This rich and hearty vegan stew is the ultimate comfort food. It’s simple fare that’s wonderfully warming and always satisfies.
Who doesn’t love a good stew? It’s simple, hearty and has you going back for a second bowl every time!
It’s perfect for cold nights, but just as perfect for nights when you just want something really filling and satisfying.
It’s simple and delicious and you won’t miss the meat in this hearty stew.
How To Make Vegan Stew
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- We start off by adding some chopped onions to the pot with some olive oil and sautéeing the onions until softened.
- Add crushed garlic, thyme, rosemary and oregano and sauté with the onions.
- Add sliced mushrooms, diced carrots and celery and toss that up with the onions.
- Let it cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms are slightly softened.
- Add all purpose flour and stir it in.
- Add vegetable stock, marinara sauce (or sub for canned chopped tomato), red wine, peeled chopped potatoes, kidney beans, tomato paste and dark soy sauce.
- Stir in and add bay leaves.
- Bring to a simmer, cover the pot and let it simmer until the potatoes and veggies are soft and cooked.
- Add coconut sugar (optional) to balance the acidity from the tomatoes and round off the flavors beautifully.
How to Serve Vegan Stew
You can serve it as is or over rice. My personal favorite is basmati rice as it cooks so fast.
If you want something lighter then cauliflower rice would be great too. It’s also great served with vegan mashed potatoes or with some homemade whole wheat bread on the side to mop up all that delicious stew.
How to Thicken Vegan Stew
Because of the all purpose flour added in early on in this recipe, I find it’s thick enough. If you find it still needs extra thickening at the end, then the best way to do this is with some cornstarch.
Mix in a tablespoon of cornstarch with a little cold water into a paste. Then add this into the stew while stirring furiously and let the stew simmer for a few minutes after adding the cornstarch so that it cooks in properly. If you still would like it to be thicker, then repeat this step again.
Make It Gluten Free
You can use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend instead of the regular all purpose flour to make this gluten-free. You can also omit the flour altogether, but then you will most likely need to thicken the stew at the end with some cornstarch (see above).
How To Store Vegan Stew
Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for a few (3-4) days.
It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months if you want to freeze the leftovers.
More Hearty Vegan Dinner Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Stew
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 Tbsp Crushed Garlic
- 1 tsp Dried Thyme
- ½ tsp Dried Rosemary
- ½ tsp Dried Oregano
- 5 cups Cremini Mushrooms (480g) Sliced
- 3 Large Carrots Diced
- 3 Celery Stalks Diced
- ⅓ cup All Purpose Flour (41g)
- 2 cups Vegetable Stock (480ml)
- 1 cup Marinara Sauce (240ml)
- 1 cup Red Wine (240ml)
- 2 Large Potatoes (600g/1.2 pounds peeled weight) peeled and chopped
- 15 ounce (425g) Can Kidney Beans (1 can) Drained
- ½ cup Tomato Paste (130g)
- 1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 leaves Bay Leaf
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Sugar Optional
Instructions
- Add the chopped onion to the pot with the olive oil and sauté the onions until softened.
- Add in the crushed garlic, thyme, rosemary and oregano and sauté with the onions.
- Add the sliced mushrooms, diced carrots and diced celery and toss with the onions and spices. Let it cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms are slightly softened.
- Add the all purpose flour and stir it in.
- Add the vegetable stock, marinara sauce, red wine, peeled and chopped potatoes, kidney beans, tomato paste and dark soy sauce and stir in.
- Add in the bay leaves and bring it all to a simmer, cover the pot and leave to simmer, stirring from time to time, until the potatoes and veggies are soft and cooked.
- Add in the coconut sugar (optional) which helps to balance out the flavors and salt and pepper to taste (if needed).
- Serve as is or with basmati rice.
Video
Notes
- Cremini mushrooms are also called portobellini mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms. You could also use white button mushrooms.
- Marinara Sauce. You can use any marinara sauce that you like the taste of, or sub for canned chopped tomatoes.
- Gluten-Free. If you want this stew to be gluten free then use a gluten free all purpose flour blend.
- Storing. Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for a few (3-4) days. It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months if you want to freeze the leftovers.
- Nutritional information is for stew only and does not include any rice that you may serve it with.
Hi there, I made this last night for my boyfriend and I. He recently has switched to a vegan diet to help fight off prostate cancer. It has been a challenge to find tasty dishes for a very meat and potatoes kind of guy! This was fantastic! I’ve never had a stew without beef and thought it would be missed but it was so good, you’d never notice it was vegan.
So happy you enjoyed it Noelle! Thanks for sharing and the great review!
The instructions were easy to follow though I had no idea about where to get coconut sugar – left it out. I doubled the recipe to make it for our church potluck this Sunday so it took me a little longer. But with help from my wife we had it all cooking in short order. She was a little dubious as was I – this is the first vegan meal either of us had made. Within minutes the kitchen began to smell very good. When finished, I couldn’t believe how good it tasted. Didn’t even need any salt. This is a winner. We’ll do this again. Thank you, Alison Andrews. We’re looking for some ways to cut out meat and be gentle to the planet.
So happy to hear that John! Thanks so much for sharing!
Could this be made as an oven stew
I haven’t tried it like that but you probably can!
amazing! we doubled the recipe, used both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes, and my husband added pineapple pieces once the stew was ready on the table. IT WAS SO GOOD! 2yo and 4yo loved it too
thank you for sharing!
Yay! Thanks Monika!
Made this a couple of days ago and it really is excellent and, once you have prepared the ingredients, simple to do. I had no celery so substituted some frozen chard which worked really well. Yesterday I had a bowl accompanied with creamy mashed potato as you suggested and it was marvellous! Have already forwarded this recipe to my vegan girlfriend! Thank you so much for sharing this.
Awesome Mark! Thanks so much for the great review.
The flavour is very good but I did find that by cooking the potatoes and tomatoes together, the acidity made it take a long time to cook. If I were to make this again, I would recommend to precook the potatoes at least 50%, then add in to the pot.
Followed recipe exactly, turned out very good. Wanted to ask if sherry can be substituted for the red wine?
Hi Marg, so glad you enjoyed it! I think sherry would work great!
I made this for dinner a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing! I made it as written except I substituted sweet potatoes for the potatoes. Even my non-vegan wife loved it!
Wonderful! Thanks so much David!
If I take out the marianara sauce (or the tomato can) and tomato paste, what would I sub in for those? I would assume it would lack acidity at that point. I have acid reflux and tomato is a pretty hard trigger. Acid in general isn’t though (somehow).
Hi Andrei, you can try leaving it out altogether without a replacement or just adding in more vegetable stock. All the best!
Thank you! All the best as well 🙂
I need to avoid tomatoes, too. I use canned pumpkin and butternut squash or sweet potato soup. Sometimes apple cider or other vinegar can be added for the acid, but I didn’t use it for this recipe.
The shops near me are out of all purpose flour. Can I use rice flour instead? And would it be the same amount? Thanks!
Hi Francesca, yes it should work fine in the same quantity as the all purpose.
I’m an inexperienced cook who is looking for more vegan dishes to make, and this recipe is like a jackpot for me. Easy to make and delicious! I can’t get over how flavorful it is. I’m so happy to add this recipe to my list of “things I can actually cook”, hehe!
Thanks so much! I love it!
Wonderful! Thanks so much for the awesome review Sara!
For marinara sauce, do you mean spaghetti sauce? Or tomato purée?
Hi Tayler, yes it’s like a spaghetti sauce, it’s usually made from tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. You buy it in a jar or a carton. You can also just use canned chopped tomato if you can’t get marinara sauce.
Second time I have made this stew and I just can’t get enough of it.. Soooo……good!!
Thanks Deb! 🙂
Made this lovely recipe and had enough for my dinner with 4 portions to freeze.
I had some olives leftover (black and green)which I added at the end. I also substituted green lentils for kidney beans as I prefer them.
The meal was so delicious I had to add a comment. Thank you
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for the wonderful review! 🙂
I’m a big fan of this stew, I’ve made it couple of times already.
Awesome! Thanks Maryla! 🙂
Hi Alison,
I’m about to cook this recipe!!! Yay!! Question I have a family of 4 should I double the portions? They eat a lot!!!
Hi Karen, it makes a big pot of stew so it would be a nice big portion for 4 people. But of course you can double it as well since leftovers also keep very well in the fridge for 3-4 days. 🙂