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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Nutrition
Video
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!
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Any idea if this could be done in the slow cooker?
You could probably just throw it all in there and let it go until the lentils and potatoes are soft enough to mash and thicken the soup. I don’t know how long that would be without actually testing it, though.
I’ve done this in my slow cooker loads of times! Throw in all of the ingredients (minus the peas), and cook on low for 8 hours. I would add the peas in the last hour, but I usually forget and it’s still DELISH.
Could green lentils be used?
Green lentils usually take much longer to cook, so you’d need to adjust the cooking time based on what the package recommends for the lentils.
Another great budget bytes recipe. My husband is gluten free, so I used gluten free soy sauce (tamari) and I only had 4 cups of veggie broth, so I used beef bone broth for the last 2 cups of broth. Also, I was out of brown sugar and subbed in 2t white sugar and 1t maple syrup.
I had already had lunch and was making this ahead for tomorrow. I was just going to “taste” this and I ended up eating 3 bowls! They were small bowls, but still!
Definitely a keeper. :)
Eating this as I write… so good. Only one change – used beef broth so not vegan. Also I cooked using my instant pot for 15 minutes with quick release, potatoes still intact and cooked perfectly. Thanks Beth for another go to winter dinner!
I made this yesterday and it was great! I added in spinach because the recipe my mom makes always had spinach. It was a yummy addition but it would have been great without, too! I was skeptical about the peas because I don’t use them regularly, but I had them in the freezer and they were an awesome extra, broke up the flavor a little. Thank you for the recipe! ( I also saw you live in TN, I’m from TN, too! Makes me miss home a little less to cook flavors that my mom made on the regular. Thank you!v)
I just made this and oh boy, it might be a new staple. However, I will say I made some fairly large adjustments: I used less potatoes (regret), and added kale and spinach towards the end. I also used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar (probably more expensive, but it’s what I had on hand), and I added in just a little bit of curry powder and habanero powder for some extra warmth on those chilly winter days. I didn’t use any mustard since I didn’t have any, and I upped the thyme by a half teaspoon since I didn’t have any rosemary. Also, regretfully, I realized just a moment ago that I forgot the peas.
Anyway, I think it turned out GREAT and I think the base recipe makes it especially great for some experimentation! Definitely a super warming, comforting soup.
I found this disappointing. It must be that my tastebuds have really changed because this tastes too sweet to me. I recommend leaving out the sugar. Sorry, Beth. Usually your recipes are keepers!
Great recipe! Just made it. Delicious on a winters day
Soy sauce has gluten in it. So if you need it to be gluten free, do not add the soy sauce.
Really good stew. I did it in my instant pot, 10 minutes under pressure. I added the peas post pressure along with a bit of chard from my garden.
It turned out very nice 👍
Did you quick release or natural pressure release?
Hi – I love your blog. I only have red lentils on hand. Do you anticipate that I will need to make any changes to the recipe? Thanks!
It’s hard to say without testing it. Red lentils have a very different texture from brown lentils. They tend to break down into mush, kind of like split peas.
This was good! It was like beef stew but without the beef. Full of healthy ingredients and perfect for the rainy and cold winter nights we’re having.
Made this for dinners for the week. Very yummy! For those that were asking about calories, I did it in my fitness pal and it came out to 200 calories per serving.
How many carbs per serving
Are you serious?!? LMAO
It’s a vegetarian heavy carb yummy meal.
If you want to know so bad plug in the numbers and figure it out.
Still laughing at your question 🤣
Daisy-what is funny about asking the carb count? In fact, I am making this today for my family and need to know the carb count for my daughter. She is a type 1 diabetic and if you don’t know about being a type 1 diabetic she has an insulin to carb ratio.
T1D mom here too! Unfortunately very little is understood about the disease outside the community. I was looking for carb count too before calculating on my own. :)
Wow … super rude and completely unnecessary to mock someone like that. .