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.
Could you sub quinoa for the red lentils?
Sure! It just might take a bit longer to cook the quinoa as compared to the split rent lentils but it could definitely work!
Turned out amazing! Great recipe. I added a little bit of red wine! Amazing.
Update: Hubby and I both loved this. Flavors are so so good! We served over Basmati rice as is hubby’s favorite. Will be making this often!!
Loved it with a capital “L”! My friend made this for me for lunch recently– I am a vegan and she is not. She made a couple substitutions; omitted celery, used green instead of red lentils and added frozen corn. It smelled divine and it tasted even better. So savory and chunky. The balsamic vinegar set this dish apart from a typical stew. As we were eating this sumptuous-ness my friend said, “I don’t even miss the meat, and there are so many textures.”
I took a small bowl home with me and ate it later that night. Now I MUST make it so I can have an even bigger serving. So easy to modify, make it seasonal with the freshest produce available or use what you have in the fridge. Can’t wait to make this myself!
I’m making this for dinner tonight and it smells amazing!! I followed the recipe only added a little wine with the balsamic and soy sauce, and a small handful of chopped spinach. Can’t wait to have a bowl!
This is insanely Good!! Due to health reasons Doc suggested a vegan diet. Whole new world for me and this is a very encouraging start Look forward to more of your recipes!
Pleasantly surprised. Delicious, especially on a cool winter evening. Served with vegan cornbread. Only made a couple of modifications; used half of the tomato sauce and added fresh spinach at the end. Also used shiitake mushrooms instead of baby bellas.
How long would you suggest to cook it in a crockpot?
Everyone is vegan for different reasons, respectively. For me, my kidneys are bad so I have to watch my sodium. When you said salt was “important to the recipe “ that threw me back but I continued anyway. I didn’t add any extra salt and subbed soy sauce for coconut aminos and tomato sauce for unsalted tomato sauce, etc. I’m saying all this to say, if that line scared anyone else off, please don’t let it!! Make your substitutions and enjoy this recipe. It was great ♥️
This was delicious. I made this last night to have for dinner tonight. I mistakenly put in 4 cups of broth instead of 3 cups. I did remember you said it might be a little thick the next day so it may need some more broth. Well I reheated it on the stove and it actually ended up perfect the next day with my mistake. It tastes pretty much like beef stew without the beef. I am not a vegan or vegetarian, and we loved it. Since it had potatoes in it already I served it with mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. Thank you so much for this recipe.
This recipe is legit! I added some extra mushrooms and some homemade cubed seitan pieces to up the protein, and it is awesome served up with some sprouted avocado toast!
The flavors are delicious and this meal is a wonderful way to get a hearty vegan meal. I only gave it 4 stars cuz, having cooked for many years, the prep on this was very underrated! This is homemade folks! Give yourself a couple hours to fully prepare this! I look forward to trying this again with more lentils and less balsamic!
It turned out great! The whole family enjoyed it. Takes a bit of time to put everything together but super convenient as it can be made in advance and in big quantity for 2 days in case of a busy busy week. I served it with a bit of semolina instead of mashed potatoes.
I should have also asked in my last post whether it will affect the consistency if I left the potatoes out? I would serve this with mashed potato
I haven’t tried it that way before but I would guess it would affect the consistency a bit – it would be a bit saucier I would imagine – but I think it would still work really well! Leaving the potatoes out and serving it over mashed potatoes sounds delicious, honestly. I’d love to hear how it goes or if you had to make any adjustments if you give it a try!
Hi. I will be making this but please may I check what you mean by a can of tomato sauce? I am in the UK and we don’t have this. However, we do have chopped tomatoes in a can. Do you mean this? Thank you x
This is what I typically use for a can of tomato sauce: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Tomato-Sauce-15-oz/10415500?athbdg=L1600&from=/search It’s basically pureed tomatoes. Hopefully you can find something similar where you are!
The tomatoes are in a thick liquid form. Similar to a pizza sauce or a marinara sauce.
This sounds good and I’ll probably soon make it but I think without a side of mashed potatoes since it already has potatoes in it.
Easy & delicious!!