I’m already declaring THIS my favorite recipe of the winter of 2018/2019, and we haven’t even gotten to winter yet! That’s just how excited I am about this Lentil Stew. I’ve made it twice in a row and am not even tired of it yet. I’ve even eaten it twice for breakfast. My want for this hearty lentil stew knows no boundaries.
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I had been craving beef stew but felt like I’d been eating a bit more meat than usual lately, so I decided to try to craft something just as rich, hearty, and flavorful, without meat. I modeled this Vegan Winter Lentil Stew recipe after my Slow Cooker Beef Stew, but I made a few substitutions to make it 100% plant-based. The medley of vegetables and herbs creates a thick, flavorful, and comforting stew that is just begging for some crusty bread to sop it all up. I served mine with a batch of No-Knead Bread and was in heaven.
Ingredients for Lentil Stew
- Aromatics: Any good stew will start with aromatics for a nice deep flavor. I used onion and garlic (four cloves, but you can measure with your heart!).
- Vegetables: A medley of vegetables adds flavor, color, and texture to this hearty stew. I used carrots, celery, potatoes, and green peas, but you could also try other vegetables like mushrooms, parsnips, or turnips.
- Lentils: Lentils are what make this stew so thick and hearty. They provide a ton of fiber and other nutrients, yet are super budget-friendly! We used green or brown lentils (not French green lentils), which cook quickly, in about 20 minutes, with no soaking needed.
- Broth: The liquid base for this stew is vegetable broth, which provides tons of complex flavor and an appealing stew-like brown color. The type of broth used will definitely impact the flavor of your stew, so I suggest using Better Than Bouillon.
- Seasoning: To flavor the stew even further we add dried rosemary, dried thyme, a little Dijon mustard for some zing, soy sauce for umami, and a little brown sugar to add a sweetness similar to what you’d find in Worcestershire sauce.
What to Serve with Lentil Stew
This hearty lentil stew is truly a complete meal in a bowl that is packed with nutrients. I wouldn’t typically serve a side dish with lentil stew, except maybe some bread for sopping up all that delicious gravy. Try our no-knead bread, garlic bread, beer bread, or drop biscuits.
How to Store and Reheat Lentil Stew
This stew will stay good in the refrigerator for up to five days. To reheat, simply microwave until hot or place in a saucepot and heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until heated through.
To freeze this stew, I suggest dividing it into single portions, cooling it completely in the refrigerator overnight, and then transferring it to the freezer. And don’t forget, always label and date your freezer food! The stew will stay good in the freezer for about three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before heating, or use the defrost function on a microwave.
Vegan Lentil Stew
Servings 8 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 4 carrots (about 1/2 lb.) ($0.45)
- 4 stalks celery ($0.75)
- 2 lbs potatoes ($0.70)
- 1 cup brown lentils ($0.49)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.09)
- 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.09)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.04)
- 6 cups vegetable broth ($0.78)
- 1 cup frozen peas ($0.38)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the olive oil, onion, and garlic to a large soup pot and begin to sauté over medium heat.
- While the onion and garlic are sautéing, dice the celery, then add it to the pot and continue to sauté. As the celery, onion, and garlic are sautéing, peel and chop the carrots into half rounds. Add the carrots to the pot and continue to sauté.
- As the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots are sautéing, peel and cube the potatoes into 3/4 to 1-inch pieces. Add the cubed potatoes to the pot along with the lentils, rosemary, thyme, Dijon, soy sauce, brown sugar, and vegetable broth.
- Briefly stir the ingredients to combine, then place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and bring the stew up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Toward the end of the simmer time, when the potatoes are very soft, begin to mash the potatoes a bit as you stir. This will help thicken the stew.
- Finally, after 30 minutes, stir in the frozen peas and allow them to heat through. Taste the stew and add salt if needed (this will depend on the salt content of your broth, I did not add any extra). Serve hot and enjoy!
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Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Vegan Lentil Stew – Step by Step Photos
Begin by dicing one yellow onion and mincing four cloves of garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and 2 Tbsp olive oil to a large soup pot. Sauté over medium heat.
While the onion and garlic are sautéing, dice or slice 4 stalks celery (depending on how chunky you want your stew). Add the celery to the pot and continue to sauté. Peel and chop four carrots into half-rounds, add them to the pot, and continue to sauté.
While the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic are sautéing, peel and cube 2 lbs. potatoes into 3/4 to 1-inch cubes. Add the potatoes to the pot along with 1 cup brown lentils, 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp brown sugar.
Finally, add 6 cups vegetable broth to the pot and give everything a brief stir. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to high, and bring it up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer for 3o minutes, stirring occasionally.
Toward the end of the simmer time, when the potatoes are very soft, begin to mash them a bit against the side of the pot as you stir. This will thicken the stew. After 30 minutes, add 1 cup frozen peas, and allow them to heat through. Finally, taste the stew and add salt if needed (I did not add any salt because the broth I used had enough).
Enjoy your Vegan Lentil Stew with a big chunk of crusty bread to sop up all that richness!
Cold, snowy night in Florida (!) and his hit the spot. Cooked as directed but used unsalted broth and salted to taste. Most broths have way too much sodium. Added some sliced baby Bella’s and it was a big hit with my wife.
Making it today had to make a few adjustments like added jalapenos and portobello mushrooms used liquid aminos instead of soy sauce so far so good. My son madr ot a few weeks back and I really enjoyed it, so with a few modifications to fit my palate we shall see
very tasty! I’ve made this before and this time played around and added bacon cubes from my bf that were about to go bad and I cooked the lentils and potatoes in a separate pot because I don’t like my other veggies to become too soft in soup. this made it even better in my opinion and my bf, who finds lentils very boring, loves it too.
I made this recipe as written and I love it. I cooked a trial batch today to see if it will work for my book club and I am not changing a thing! I did over cook mine a bit, so I will delay adding the potatoes the next time. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Really good recipe! This will be a lentil keeper recipe. I didn’t have peas and they’re not missed.
This is my favorite way to eat lentils and is part of our regular rotation now! I didn’t add brown sugar or Dijon mustard. I made it in an instant pot too using it using the saute button and pressure cooking on high for 30 min. I think the soy sauce really makes the stew!
Amazing!! My family loved and and went for thirds! Even my picky 8 year old went for more. Thank you!
This looks yummy! What kind of potatoes do you use? (Or does it not matter?)
Update: I used regular white/gold potatoes (not Russet) and that worked well. Great recipe, definitely going in my regular rotation!
I increased the lentils to 1.5 cups and kept everything else the same, including the broth. Great consistency – not too soupy or too solid.
Another winner. Supreme yumminess! I made as directed, with the addition of a few ounces of tomato paste (which I allowed to bloom with the vegetables at the end of the sauté – I needed to use it up) and a ton of spinach at the end (because – spinach! – and I also needed to use that up). Served with freshly grated Parmesan. Can’t wait until tomorrow for to have it again!
I made this for dinner tonight. It was so good. I’ve never been disappointed with any of your recipes, but this was especially good. I made it just as written, but next time I’d like to try using vegan Worcestershire sauce. Would I just substitute that for both the soy sauce and brown sugar? Thank you to you and your team for your dedication to delicious, healthy, budget friendly meals.
I love this stew! The only change I usually make is to halve the amount of dijon mustard. It is so wholesome and warming and friends I’ve made it for have also enjoyed it. I typically make a batch of the rosemary pepper drop biscuits from this site to go with it :)
I love this recipe. I’ve been making it for a few years. I eat whole food/plant-based, and this works. Lentils, potatoes, and peas give good heft to this. And the house smells awesome. It’s in regular rotation. Thanks for the recipe.
Very tasty. I was intrigued with the addition of dijon, etc. and it added to the flavour. I also liked the idea of smushing the potatoes–to make it more like a stew–as I don’t really like having “soup” for dinner!
Yum! This was delicious and a great way to clean out the fridge. I did sub the vegetable stock for chicken stock and dried thyme, omitted the peas and dried rosemary and added chopped bell pepper. This shows the recipe is a good back bone and can be adapted with what ingredients you have on hand. I made buttermilk biscuits to serve it with and man it was good!
I’ve made this delicious and nutritious recipe several times. I always add a can of tomatoes (I prefer the ones that have basil, garlic and oregano) and a bay leaf.
Easy to make and tastes fantastic. I will definitely be making this again!
If you wanted to make this in the slow cooker, what would you need to change?
I’d need to test that out first before offering advice, unfortunately!
I just throw everything in except the peas and cook 4 hours on high, adding peas at the very end. Probably around 8 hours on low. Only stir in the peas when done or they will be mush. It turns out really well for me, you might want to make adjustments depending on your crock pot. You will know better after you try for the first time.