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!
This sounds great! I can’t wait to make it, but I need to finish up my huge batch of turkey pumpkin chili first. My only question for the recipe is this-can you adjust the amount of broth to 4 cups or 8 cups? Containers in the store are always 32oz so I’ll end up with 2 leftover cups of broth. Thanks.
I’d probably go with 4 cups instead of 8, and if it’s too thick you can add a little water at the end. Keep in mind that you may need a little extra salt as well, but you can add salt to taste at the end.
Thanks Beth! I’m making it tonight, so I got your answer just in time! : )
Since the soup doesn’t have meat in it what could I make to go with it? The soup sounds extremely good.
I usually just serve it with some sort of bread for dipping. This week I’m eating it with my Rosemary Pepper Drop Biscuits. :)
Where do you buy your vegetable broth? Have you seen the prices for it and 6 cups no less.
I use Better Than Bouillon to make broth. It’s a concentrate that you mix with water, which means you can make any amount that you need, at any given time. The jar of the concentrate lasts indefinitely in your refrigerator, so you always have some on hand. One little jar makes 38 servings and is usually in the $4 range (prices vary by location and date). So one cup of broth is usually around $0.13 for me.
Hey, I’m thinking of using the slow cooker for this- BUT- first i would turn it on high, add olive oil and use it to saute the veggies that required it, stirring as needed. Afterward, I would pour in the rest, adjust the temp setting, cover, and walk away renee!
Just made this stew, added sweet potato, corn nibblets, a pinch of red pepper flakes, simmering a little longer finding the lentils are undercooked. Does need salt and pepper. Not bad
This was great. I used red lentils and skipped the sugar and it turned out great. Thanks!
This was outstanding!! My vegetarian daughter challenged me to your 30 days. We served it over wild rice blend. My meatatarian husband gave it a big thumbs up!
I cheated by using an Instant Pot. I had some red lentils on hand and used those instead. FYI to anyone trying it: red lentils cook much faster. I did 3 minutes of cook time with 6 minutes of natural pressure release. Turned out great and I love it when there are leftovers for lunch the next day.
Oops. Didn’t mean to reply to Colleen’s comment, but I can’t delete it
I made this tonight with the rosemary and black pepper tea biscuits. I crumpled a biscuit into the stew to further thicken it – OH MY GOD. SOOO yummy!!! Another winner :)
That’s what I made this week, too! The biscuit in the stew almost makes it taste like a pot pie!
Home run, Beth! Love all things lentil, keep em coming!! 👍
Made this for dinner last night and it was a big HIT!!! My 18 month old grandson devoured it. He even had it for breakfast this morning, grinning the whole time he was eating it.
I’ve been making this for a local cafe that focuses on healthy and delicious food. Almost all the soups we serve are gluten free, so I ditch the soy sauce and add a bit of tomato paste and splash of balsamic vinegar. I also swap the brown sugar for molasses to add some more complex flavor. This has been a consistent hit – everything people love about beef stew, without the animal.
Can you prepare this in a crock pot or instant pot?
I think it would probably work great in both! Although I don’t have specific instructions, since I haven’t actually tried it. I bet the soup function on the IP would work, though.
The only change I made was to add a few sliced mushrooms and a couple frozen spinach pucks for colour, otherwise made exactly as written. It’s perfect! So hearty and filling yet incredibly nutritious. I could live off this! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m wondering how this would be with about a pound of mushrooms, sauteed with the onions at the start? I will probably try that next time.
Sounds amazing!
I really dislike mustard…can you taste it in this recipe, or would leaving it out detract from the overall flavor? Thanks for any tips!
I can taste it a little. I think you’d be safe with reducing it by half.
We had this for dinner last night and enjoyed it very much. My 6to said, “this is really yummy!” I forgot to add in the peas at the end and will definitely add them next time, but even without them, this was great.
Update: had the leftovers (reheated from frozen), for dinner last night and this time i added peas. Even nicer with a splash of color and some more veggies. My husband said, “o good! The lentils that taste like potatoes! You should definitely repeat this recipe.”
Tasted great even after being frozen. Nice to have something on hand for a busy day.
Loved this stew!! Probably one of the best lentil soups/stews I’ve ever had.
I made the entire recipe in my Instant Pot pressure cooker. Dry sauteed the onion first on saute mode, then dumped everything else in (used 4 cups of liquid) for 15 minutes on manual setting and let it release pressure naturally. I added baby spinach after I removed the lid. It was perfect.
Will definitely make this one again this winter.