Vegetable Stew
Forget watery, bland, and tasteless vegan stew. This Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew with root veggies is a simple, rustic recipe packed with tremendous flavor. Plus, it’s so easy! Just chop your veggies, get them in the crockpot, and let the slow cooker do the rest for you.
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This easy Crockpot Root Vegetable Stew is packed with fresh root vegetables slow-cooked to sheer perfection in a robust, flavorful broth. This is no bland, watery stew. This is a hearty vegetarian stew that even non-vegans will enjoy.
Our awesome autumn vegetable stew is a simple set-it-and-forget-it recipe packed with healthy, vitamin-rich veggies and amazing flavor. The recipe comes together in just a few minutes, and the slow cooker does the rest! It even gets the picky eaters (B) to happily eat their veggies.
Serve our slow cooker stew with our simple bread or dinner rolls for a fantastic family meal you’ll put on repeat.
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Why You’ll Love This Veggie Stew
- An easy set-it-and-forget-it, dump and go recipe with great flavor.
- A few minutes of prepping the vegetables, and the slow cooker does the rest.
- This hearty stew is packed with healthy and vitamin-rich fresh root vegetables.
- The amazing flavor will win over even the pickiest eaters.
Vegetable Stew Recipe Ingredients
All the ingredients are basic pantry or produce staples, but the result tastes like gourmet cozy comfort in a bowl.
- Red potatoes – quartered or halved, depending on size
- Sweet potato – large dice
- Carrots – crescent or round cut
- Parsnip – crescent or round
- Celery – approx 1/2 inch thick slices
- Yellow onion – 1/4 inch dice
- Canned diced tomatoes – We used fire-roasted tomatoes for extra flavor.
- Fresh green beans – trimmed and cut 1 1/2 – 2 inch
- Fresh rosemary & thyme – stemmed and chopped
- Fresh thyme – stemmed and chopped
- Spice Cabinet – coarse salt, black pepper
- Beer – We used a seasonal, pumpkin flavored beer, but a brown ale, amber, or porter works great too. Avoid hoppy IPAs as they can turn bitter when cooked.
- Water – or vegetable broth
Two More Key Ingredients for Flavor:
Mushroom powder – Mushroom powder is simply dried mushrooms ground into a fine powder. It adds rich, savory depth known as umami to soups, stews, and sauces. It enhances all the other flavors, giving the broth a hearty, slow-simmered taste. You can find it sold in most grocery stores or online. Try Trader Joe’s Umami Seasoning, Oomph! Umami Mushroom Powder, or Chef’s Companion Mushroom Base. If you can’t find it, you can substitute a spoonful of nutritional yeast or a splash of soy sauce or tamari for a similar boost of flavor.
Gravy Master – A common browning sauce and flavor enhancement for stews and marinades. It adds a depth of umami and savoriness to the recipe. Kitchen Bouquet is another brand of browning sauce you can look for.
How to Cut Vegetables for Veggie Stew
You want to cut larger vegetable pieces for a chunky vegetable stew. Smaller pieces will overcook and turn to mush during the extended cooking time. Smaller cut vegetables are better for something like our Classic Vegetable Soup recipe.
- Parsnip, carrots, onion, and celery should be cut to around a 1/2 inch thickness. Slice thinner ends to rounds and thicker to a half circle shape.
- Large red potatoes can be quartered, but smaller ones should only be halved. They’ll be soft enough after cooking to break apart with your spoon.
- The sweet potato should be peeled with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, then diced to large, bite-size pieces.
Use the photo below as a guide to see what each vegetable looks like once it’s cut!
Using Frozen Vegetables for Root Vegetables Stew
Frozen root vegetables are easily found in the freezer section of your grocery store and a great way to save time both with prep and cooking. Just be advised, frozen vegetables are often par-boiled before they’re packed, so they should be added later or the crockpot cook time should be decreased by about an hour or so.
Best Types Of Potatoes To Use In Stew With Vegetables
The best types of potatoes for stew are waxy potatoes that will stand up to the cooking time without falling apart. Use red or white potatoes, fingerling potatoes, or Yukon Gold for best results. Avoid starchy potatoes like Russet or Idaho potatoes that will disintegrate into your stew.
Cut the potatoes into large pieces so they don’t overcook during the cooking process. You can keep the skins on as they are softer than Russet potatoes.
Easy Protein Add-Ins for Vegan Vegetable Stew
You can easily add a number of protein options to this crockpot root vegetable stew. Butter beans (which are larger, fully mature lima beans) are a simple addition or you can use canned chickpeas for an easy chickpea vegetable stew. Canned beans should be added with the green beans in the last 30-45 of cooking.
For protein additions like soy curls or TVP that require rehydration, you’ll need to add more liquid to compensate.
Best Type of Beer To Use for Flavorful Fall Vegetable Stew
We used a seasonal pumpkin beer from Samuel Adams for our recipe for vegetable stew. The pumpkin flavor and hints of cinnamon and nutmeg really gave the stew vegetables a delicious extra flavor that represents the fall nature of the dish.
Almost any type of beer can be used, or replaced with vegetable broth if you avoid alcohol. I highly recommend a fall seasonal variety, but a regular beer like standard Sam Adams or Pilsner Urquell can also work. You can even use Michelob or Budweiser. Stout or porter can be used, but some find the flavor often overwhelms the stew.
And remember, not all beers are vegan! If you are unsure if your favorite beer is vegan, you can check the Barnivore site, or use a traditional German beer. The Reinheitsgebot, or “German purity laws” concerning beer preclude items like isinglass, whey, and casein that can be found in some British and other beers from being allowed to be used in the creation of German beers.
Substitutions & Alterations
- You can stir in some fresh mushrooms near the end of cooking time. Everything from field mushrooms to portabella can be used. Quarter smaller mushrooms, and mushrooms like portabella can be cut into meaty chunks.
- If you are using dried herbs instead of fresh, use a scant teaspoon each of dried rosemary and thyme to replace the 2 teaspoons of each called for in the recipe card.
- Butter beans, Lima beans, or Chickpeas offer an extra boost of protein to this winter vegetable stew. You can also add soy curls or textured vegetable protein, but will require extra liquid to compensate.
- Red potatoes, new potatoes, or Yukon gold can be used. Avoid starchy potatoes like Russets that break apart easily when boiled extensively.
How to Make Stew with Root Vegetables
Step 1: Wash and chop all ingredients. In a measuring cup, combine water, mushroom powder, and Gravy Master. Stir to incorporate. Set aside.
Step 2: Place the diced tomatoes and all vegetables except the green beans in the Crockpot. Top with the herbs and seasonings. Pour the prepared water mixture over everything. Then, do the same with the beer. Use a rubber spatula to lightly tamp down ingredients if needed.
The photo below shows you what the stew looks like before it cooks – the liquid should fill 3/4 of the way up.
Step 3: Cover with the lid and set cooking timer.
Step 4: During the last 40-45 minutes, add green beans and give a light stir. Recover and finish cooking.
This is what the stew should look like at the point when you add the green beans – more incorporated but a little soupy…
Step 5: Use an immersion blender to pulse a couple times and give the stew a thicker broth. Adjust seasonings as needed. Serve hot.
This is what the broth should look like after blending it a bit – much more stew texture!
Tips & Tricks for the Best Slow Cooked Vegetable Stew
- Cut all vegetables into uniform pieces to help everything cook evenly. You can also cut and refrigerate your veggies the night before and store in separate containers. In the morning, just dump and go.
- The recipe uses 3 cups of liquid, but you can add an extra 1/2 cup depending on how thick or “soupy” you want it. Since you’re using canned tomatoes, you’ll already get a fair bit of liquid from them as they break down.
- Don’t overfill the crock. The liquid should come to about 3/4 of the way up the veggies, not covering them completely.
- Place harder vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes in first near the bottom of the pot to ensure thorough cooking.
- Cooking the stew on low gives better depth of flavor and more even texture if you have the time.
- Add the green beans near the end of cooking time so they stay vibrant green with a little bite. (about 30-45 minutes before end cooking on High; about 1 hour before end time on Low)
- A few pulses with the immersion blender thickens the broth naturally without using any flour or cornstarch
- The stew is done when the root vegetables are fork-tender but not mushy.
What to Serve with Veggie Stew
Serve this beautiful beefless stew with some of our Easy Vegan Bread, Biscuits, or Vegan Yeast Rolls and a mixed green salad.
It also tastes great ladled over some Mashed Potatoes or rice.
How to Store Leftover Vegetable Stew
Allow leftovers to cool completely before covering for storage. Store leftover stew in an airtight container or sealed mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
How to Reheat Leftover Stew
Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
Microwave – Place in a microwave safe dish and heat on high for 2 minutes. Stir, and heat again for another minute or heated to your liking.
Stovetop – Place stew in a small or medium pot and heat over medium heat for about 7-10 minutes, or until hot.
FAQs
You can use a frozen blend of chopped mixed vegetables in place of fresh, but cooking time will be decreased because frozen root vegetables are often packaged par-boiled. We like the root veg frozen mix from Whole Foods.
Yes. You can sub vegetable broth in place of the water, beer, or both. Keep in mind though, you may need to adjust the other seasonings if replacing the beer with broth.
Traditional Irish Stew usually contains some form of meat. Usually lamb or beef. This potato vegetable stew contains no meat and is suitable for vegans and vegetarians, but delicious enough to satisfy anyone.
Butternut squash can be added along with or in place of the sweet potatoes. Similar sized pieces will take the same amount of time to cook.
I do not recommend freezing leftover stew. The vegetables turn out rather mushy after freezing and thawing.
More Vegan Stew Recipes
If you try this Root Vegetable Stew, we’d love to hear what you think! Leave a comment and star rating in the section below so we can all share in your kitchen successes!
Vegetable Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato ½-inch large dice
- 3 medium carrots ½-inch crescent or round cut
- 2 parsnip ½-inch crescent or round cut
- 1 lb red potatoes quarter large and half small
- 2 stalks celery approx ½-inch thick slices
- 1 medium yellow onion ¼-inch dice
- 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp rosemary stemmed and chopped
- 2 tsp thyme stemmed and chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 12 ounces water or vegetable broth
- 1 Tbsp mushroom powder
- 2 tsp Gravy Master
- 12 ounces beer We used a pumpkin beer.
- 1 cup green beans 2-inch trimmed and cut
Instructions
- Wash and chop all the vegetables as suggested. See notes for more in-depth info on how to chop each veggie.
- Place the sweet potatoes, carrots, and parsnips into the crockpot first. Then, add the red potatoes, onion, and celery.
- Next, add the canned tomatoes and top with rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- In a measuring cup, combine water, mushroom powder, and Gravy Master. Use a fork or small whisk to incorporate.
- Pour this water mixture over the herbs and vegetables. Then, pour in the beer. Use a rubber spatula to lightly tamp down and even out the ingredients.
- Cover, turn on your slow cooker, and set the cooking timer. You’ll want to cook this stew on High for 4 hours or Low for 7-8 hours until the veggies are cooked through.
- When you have 40-45 minutes remaining, add the green beans and stir. Then, cover and finish the cooking time.
- When the cook timer has stopped, use an immersion blender to pulse a couple times and give the stew a thicker broth. Start slowly, giving the stew a few pulses with the immersion blender then stirring before deciding if you want to blend some more. You just want to thicken the broth a bit, not puree the entire pot.
- Serve this veggie stew hot with some fresh bread and vegan butter. Enjoy!
Notes
- Approximate cup measurements for veggies:
- 3 cups red potatoes
- 2 – 2.5 cups sweet potato
- 2 cups carrots
- 1 – 1.5 cups parsnip
- 1 cup celery
- 1 cup yellow onion
- Crescent or Round – chop the thinner parts of the carrots and parsnip to thick round shapes. When you start to get to the larger half of the carrot, you can split it and cut into crescents or half-circles.
- Gravy Master is a common browning sauce and flavor enhancement for stews and marinades. It adds a depth of umami and savoriness to the recipe. Kitchen Bouquet is another brand of browning sauce you can look for.
- Mushroom Powder – Mushroom powder is simply dried mushrooms ground into a fine powder. It adds rich, savory depth known as umami to soups, stews, and sauces. If you can’t find it, you can substitute a spoonful of nutritional yeast or a splash of soy sauce or tamari for a similar boost of flavor.
This stew turned out so good! I didn’t have a yam so I substituted Granny Smith apple. A yummy, warming winter meal!
Wowww, what a fantastic idea with the Granny Smith apple! We are going to have to try that!