This Instant Pot Kenyan Kunde is a nutritious black-eyed peas recipe with and peanuts that makes a yummy, filling vegan recipe in your pressure cooker. Start with dry beans and have dinner ready in under 30 minutes!
What Makes This Intant Pot Black Eyed Pea Recipe So Good?
- Fast. Done in under 30 minutes.
- Easy. A simple pour and cook recipe.
- Authentic. Tastes just like the African cuisine you know and love.
- Delicious. Comfort food PLUS peanut butter? Yep, it doesn't get any better than that.
- Nutritious and Filling. A full meal packed with fiber and protein.
- Vegetarian. The perfect meal for your next Meatless Monday.
What is Kenyan Kunde?
Kunde is the Swahili word for black eyed peas, but if you look for Kunde recipes, you will find ones with just beans and no greens at all. I do find these to be a better bet since it's almost a full meal in one.
When you combine beans and peanut butter, it is absolutely delicious and very nutritious and filling.
This Kenyan Kunde recipe is made from dry, unsoaked beans. One of the great selling points about an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, is the ability to make beans without pre-soaking.
How To Make Black Eyed Peas With Peanut Butter
- Pour all ingredients EXCEPT peanut butter into the inner liner of your Instant Pot and stir well.
- Add peanut butter on the top and ensure that everything in the pot including the peanut butter is submerged in the liquid, but do not stir the peanut butter in. You're doing this to keep it from sticking to the pot and burning.
- Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 10 minutes and then release all remaining pressure.
- Open the pot, stir to mix and serve.
Stovetop. Simmer beans in a pot of water on the stovetop for 30-45 minutes or until they are the desired texture. Drain water and serve or add to a recipe.
Instant Pot. Cook black eyed peas with two cups of water under high pressure in your Instant Pot for 10 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally. Drain water and serve or add to a recipe.
In my opinion, the Instant Pot is the best way to cook them. It is so fast and you can prep the rest of the recipe you plan on adding them to while they cook.
Soaking the beans decreases the cooking time. If you plan on cooking the beans on the stovetop, you may want to soak the beans in hot water for a few minutes before boiling.
If you're cooking the black eyed peas in your Instant Pot, you can skip this step.
Variations on This Kenyan Kunde Recipe
- Omit Swiss Chard and cook just the black-eyed peas Substitute
- Spinach for the Swiss chard
- Add 2-inch cubes of pumpkin or butternut squash instead of the swiss chard
- Add chopped cilantro and chopped green onions after cooking, and stir in well.
- Sprinkle 1 teaspoon curry powder.
Other Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas- A delicious ham and bean recipe.
- Cowboy Caviar- A great appetizer or side dish.
- Vegetarian Indian Black Eyed Peas- Plan it for your next Meatless Monday.
- Butter Chicken- The recipe I'm most famous for.
- Chicken Korma- Everyone's favorite Indian restaurant dish.
- Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash- Made fast and easy in your Instant Pot.
So, if you love this Kenyan Kunde recipe as much as I do, make sure you share it with your friends on Facebook and Pin it to make it again later.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below! Just click on the stars in the recipe card to rate. Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (160 g) onions, chopped
- 1 cup (242 g) Canned Tomatoes
- 1 cup (172 g) dry Black-eyed peas
- 2.5 cups (625 g) Water
- 2 cups (72 g) frozen Swiss Chard
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4-1/2 cup (64.5 g) Creamy Peanut Butter, (depending on how much you love PB)
Instructions
- Pour all ingredients EXCEPT peanut butter into the inner liner of your Instant Pot and stir well.
- Add peanut butter on the top and ensure that everything in the pot including the peanut butter is submerged in the liquid, but do not stir the peanut butter in. You're doing this to keep it from sticking to the pot and burning.
- Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 10 minutes and then release all remaining pressure.
- Open the pot, stir to mix and serve.
Watch The Video
- Omit Swiss Chard and cook just the black-eyed peas Substitute
- Spinach for the Swiss chard
- Add 2-inch cubes of pumpkin or butternut squash instead of the swiss chard
- Add chopped cilantro and chopped green onions after cooking, and stir in well.
- Add 1 teaspoon curry powder.
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Nutrition
Don't forget to check out my other Best-selling Instant Pot Cookbooks!
Indian Instant Pot, Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy, Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot.
Shannon Hurlburt
Oh so good. I know, a savory peanut butter and beans fish does not sound normal, but trust me, unless you don't like peanut butter in the first place, you need to try this. I make it with frozen spinach, just because I always seem to have it on hand. I also always do the full 1/2 cup of peanut butter, which is a peanuts only version. That does mean that I end up adding more salt in the end, but that's alright.
NME
I made a lot of substitutions to work with what I had, and it still turned out well. Husband was ambivalent, but it hit the spot for me! In case it's helpful to anyone, here's what I did:
-- doubled recipe (6 quart IP works fine)
-- fresh tomatoes instead of canned
-- fresh kale instead of frozen chard
-- half black eyed peas, half small red beans
-- teaspoon of garam masala instead of optional curry powder
-- made sure to use just enough water to cover after packing everything really tight in the pot
-- let pressure release for 25 min. to make sure small red beans were cooked (a few were still crunchy, but the majority were fine).
Shannon
Just made this, and it knocked my socks off!!!! So super tasty!!!!!
Rebecca
Just made this tonight. LOVED it so much. Used the 1/2 cup of peanut butter (quality peanut butter) and fresh chard.
SO good.
Laurie
Tasty! I did sub fresh swiss chard for frozen - and wonder if that is why it was more soup-like. Didn't resemble the photo at all. Nevertheless, it's yummy!
Elena
Alright, but not amazeballs. I blame this on:
- replacing the chard with savoy cabbage (less strong flavor, but it's what we had)
- the peas still being still crunchy when they came out (but they were quite old, so extra soaking time might have helped)
Still, it's very filling and will make a perfectly tolerable lunch for next week.
Mellisa
Do you think you could substitute pbfit powder instead of the Peanut Butter? I might give it a go and let you all know.
Asha
I subbed frozen spinach for the chard and added the teaspoon of curry powder. It turned out perfectly! The recipe is delicious.
Asha
I wonder if it would be ok to use fresh rather than frozen greens.....
URVASHI PITRE
Yes it would
Carole
Delicious! So simple yet full of flavoe
URVASHI PITRE
Glad to hear it!