Homemade Healthy Vegetable Stew Recipe with Beans and Potatoes
This rich and healthy vegetable stew is deliciously thick and loaded with savory nutrient dense veggies and herbs, mushrooms, potatoes, and beans. Ready in just under 1 hour, easy to make and packed with plant-based protein for a hearty weeknight dinner to keep you warm all winter long!
The vegetable stew recipe you’ll be making all winter long:
The long, cold nights are upon us, but this incredibly delicious, nutrient-rich and hearty vegetable stew is here to save the day.
Seriously, this is going to be your new go-to comfort food recipe for weeknight dinners for the family. It’s that good.
Like my cheesy vegan baked gnocchi, sweet potato curry, and easy vegan chili recipe, this stew is on repeat in the winter. It’s wonderfully rich and creamy, like my vegan lasagna soup.
In fact, my husband, who’s more of a chili and curry fan, even said, “I was not expecting to be obsessed with this stew!”
Here’s why you’ll love this recipe:
- Easy & Simple: We’re using nothing out of the ordinary here- just, nutrient dense veggies, herbs, beans, and potatoes. This vegetable stew is the definition of plant-based goodness!
- Filling & Comforting: The soup thickens so beautifully with a touch of flour (and yes, you can make it gluten-free!) – just like my vegan mushroom soup – and is full of veggies and beans to keep you satisfied!
- Naturally vegan and vegetarian-friendly! Seriously, you’re not going to miss the meat in this recipe. It’s a fantastic vegan soup recipe if you’re looking to add more vegetables into your diet- and for your kids too!
- Family-friendly & easy to meal prep: If you’ve got a hectic schedule, this veggie stew is super easy to make in a big batch on a Sunday night, and feed your family all week long! We’re also not using any red wine here, which often turns off the kiddos. But don’t worry- this stew is plenty flavorful and savory!
And if you’re a big soup fan, then you need to check out my vegan tuscan white bean soup, vegan tortellini soup, and vegan butternut squash soup!
Ingredients & Substitutions:
- Vegetable broth: I’ve made this recipe with both homemade veggie broth and with water. See my notes below for swapping in water!
- Vegan butter: Feel free to swap in olive oil or coconut oil here. This is just for sautéing the veggies!
- Carrots
- Celery
- Mushrooms: I used shiitake mushrooms, but you can use baby Bella mushrooms, or any of your favorites. Mushrooms all have different flavors, so have fun with this!
- Onion
- Garlic
- Sage, parsley, & dill: You can also swap in thyme and/or rosemary here for one of the herbs, or even add in 1 bay leaf. Just make sure to remove the bay leaf before serving.
- Cannellini beans & chickpeas: I used both beans for different textures, but you can use just one or swap in your favorite!
- Baby potatoes
- Flour: Don’t skip this as this will thicken our vegetable stew! However, there is a way to make it gluten free as needed, which I share below as well.
- Tomato sauce: You can also use tomato paste, but you’ll only use 2 tbsp then. If you’re using tomato paste, then you’ll need to mix the flour into 1/2 cup of the veggie broth before it goes into the stew (you’ll see why in the overview section!).
You can also add in even more veggies to customize your vegetable soup! Cabbage, kale, spinach, green beans, frozen peas, Brussels sprouts, and more!
Can I just use water instead of vegetable broth?
I’ve made this vegetable stew with both homemade vegetable broth and with water- either will work!
Because we’re using lots of the same veggies and herbs that are used when making veggie stock, you can easily swap in just water.
The only thing is that you’ll need to add a lot more salt to the pot in order to get that vegetable stew flavor. I add 1 teaspoon but you may like more or less, so start with less, then add more.
Overview: How to make homemade vegetable stew:
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
Can I make this veggie stew gluten free?
Absolutely! I’ve tested this recipe with a few different options:
- Regular flour
- Einkorn flour (low gluten option- a flour that my gluten-free husband tolerates very well!)
- Gluten free 1:1 baking flour (or you can even use oat flour)
Any of these options will thicken your vegetable stew beautifully. The potatoes will also help thicken the stew!
How to add even more protein to this vegetable stew:
If you want to add even more protein to this hearty vegetable stew, I recommend adding some crispy tofu!
This is my favorite way to pack in more plant-based protein to any recipe. You can sauté the tofu with the veggies if you’d like so that it absorbs even more flavor.
But the best part about tofu in general is that it’s like a sponge- the flavors from the stew will soak into the tofu and be SO flavor-packed.
What to pair with this hearty veggie stew:
Honestly, this veggie stew is fantastic served just as is. My husband and I find it quite filling (and we do give ourselves big portions!).
However, sometimes I’ll serve this over vegan mashed potatoes (for a very vegan version of the classic beef stew!) or with some homemade bread or vegan cornbread to sop up any extra liquid.
For some crunch, you can add toasted pumpkin seeds or croutons on top, along with some fresh parsley and freshly cracked black pepper!
Storage & Reheating tips:
The best part about this recipe is that it makes lots of portions and can easily be stored (either refrigerated or frozen) and reheated for later.
If you’re going to store any leftovers, here are my tips:
- Refrigerator: If you want to refrigerate this soup to enjoy later on in the week, this vegetable stew will be good in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: If you want to freeze this soup, I recommend pouring any leftovers into an airtight container and freezing for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: To reheat from refrigeration, simply pour the stew into a pot and heat until warm on medium heat via the stove. To reheat from freezing, transfer the stew to the fridge the night before to thaw. Then proceed as you would with reheating the stew from refrigeration!
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
PrintHomemade Healthy Vegetable Stew Recipe with Beans and Potatoes
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 5 bowls 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This rich and healthy vegetable stew is deliciously thick and loaded with savory nutrient dense veggies and herbs, mushrooms, potatoes, and beans. Ready in just under 1 hour, easy to make and packed with plant-based protein for a hearty weeknight dinner to keep you warm all winter long!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 7 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium head of celery (1 stalk of celery), washed and chopped
- 6 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
- 4 cups (960 mL) veggie stock or water
- 1/2 cup (120 mL) tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup (60 g) flour, einkorn flour, or gluten free 1:1 baking flour
- 8 ounces chickpeas, rinsed
- 8 ounces cannellini beans, rinsed
- 8–10 small baby yellow potatoes, rinsed and quartered
- Sea salt to taste*
Instructions
- Prep: Begin by cleaning and slicing all of the veggies. Make sure that you’ve also rinsed the beans and potatoes.
- Saute: In a large pot, heat the vegan butter on medium until melted. Add in the garlic and onions, and sauté until the onions are translucent and the garlic fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and add in the carrots, celery, mushrooms, sage, dill, and parsley. Mix together then cover to let cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Mix in the flour: In a small bowl with the tomato sauce, whisk the flour into the sauce so that there are no more clumps. This will prevent the flour clumping in the hot mixture of the stew.
- Finish the stew: Add in the tomato flour mixture, veggie stock or water, chickpeas, cannellini beans, baby potatoes, and sea salt to taste. Stir to combine, then bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Simmer for 35-45 minutes, or longer if desired. The longer it cooks, the more it thickens. Stir the soup every so often.
- Serve: Once the potatoes are fork tender, you can serve your vegetable stew. Serve in bowls alongside homemade bread, mashed potatoes, and fresh parsley on top!
Notes
Sea salt: If you’re using water instead of vegetable broth, which I’ve tested with this recipe, you’ll need about 1 tsp of sea salt, but taste it as it cooks to see if you need more.
Gluten-free: Swap in gluten free 1:1 baking flour for the all purpose flour.
More protein? Add in crispy tofu in addition to the beans!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 253
- Sugar: 7.3 g
- Sodium: 832.8 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 46.9 g
- Fiber: 9.6 g
- Protein: 9.9 g
- Cholesterol: 6.1 mg
This soup is legit. So so flavorful! The potatoes and the beans make it so hearty and satisfying (this soup is definitely a meal – tell me you get the Seinfeld reference 😂). Drizzled evoo on top and it was amazinggg!
Haha I love this!! So happy to hear it, thank you for the review!!! Enjoy 🙂