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.
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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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!
This was really really good. Followed the instructions to the letter, except I made a half batch, and I only had green lentils, and they worked perfectly. One word of advice – I chopped my potatoes a little too small, and by the end of the cooking time they had pretty much disappeared, so, in the future I will chop them just a bit bigger. Yet another great recipe from this site – Thank you <3
This was absolutely delicious! I was truly surprised that it tasted so good. I did not have celery but used leek and used chicken broth as that was all I had. I made this in my Instant Pot, making half the recipe. Next time I will make the full recipe. Satisfying, filling and healthy….give it a try, you will not be disappointed.
This looks so good! I’m excited to try it. Did you use a cup of dried or cooked lentils?
Dry lentils. :)
I have made this 2x in the last few weeks and it’s just amazing. So cheap , filling , and had a great depth of flavor. Excellent recipe:
Threw a parmesan rind in, made an excellent (albeit non-vegan) addition. Thanks for this!
Another winner Beth! It’s so tasty! I added mushrooms and did one pound sweet potato and one pound white potatoes, it was great. It’s now part of the regular rotation.
Made this tonight for dinner and WOW! Flavor was so good and totally reminiscent of beef stew. The only thing I would maybe do differently next time is eat it out of a big ‘ol bread bowl. Thank you for this lovely and easy recipe! This will definitely be in the winter rotation! :)
I cooked it in the electric pressure cooker and it came out great. I would reduce the liquid by about a cup next time since it doesn’t evaporate in there at all. Definitely making this again.
How long was it under pressure?
A great recipe for vegans and non vegans. I thought it was delicious and easy to make. Another home run! I willll be making this all winter.
This looks so good! I’d love to add a mess of kale to it. Because if some veggies are good, more is even better! Would you suggest uppin the liquid or changing anything?
No, you shouldn’t need to increase the liquid or changing anything else. :)
Any recommendations for replacing the soy sauce? I have a soy intolerance and try to avoid it.
Usually you can replace soy sauce with Coconut Aminos. http://www.eatingwell.com/article/289738/what-is-coconut-aminos/
Coconut aminos are supposed to be a good substitute for soy sauce. I’ve never tried it myself but I’ve seen numerous recipes using it. Most big grocery stores should have some version if it, it’s pretty popular with the Paleo/Primal crowd. Not sure exactly where you would find it in yours, but I’ve seen it next to the regular soy sauce and also next to the vinegar at grocery stores around here.
Coconut aminos, liquid aminos, or something else with an umami flavor, like Worcestershire sauce.
This recipe is exactly what my vegan heart missed out of beef stew!!! It’s complex, flavorful, filling, and inexpensive. I added in a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar at the end to mimic Worcestershire sauce and it was EXACTLY what it needed to bring this recipe from great to incredible.
This is a vegan dish? It looks too good to be vegan! Love it!
Yep! And it tastes too good to be vegan, too!
This was amazing! Didn’t look like it’d be, but wow! To me, this reminded me of the flavors of Wyler’s Beef Soup Starter… I’ve been wanting to find that product for awhile now (from the 80’s/90’s)… so similar, but without the beef.
I currently don’t have a kitchen right now as it’s being re-done. Would this still taste as good in the crock-pot? If so, would any changes need to be made to do that?
I think this one would convert very well to a slow cooker. You may need to mash things up a bit more at the end, but it should work if you just dump everything in and press go! Not sure how long, but probably 3-4 hours on high, 6-8 hours on low.