an imposed crop on their own terms.

History

Mafé tells a story of back-and-forth between two continents. The peanut itself is native to South America; Portuguese sailors brought it to West Africa in the 16th century, where it took to the soil so well it became a cash crop under colonization. Bambara cooks in Mali turned it into a stew, tigadèguèna, literally “peanut-paste sauce.” The dish traveled, changed its name, and became mafé.

Today it’s most closely associated with Senegal, a dish for big Sunday tables, made with beef, chicken, or lamb depending on the household. Every country in the region defends its own version, from Mali to Guinea, and the diaspora has carried it onto the menus of African restaurants from Paris to Montreal.

Ingredients — Serves 4

• 800 g beef for stewing (chuck or blade)
• 200 g unsweetened peanut butter
• 3 tbsp tomato paste plus 2 tomatoes
• 2 onions plus 3 garlic cloves
• 2 carrots, a wedge of cabbage, 1 sweet potato (or cassava)
• 1 whole chili pepper (optional but recommended)
• White rice, oil, salt, pepper

Step-by-Step Mafé Recipe

1. Sear the meat in a little hot oil, in batches so it browns instead of stewing in its own juice. Set aside.
2. Build the sauce base: sliced onions and garlic in the same pot, then tomato paste and tomatoes. Two minutes, stirring.
3. Thin the peanut butter with 60 cl of hot water, pour it in, and return the meat to the pot. Looks too thin? That’s normal.
4. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour over low heat, stirring occasionally — the peanut oil rises to the surface once the sauce is ready.
5. Add the vegetables and the whole chili partway through cooking, each timed to how long it needs.
6. Serve piping hot over white rice. The whole chili will have perfumed the pot without setting it on fire, unless someone bites into it. Warn your guests.

Cooking Method

Technique: long, uncovered simmering, letting the sauce slowly reduce and thicken.

Traditional equipment: a cast-iron pot over a wood fire; a large Dutch oven works just as well.

What to look for: the sauce is ready when it coats the spoon and a thin, rust-colored film of oil beads on the surface. If it starts to stick, add a little water, never more heat.

Nutrition, per serving

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided across four servings, not counting the rice it’s served over.

At 845 kcal per serving, mafé is substantial, and the peanut butter is doing as much of that work as the beef: 200 g of it contributes roughly a third of the fat in the dish, alongside a meaningful share of the 56 g of protein. Saturated fat, at 17 g, comes from both the meat and the peanut butter in roughly equal measure.

Economic context

Peanuts remain one of Senegal’s principal agricultural exports, and mafé still runs on the same crop that once left the country as a raw commodity rather than food. A version built on 800 g of beef and a full jar of peanut butter sits above the staples that make up Senegal’s typical food budget — the region’s chicken or meatless versions of the same sauce sit much closer to everyday cooking.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Senegal generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

Who this dish suits

What About You?

Where do you think is the best place to try mafé — or your go-to spot to make it at home?

Also worth trying