Easy Vegetable Stew Recipe
Colder weather calls for hearty meals, and this easy one pot vegetable stew is perfect for an easy dinner that everyone will love! It comes together in about 45 minutes and is loaded with root vegetables and lentils which make this vegetarian stew super filling!
You Will Love This
- Vegan lentil stew is packed with nutrients! Five veggies and lentils mean that your family is getting a full serving of vitamins, fiber, and plant-based protein—all the good stuff they need to maintain a balanced diet in the cold weather months.
- Have I mentioned that it’s vegan?! This stew is an especially great option if you’re just trying to cut back on meat and dairy, or if you’re new to preparing vegan meals for your family. The umami flavor, starchy vegetables, and protein-rich lentils mean no one will miss the meat in this meal.
- It’s so easy! Some simple chopping is all the prep this veg stew requires, and it all comes together in one pot! Lentils are the one dried bean that doesn’t need to be soaked overnight, so dinner is ready in under an hour!
- If you loved this vegetable stew recipe, be sure to check out my Creamy Vegan White Bean Stew, my Simple One Pot Chickpea Stew, or my Creamy Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Onion, Carrot, Celery – The classic mirepoix (chopped onion, carrot, and celery) is what gives this veggie stew such a delicious flavor base. To save time, see if your local grocery store offers a pre-chopped mirepoix.
- Baby Bella Mushrooms – I prefer the flavor and texture of baby Bella mushrooms, but feel free to use your favorites!
- Fresh Garlic – Freshly sliced garlic will give this stew the best flavor, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can sub 1/2 a teaspoon or so of garlic powder in its place.
- Dried Herbs – My favorite combo is dried thyme, dried oregano, and dried sage. You could also use dried rosemary, dried parsley, or even dried basil. Italian seasoning is another great substitute.
- Flour – Stick with all-purpose flour for the best flavor and texture in this stew. But if you want to keep it gluten free, you can skip the flour which result in a thinner consistency. Or dissolve two tablespoons of corn starch in two tablespoons cold water to create a slurry. Add the slurry to the pot while everything is simmering and it will thicken up beautifully!
- Balsamic Vinegar & Soy Sauce – The combination of balsamic vinegar and soy sauce in this stew is what gives it the classic flavor of beef stew without the meat! If you aren’t a big fan of balsamic vinegar flavor, try adding just half initially and then adding more as needed. As the vinegar simmers in the stew it will loose some of it’s acidity as well and actually sweeten the dish slightly (similar to how a balsamic glaze made from simmered balsamic vinegar ends up being slightly sweet) which balances out the acidity of the tomatoes well. You could also just replace the vinegar with red wine if you prefer.
- Baby Yellow Potatoes – Baby yellow potatoes will work best in this dish because they have thin skins and they cook quickly. If you’re using another type of potato, make sure to dice them into bite-sized pieces and consider adding them along with the onion, celery, and carrot so that they cook through by the time the lentils are cooked.
- Red Lentils – I like to use red lentils for this veggie stew as they cook quickly and they’re so tender. If you are using brown or green lentils, you will want to cook them fully or almost fully before adding them to the stew.
- Tomato Sauce – Canned tomato sauce adds such a delicious depth of flavor to this dish. A great substitute for tomato sauce is equal parts tomato paste and water.
- Veggie Broth – If you aren’t worried about this stew being vegan you can substitute chicken broth or beef broth in place of the veggie broth.
- Bay Leaves – I love to use dried bay leaves to add another layer of delicious aromatic flavor whenever I’m simmering a soup or stew for a while.
Instructions
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery along with a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally for 8 minutes.
Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes.
Add flour and stir to evenly coat everything.
Cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute.
Stir in balsamic vinegar and soy sauce to deglaze pan, scraping the yummy bits off the bottom.
Add potatoes, lentils, tomato sauce, broth, and bay leaves, along with a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
Bring to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring occasionally so that the lentils don’t stick to the pan, but don’t bring to a boil.
Turn heat to low and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley, serve with mashed potatoes, and enjoy!
Tips
- Salt is a very important ingredient in this recipe! You’ll notice that I mention adding a couple pinches of salt and pepper throughout the recipe instructions. Please make sure that you are salting this stew moderately/liberally! The salt is going to help the potatoes to break down and cook in the acidic stew base with tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce. Acid can prevent potatoes from breaking down and cooking properly, and salt is the best way to counteract this!
- Feel free to switch up the veggies! You can dress up this vegan mushroom stew by swapping the veggies for your favorites. I love frozen peas, frozen green beans, or canned chickpeas. Just make sure you keep the proportions the same and it’ll turn out delicious!
- You can also switch up the flavors of this stew very easily by adding cumin, paprika, or even a pinch of ground ginger or cinnamon!
- To add a little kick to this veggie stew, try adding red pepper flakes right to the pot or add a little pinch to each individual serving.
Make Ahead, Storage, Freezing, and Reheating
- Make Ahead: This vegetable stew recipe is the perfect make ahead dish because the flavors just get better with time!
- Storage: Store leftover stew in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freezing: This vegan stew can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Reheating: Reheat leftovers in a saucepan over medium heat. You may need to add a splash of broth to loosen up the stew as it will thicken as it cools. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until heated through. Season to taste with salt and enjoy!
FAQ
I try not to think of foods as good or bad. However, this vegetarian stew is loaded with fresh veggies and made with real, whole ingredients which means that you can feel good about feeding it to your family!
Stew might seem a bit complicated, but it’s actually one of the easiest meals to throw together! My vegetable stew recipes come together all in one pot in about 45 minutes and there are no fancy cooking skills required! If you can chop veggies and stir, you can make veggie stew!
No! As I mentioned, all the ingredients cook together in one pot! The veggies are added raw and cooked in a flavorful broth of tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and herbs for a delicious weeknight dinner your family will love!
Vegetarian Family Favorites
Did you love this recipe?
Please leave a 5-star rating and review below!
Vegan Mushroom Stew
Colder weather calls for hearty meals, and this easy one pot vegetable stew is perfect for an easy dinner that everyone will love! It comes together in about 45 minutes and is loaded with root vegetables and lentils which make this vegetarian stew super filling!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup sliced carrot
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 16 oz. baby Bella mushrooms, halved
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 16 oz. baby yellow potatoes, halved
- 1 cup uncooked split red lentils
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add onion, carrot, and celery along with a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
- Cook, stirring occasionally for 8 minutes.
- Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, oregano, sage, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
- Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes.
- Add flour and stir to evenly coat everything. Cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute.
- Stir in balsamic vinegar and soy sauce to deglaze the pan, scraping the yummy bits off the bottom.
- Add potatoes, lentils, tomato sauce, broth, and bay leaves, along with a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so that the lentils don’t stick to the pan.
- Turn heat to low and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with fresh parsley, serve with mashed potatoes, and enjoy!
Notes
- Salt is a very important ingredient in this recipe! You’ll notice that I mention adding a couple pinches of salt and pepper throughout the recipe instructions. Please make sure that you are salting this stew moderately/liberally! The salt is going to help the potatoes to break down and cook in the acidic stew base with tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce. Acid can prevent potatoes from breaking down and cooking properly, and salt is the best way to counteract this!
- Feel free to switch up the veggies! You can dress up this vegan mushroom stew by swapping the veggies for your favorites. I love frozen peas, frozen green beans, or canned chickpeas. Just make sure you keep the proportions the same and it’ll turn out delicious!
- You can also switch up the flavors of this stew very easily by adding cumin, paprika, or even a pinch of ground ginger or cinnamon!
- To add a little kick to this veggie stew, try adding red pepper flakes right to the pot or add a little pinch to each individual serving.
After nearly an hour of simmering and many generous “pinches“ of salt the potatoes were still hard, so I transferred everything to the instant pot for five minutes, then another three minutes, and now another five. If the salt is so essential to countering the acidity of the vinegar, why not just state the amount to use? This has been a frustrating experience it’s looking like a waste of time and money.
Everyone likes a different amount of salt so I prefer not to recommend exact amounts. I’d say after that much cooking, you need to add larger pinches of salt! My apologies for the frustration. You can see from the hundreds of 5 star reviews that this is a delicious recipe – but you need to add enough salt to get the potatoes to cook!
This recipe sounds delicious, but I would like more protein prrvrntage in it – any suggestions? Beans maybe? Quinoa?
Ohhhh good question! I think quinoa might work well with this however I feel like it might soak up the stew quite a bit. Maybe serving it over cooked quinoa would work?
Kylie, you totally nailed this recipe! 🙌🏻🤗👏🏻
It is truly awesome and exceptionally delicious, and is totally reminiscent of the beef stew that I remember loving as a child, but thankfully without the meat.
I was excited to give it a try and I made it yesterday. Lots of prep, but the result was definitely worth the prep time.
I did make a couple of successful modifications.
1)I pre-grilled the cut mushrooms in a skillet with a couple of TBS of olive oil on med/high heat for approximately 10 minutes to get an enhanced flavor and also a look that I prefer opposed to adding mushrooms to a liquid base. Perfect!
2)I substituted flour with organic cornstarch. It’s a 1 to 2 substitution. Meaning 2 TBS of flour would be 1 TBS of cornstarch. And to assure there would be no clumps, which is my go to for adding any thickener, I pre-whisked the cornstarch with the vegetable stock that I was using and slowly stirred it in. Perfect!
Realistically it did take approximately 45 minutes total on medium heat when all was said and done for the carrots and the potatoes to reach a desired tenderness, but to not be mushy and overcooked. Just kept test tasting until they were both tender.
Thank you so very much for sharing your recipe, it’s our new favorite. ♥️🍲♥️
So I ran out of time … So I followed the recipe ingredients to the letter but I put everything in order into my instant pot and set it at 20 minutes , quick release. Oh my goodness this is a true keeper.
Flavour profile is deep and exactly what I hoped for.
Thanks for sharing 💚
Hello!
I am looking forward to trying this, is it possible to also make in a crockpot?
I haven’t tried it myself but I think this would work well in the crock pot!
Delicious and easy, even fun, to make. I agree with 45 minutes to get the right texture for the potatoes. I could quarter them but I think the longer simmer time adds to the complexity of the flavor. Thank you.
This looks so yummy and I am making it for the first time this weekend. Can it be made a day in advance?
Yes! This stew can definitely be made in advance!
Hi! I don’t have a rating yet but am going to try making this for thanksgiving this weekend. Curious if fresh herbs would work fine or if I should purchase dried specifically?
I prefer the flavor of dried herbs but you could certainly use fresh in their place! Just keep in mind that dried herbs are generally more potent so you might need more if you’re using fresh!
I made this tonight and we absolutely loved it . I had to cook it 45 minutes for the potatoes to be done but it was worth it and delicious. I forgot the soy sauce , oops . But I’ll remember the next time I make it . I’m a seafood, beef & chicken kind of guy but I did not miss it at all in this. The lentils , potatoes and carrots were wonderful as well as filling. It’s added to my Favorites and I’ll definitely be making it again . Thank you for sharing the recipe with us .
I just made this recipe and I was pleasantly surprised by the richness of flavor! I will definitely be making this again and again with some different veggies. Yum!
This was absolutely delicious! My personal preference, slice the mushrooms in thinner slices, and add peas. Rich and satisfying, yum!
This is very good, rich depth of flavor,,I added some baby spinach at the end.
This was very good. I made it exactly as written and did add the generous pinches of salt and pepper. My potatoes were baby golds but I cut them into 1/4’s. They were still barely done after 45 minutes of simmering. Although it took a lot longer it was delicious. I think I would cut the vinegar amount down just a bit but overall 5 stars.
This mushroom stew is absolutely delicious! I made the recipe per your instructions, minus the garlic and I added peas at the end. I served the stew over top of grits and was so delicious. I definitely will add this recipe to my rotation. I love balsamic vinegar, but I was a bit skeptical of adding it to a stew. I was pleasantly surprised, the balsamic added a wonderful richness and amazing flavor to the stew. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
I would definitely cut the potatoes smaller next time but it’s a great recipe. How long do you store this in the fridge? Can it be frozen?
It should stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week. Yes! It freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat!