Thick and hearty vegetable stew that’s naturally gluten-free and vegan! Use your favorite vegetables in this flavorful, savory, comforting recipe!
Even though it’s May now, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to comfort food and have been playing around with this thick and hearty vegetable stew over the past couple of weeks.
To make a long story short, it all started when I did an experimental 48-hour fast, and needed a hearty meal to break the fast with that would be easy on my stomach but still nutritious. In addition to being packed with vitamins and fiber, root vegetables are an awesome post-fast choice, in case you ever find yourself in the same situation! Throw them into this veggie stew and you’ll be good to go!
There is a certain kind of vegetable stew recipe that you can find on the internet: potato and carrot based; roux thickened; flavored with tomato and wine. Mine is the same general idea, but this version has a little bit of a Shannon spin on it and I think you’ll enjoy it!
I used whole grain brown rice flour to thicken the soup and give it an added boost of nutrition, but you should be able to use almost any flour that you’d like.
I noticed that most vegetable stews call for about a cup of red wine. I love the notes that wine adds to this hearty vegan stew, but because the seasonings are simple, I feel that a smaller amount of white wine lets you enjoy the flavor of the vegetables more, and gives the dish a little bit of Mediterranean flair.
This stew contains a whole quartet of my favorite ingredients to boost umami. Tomato paste, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and marmite – the latter two being increasingly optional. I wanted to capture that super savory flavor that meat-based stews tend to have, but provide it to you in a vegan “beef” stew.
(To that end, this dish is great with vegan beef-less pieces – such as Gardein tenders, or re-hydrated TVP chunks – added.)
You could also add another protein like chickpeas to this recipe if the green peas aren’t enough for you! As for other variations: make it spicy by adding red pepper flakes or hot paprika; swap in any hearty vegetables that you like; add about 2 cups of chopped kale 10 minutes before the soup is done. You can really go your own direction with this base.
I think this vegetable stew would also be incredible with your favorite dumplings added and the roux amount reduced slightly. Next time I try this with dumplings, I will update with my recipe and results!
Hearty Vegetable Stew
A classic vegetable stew with my own little spin on it! Hearty and rich, full of umami flavor, you'll love this stew in winter or any time of year!
Ingredients
For the saute mixture:
- 3 tbsp olive oil (or vegan butter)
- 1 onion diced
- 2 stalks celery thinly sliced
- 2 carrots thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
For the roux and deglazing mixture:
- ground black pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp fresh rosemary, thyme and sage finely chopped (3 tbsp total, see note)
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour (or flour of choice)
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (I use vegan "chicken" broth)
For the rest of the vegetable stew:
- 1 medium sweet potato cubed (about 2 cups)
- 4 small Yukon gold or red potatoes cubed (about 2 cups)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (use tamari to keep this strictly gluten-free)
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp marmite (optional)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- salt to taste (I use about 1 tsp)
Instructions
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Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7-9 minutes or until the onion is softened. Add the garlic, black pepper, and fresh herbs, and cook for another 2 minutes.
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Add the flour slowly while stirring the vegetables to coat them with it. Once all of the flour is added, cook for about 1 minute while constantly stirring. Very slowly add the white wine and vegetable broth, about 1/4 cup at a time, stirring continuously so that the liquid and flour are incorporated with no lumps.
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Stir in the potato, sweet potato, tomato paste, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, liquid smoke, and marmite. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender and stew is thickened, 20-30 minutes.
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Stir in the frozen peas and red wine vinegar, and cook for another 5 minutes or until peas are warm. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and additional vinegar if desired. Serve hot.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
FRESH HERBS: I buy the "Poultry Blend" packet at my grocery store, which contains thyme, rosemary and sage, and use equal amounts of each. You can mix and match depending on what you prefer and is available; I use 1 tbsp of each herb. The total should be 3 tablespoons.
More stew recipes that are big on veggies:
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Krystyn says
Amazing flavour combination!! I used coconut flour, I wouldn’t use it again.. unfortunately it ruined the texture for me. I’ll try again with a different flour!
Katie says
I just made this and it’s delicious, Probably the most meaty tasting vegetarian soup ever. I added mushrooms which were good. My vegetable broth was not low sodium, so with that along with the soy sauce no extra salt was needed. I used only 1/4 tsp of liquid smoke and that’s still almost too much. I’ll use 1/8 tsp next time (for the person asking, liquid smoke has a very mesquite taste, I think that would be the main flavour). I added the beefless tips as well. Very yummy overall, it’ll be my work lunch all week.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks for your review, Katie!
Pati Habermann says
Made the stew last night….it was pretty good but I found the liquid smoke overpowers the stew. When I make it again I will put in a little less.
Jen says
This is excellent!!! My whole family, 13 and 9 yr old included, just loved it. Thanks so much for expanding my vegan repertoire by one! I didn’t have liquid smoke, marmite, or nutritional yeast on hand so omitted, but still so flavorful so your base roux+wine+broth+tom paste+soy sauce works well all on its own.
mainemal says
This worked out great, in slightly different direction. I browned onion, bigger carrot pieces, turnip, and parsnip pieces in butter and olive oil, removed from pan, and then made the roux. When finished, I followed the recipe from there on, deglazed the pan and added all, including purple potatoes and sweet, to my stew pot. Finished as recipe called. Didn’t have mushrooms, but would use another time. Used anchovy paste with tomato paste, and aminos instead of soy, and added 1 T of smoked paprika. Definitely
a keeper!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks for suggesting those interesting substitutions and sharing your experience!
Talia says
Great flavor and easy to make! Love the punch from the vinegar, love the sweet and regular potatoes together in it. Leftovers are great. Yum!
Francis Janes says
I tried this today for Sunday dinner and the family loved it. We used the Gardein Beef Tenders. The liquid smoke was a nice touch. Thanks for the great recipe.
Ashley says
Would mushrooms work with this recipe?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’m sure they would be good, I don’t really know how to cook mushrooms because I hate them lol but I’d imagine you would want to brown them before throwing in the onion.
Francis Janes says
Yes, I’ve added sauteed sliced crimini mushrooms to this dish and id adds a nice unami flavor to this lovely dish.
AM says
I also made this with all-purpose flour, and I loved it! Needed a good quantity of salt to season to taste. Great flavor.
Dave says
So good I made it a second time yesterday even though it was literally 95 degrees out. I won’t quit this stew!
Miranda Fothergill says
I was wondering what could be a European equivalent of Liquid Smoke … never heard of it. Is it a thick or a thin liquid flavouring/glaze? Would British Worcestershire Sauce or a BBQ sauce glaze come close? And The vegan (vegetable) broth…(not being a vegan I don’t recognise this) Is it tinned or made from dried mix? Many thanks in advance for your time.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Anything smoky, you could even add some smoked paprika if you don’t have liquid smoke. I’m honestly not sure what other label it would be sold as in Europe, sorry!
Allen says
After being tempted to make this by Reddit, it turned out to be just as good as it looked. Great recipe! The prep took me a little while to get everything together, but I think when I make it again I can be more efficient now that I know what I’m doing.
Katie says
I used regular flour because I’m not gluten-free, but otherwise I followed the recipe and it was amazing! I love how hearty and filling it is, and I wouldn’t have thought to add sweet potato to this type of stew but the flavor it added was really good.