Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew

This Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew is thick, hearty, and comforting. It's loaded with tons of veggies and smothered in a thick, creamy, savory broth. This vegan stew is great for dinner and tastes delicious reheated the next day too.

Jump to:

• Key Ingredients & Substitutions
• How to Make Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew
• Tips & Tricks for Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew
• Variations to Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew
• Serving Ideas
• Make-Ahead, Storing & Freezing
• Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew FAQs
• More Cozy Vegan Stews and Soups
• Recipe
• Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew

This vegan stew is loaded with carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, peas, and more. This has quickly become one of my all time favorite vegan stews. Give it a try and let me know how you enjoy it!

This Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew recipe is...

• An old-fashioned classic stew
• Loaded with nutrient-rich veggies
• Thickened with a simple cornstarch slurry
• Made with flavorful fresh herbs
• Great for meal prepping

Key Ingredients & Substitutions

A good stew lives or dies by its broth. This one gets its deep, savory flavor from a few pantry ingredients that do the job beef usually does in a traditional stew: they add color, body, and plenty of umami.

• Onion and garlic. Sautéing them in olive oil until soft and translucent builds the sweet, mellow base that everything else sits on. Don't skip this step or rush it.
• Soy sauce. This is the secret to the "beefy" flavor. It adds salt, deep color, and a big hit of umami. Use tamari or coconut aminos if you need the stew to be gluten-free or lower in sodium.
• Balsamic vinegar. A tablespoon adds a gentle sweetness and a little acidity that keeps the broth from tasting flat. Red wine vinegar works in a pinch.
• Diced tomatoes. Tomatoes give the broth its rich, reddish-brown color and more savory depth. For an even richer stew, stir in a tablespoon of tomato paste with the vegetables and let it cook for a minute before adding the liquid.
• Fresh rosemary and thyme. These are the classic stew herbs. If you only have dried, use about 1 teaspoon of each.
• Vegetable broth. Use a good-tasting broth, since it makes up most of the liquid. A mushroom broth or a spoonful of white or yellow miso stirred in at the end will make it taste even meatier.
• Mushrooms. White mushrooms are what's in the recipe, but cremini (baby bella) or chopped portobellos have more flavor and a meatier bite.

What to Use Instead of Beef

This stew is all about the vegetables, but if you're craving something closer to a classic beef stew, any of these make a great addition. Add one or two, not all of them at once.

• Extra mushrooms. Double the mushrooms and use cremini or thick-cut portobellos. Brown them well in a separate pan before adding them to the pot so they turn golden and chewy instead of soft.
• Soy curls. Butler Soy Curls are dried whole soybeans that turn tender and shreddy, a lot like stewed beef. Rehydrate about 1 ½ cups in warm broth for 10 minutes, squeeze them out, and brown them in a little oil and soy sauce before stirring them in.
• Seitan. Store-bought or homemade seitan has the chewiest, most "meaty" texture of any option. Cut it into bite-size chunks, brown it, and add it for the last 15 minutes of simmering so it doesn't get soggy. If you like seitan, try our Vegan Mushroom-Seitan Stroganoff too.
• Beans or lentils. For an easy protein boost, stir in a can of drained chickpeas, white beans, or kidney beans with the broth. Or add ½ cup of rinsed brown or green lentils along with an extra cup of broth; they'll cook through during the simmer.
• Tofu. Cubes of extra-firm tofu are another good choice. For a stew built around tofu from the start, see our Tofu and Vegetable Stew.
• A splash of red wine. Many of the richest stews use wine. Add about ½ cup of dry red wine after the vegetables have cooked for a few minutes, and let it bubble until it's reduced by about half before adding the broth. Look for a wine labeled vegan, since some are fined with animal products.

How to Make Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew

1. Add oil to a pot. Cook onion and garlic on medium heat until translucent.
2. Add carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, and peas, and cook.
3. Add herbs, broth, tomatoes, soy sauce, and vinegar. Stir and bring to boil.
4. Make cornstarch slurry and stir in to thicken the stew.
5. Turn down heat, cover, and let simmer.

Full directions for how to make Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Tips & Tricks for Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew

Cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces. Make sure that when you are chopping the vegetables for this stew, you cut everything into true bite-size pieces. You don't want super large chunks of vegetables, as they will be hard to eat and slower to cook through.

Sauté the garlic and onions. When you sauté the onion and garlic, it helps to really enhance the deep flavor of this vegan stew. The sautéed vegetables will give your stew a rich and hearty flavor. If you don't sauté the onions and garlic, as some people do to save time, you will find that they have a sharper flavor.

Use a heavy-duty pot. Using a Dutch oven or other heavy-duty pot is great, as it will provide an even cooking surface for the stew. Cast iron is a good choice as well. If your pot isn't sturdy, it can create hot spots and your veggies will vary in doneness.

How to thicken vegan stew. This recipe uses a cornstarch slurry: whisk the cornstarch into cold water until smooth, then stir it into the pot so it thickens without lumps. If you'd like the stew even thicker at the end, whisk another tablespoon of cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of cold water, stir it in, and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. For a classic roux instead, skip the slurry and sprinkle 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour over the sautéed onion and garlic, then stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the broth a little at a time. Cook the flour longer, until it turns golden brown, for a darker, nuttier, more "beef stew" style broth. You can also mash a few of the cooked potatoes against the side of the pot for extra body.

Season at the end. Soy sauce and canned tomatoes are already salty, so taste the stew once it's done and only then add salt and pepper if it needs it. Pull out the rosemary and thyme stems before serving.

Variations to Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew

• Add rice or quinoa. Barley, rice, and quinoa are all great additions to this veggie-packed stew. Adding any of these grains will make your stew a lot heartier. I would recommend tossing some in if you feel you want a bit more depth.
• Mix in pasta. You can also add some vegan-friendly pasta to your stew. Just add it in at the end of the cooking time. Adding pasta will add more carbs to your stew but also allow it to stretch a bit more and feed a larger crowd.
• Different vegetables. You can mix in other varieties of veggies to your stew, as well. I used what I had on hand, but you can swap out different vegetables depending on what you have in your fridge and what's in season. For example, you could toss in some squash, zucchini, parsnips, or cauliflower!
• Add greens. Stir a couple of handfuls of chopped kale or baby spinach into the pot for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
• Make it "beefy." Add browned soy curls, seitan, or extra mushrooms, plus a splash of red wine, as described in the substitutions section above.

Serving Ideas

A big bowl of this stew is a meal on its own, but it's even better with something to soak up the broth. A loaf of warm, crusty bread is the classic choice. Fluffy vegan biscuits or a pan of easy vegan cornbread are just as good, and you can also cook dumplings right in the pot (see the FAQs below).

Since the stew is rich and savory, a simple green salad makes a nice, fresh contrast. Toss mixed greens with a quick 5-minute vinaigrette and dinner is done.

Make-Ahead, Storing & Freezing

Like most stews, this one tastes even better the next day, once the flavors have had time to blend, so it's a great make-ahead meal. Let it cool, then store your leftover stew in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. When you want some, you can simply warm it up in the microwave or over low heat on the stove. Just make sure to stir your stew periodically as it reheats, since it will stick and burn if left to simmer too long. The broth thickens as it sits, so add a splash of broth or water while reheating if needed.

To freeze, portion the cooled stew into freezer-safe containers, leaving a little room at the top, and freeze for up to 3 months. The potatoes can turn slightly softer and grainier after freezing, but the stew still tastes great. Thaw it overnight in the fridge, then reheat gently on the stove, stirring often and thinning with a little broth. If you plan to freeze a batch, you can leave out the peas and stir in fresh ones while reheating so they stay bright green.

Old-Fashioned Vegan Stew FAQs

What can I use instead of beef in vegan stew?

The best swaps are meaty mushrooms (cremini or portobello), soy curls, seitan, extra-firm tofu, or beans and lentils. Mushrooms and seitan give the closest chew to stewed beef, while beans and lentils add protein and make the stew extra filling. Brown mushrooms, soy curls, seitan, or tofu before adding them for the best texture and flavor.

How do you make stew without meat?

Build the flavor in layers. Sauté onion and garlic until soft, add hearty vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and celery, then simmer everything in a good vegetable broth seasoned with umami-rich ingredients like soy sauce, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar. Fresh herbs and a thickener, like the cornstarch slurry in this recipe or a flour roux, give it that classic, stick-to-your-ribs stew texture.

Can I make this stew in a slow cooker?

Yes. For the best flavor, sauté the onion and garlic in a pan first, then add them to the slow cooker with everything except the peas, cornstarch, and water. Cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for about 4 hours, until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and peas, then cook on HIGH for another 20 to 30 minutes until thickened. Find more ideas in our roundup of the best vegan slow cooker recipes.

Can I add dumplings?

Absolutely. Mix 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder, and ½ teaspoon of salt, then stir in ½ cup of unsweetened plant milk and 2 tablespoons of olive oil or melted vegan butter just until a soft dough forms. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, drop spoonfuls onto the gently simmering stew, cover the pot, and don't lift the lid until the dumplings are puffed and cooked through. Make sure the stew has plenty of liquid, adding a little extra broth if needed, since the dumplings soak some of it up.

How do you know when the stew is done?

You will know your stew is done when the potatoes are fork tender. When the potatoes are done, you can take your stew off the heat. However, I like to cook mine a bit longer as it helps blend the flavors even more.

Why add in the cornstarch slurry?

Cornstarch and water combined, referred to as a slurry, is a thickening agent used for thickening soups, stews, and more. I find that a cornstarch slurry is great for thickening dishes without altering the flavor of the recipes you are cooking.

More Cozy Vegan Stews and Soups

If you love this vegan stew, be sure to check out these other delicious ideas:

• Tofu and Vegetable Stew
• Vegan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
• Vegan Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
• Miso Butternut Squash Soup
• Yellow Squash Soup
• Vegan Comfort Food Casseroles
• Creamy Pasta and Butternut Squash Casserole
• Vegan Creamy Mushroom Pasta

And while you're here, don't forget to grab a copy of my free vegan cheat sheet. It's packed with all my favorite substitutions to vegan-ize any recipe!

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