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?
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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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of stew
- Calories: 355
- Sugar: 9.7 g
- Sodium: 650.1 mg
- Fat: 9.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 57.3 g
- Fiber: 8.5 g
- Protein: 13.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I made this stew yesterday and it was the perfect meal for a cold winter day! Delicious! I will make this again.
I didn’t have too much of a problem with the potatoes cooking but I did add salt as recommended so that must have worked!
This was phenomenal!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Kaylee! Thanks for leaving a review – I really appreciate it!
This recipe was amazing! It’s so hearty and warm you don’t miss the meat at all (if you eat meat). I took the suggestion from other comments and cooked the potatoes separately and added them in. Served this on top of spaghetti squash and with a dollop of ricotta. So yummy!
I guess I should have read through all of the comments before making this since it has been cooking for an hour and the potatoes are still not done. So crazy about the reaction potatoes have to acidity.
Yes! I added a very specific note to the content of the post as well so that folks are aware of the reaction between the potatoes and tomato sauce! I also added the tip to the recipe card.
Absolutely loved the recipe! The sauce looked so rich and brown I had to convince myself not to expect to taste beef! I did use the yellow potatoes and I guess I sealed enough because they cooked perfectly. I will definitely cook this again. What do you think impossible meat would add to the flavor? Maybe if it was just soup not stew? Wish I could have posted a picture! Pretty proud of the turnout!😀
I bet impossible meat would be delicious in this stew! I’d imagine that it would soak up the flavors beautifully! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Definitely let me know if you try it with impossible!
Looking forward to making this recipe – looks amazing.
I have celeriac, kohlrabi, rutabaga and wonder if these could be used in this stew?
Thank you very much!
Denise
I don’t regularly work with any of those veggies, but I would imagine that they would work! I’d just be sure to cut them into uniform pieces and check their average cooking time as compared to the potatoes so that everything cooks through all the way!
Could this be done in a slow cooker or pressure cooker? Thanks
You could definitely give it a try! I haven’t cooked it in either so I don’t have tips for cook times, but I think it could work!
Excellent meal! I’m a vegetarian and my husband is not. He said it was hearty enough he did not miss the meat. I used amino acids instead of soy sauce. I also thought I had tomato sauce and I did not. Used pizza sauce I instead and it was great. I did not have any issues with the potatoes cooking.
Very tasty. Thank you for the recipe!
I am so glad that you enjoyed this stew, Kim! Thanks for leaving a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
Great recipe. I also pre-cooked the potatoes and it was delicious. I will make it again for sure 🙂
Great recipe. After reading other’s comments, I decided to partially pre cook the potatoes, before adding to the rest. Turned out fine. Can this dish be frozen?
I’ve not tried freezing it, but I do think it would freeze well!
This is delicious! Thank you for a great recipe. I used a combination of baby Bella and cremini mushrooms and white potatoes, as that is what I had. As it contains potatoes, I skipped the mashed and served on a piece of bread to soak up all that wonderful sauce. I’m a single, so gave most away, but am wondering if it could be frozen. Your thoughts?
I think you could definitely try freezing it! I’d love to hear how it turns out if you do!
This was amazing!! So flavorful and I eyeballed the ingredients. Turned out great!! Thank you!!
Thank you for this recipe. My family really enjoyed this.
This was really good! I used water instead of oil and used green lentils because that’s what I had. I will definitely make this again. Thank you for this recipe!
Thanks for this recipe, it looks delicious!
What do you think about using sweet potatoes instead? I prefer them but don’t have much experience cooking, not sure if the flavors would work well and how cooking directions might differ.
Thanks!
I think you could definitely use sweet potatoes in this recipe! I’d recommend cooking them beforehand as they take much longer to cook than baby yellow potatoes!
I made this recipe exactly to the recipe, just without the oil. It was amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Just made & it was delicious. Used 1/2 amount of balsamic…it made it. When done, I added handfuls of fresh spinach, some fresh green beans I cooked the day before. Recipe easy to follow. Thank you!
I tried this recipe and the sauce was very good. However the potatoes did not cook in the stew. I cooked the stew for about 1.5 hours until the potatoes started to soften. I gave up shortly after and removed the potatoes. I followed the recipe to a t and I used baby yellow potatoes. Not sure if anyone else had this issue. I am going to try cooking the potatoes separately next time and adding the stew over them. Great ingredients and flavour.
Please see response below! You just need to add more salt!
I made sure to buy the baby yellow potatoes. The bigger ones I cut a few times just to make sure. I cooked the stew for an hour. The potatoes were still crunchy. Edible but crunchy. If you want your stew to have a stew consistency expect to cook it for much longer than the recipe states. If you like crunchy potatoes, then maybe this recipe works for you 🤷♀️
I did a little more research on this because I was just boggled as to why this would happen. I’ve made this several times and never had an issue with the potatoes not cooking, BUT after a bit of digging I discovered that when potatoes are cooked in acidic liquid (like this stew with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar) they take longer to break down if the liquid is not adequately salted! I am a moderate/liberal salter so that’s probably why I’ve never had issues with the potatoes cooking! I prefer Kosher salt and when I mention adding a couple pinches of salt and pepper a few times throughout the recipe, it’s important to definitely make sure that you are moderately salting! Thanks so much for your feedback – I am going to add a note to the recipe so that other’s don’t have this issue.
I am literally having this issue right now. However, I used yukon gold and cut them to size based on the picture and description of the size listed in the ingredients. I would either add them way sooner next time or cook them before adding to the stew. Ive had them cooking for a good extra 40 min so far and still not fully cooked. I love the flavor of the stew so far though!
Please see above comment regarding adequately salting the stew! This will help to break down the potatoes.
i really loved this recipe. super easy, and tasted awesome. i did add a shake of chili flakes to kick it up a bit.
also, i had to add 20 minutes of cook time for the potatoes (i even quartered them, not halved).
thanks for posting, will definitely be making again.
Fantastic! Flavorful and filling. Kept going back for more spoonfuls 😂 Next time would definitely quarter the potatoes as they took awhile to cook but thankfully I had the time this time.