This is a real winter warmer when you need one, but equally so, we often find ourselves eating it throughout the year. Packed with flavour and loaded with Veggies, this Vegan Stew & Dumplings recipe is popular with the whole family.
A low-cost and flavourful, One Pot Vegan Meal. Easy to make, with minimal prep time.
Contents:
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Apple - We add in an apple to give the stew a hint of sweetness to balance out all the other flavours going on.
- Butter Beans - The healthiest nations in the world all have one thing in common - They all eat a large quantity of Legumes (Beans & Lentils). Studies all point to this being because of their high Fiber content. Even the lowest-fiber bean puts most other foods to shame. A cup of high-fiber beans, like pinto or black beans, tallies up 16 grams of fiber. You’d have to eat about eight slices of whole-wheat bread to get the same amount of fiber. Beans can be bought dried or tinned. If you're buying dried beans be sure to soak them overnight (8 hours), then drain and rinse them, before adding to your Stew.
- Gravy Granules - We love the taste that Onion Gravy Granules gives, but any flavour will work (as long as it's Vegan).
- Mushrooms - Chestnut or White Button can go in to your Stew.
- Root Vegetables - Inexpensive and delicious. We chose Carrots, Parsnip, Celeriac, Turnip, Swede, Shallots and Sprouts. You can add in whatever root veg you like in place of any you're not overly keen on.
- Red Wine (optional)- The alcohol is removed through the cooking process, so alcohol content is not something you need to have any concern over. We have added this for flavour but it can easily be omitted. If you are choosing to use it, we tend to have a Malbec or a Cabernet in the kitchen, but any variety will do. Just note that not all Wines are Vegan, so if you're keen on keeping the Stew Vegan then an app like Barnivore is a great tool for this.
- Vegetable Suet - We buy Atora Vegetarian Suet (which is also Vegan). If you can't find this at your local Supermarket, you should be able to get this, or unbranded equivalent on Amazon or from a Health Food Store.
Equipment
- Large Casserole Dish or Stew Pot
- Mixing Bowl
- Sharp Knife
Making the Stew
- The beauty of this recipe is that once the Vegetables are prepped all you have to do is put all of the Stew ingredients into the pot (in the order shown on the recipe card).
- After prepping the Veg, the total time to get it all in the pan, and the Stew underway, is less than 5 minutes.
- Once it's all in, just simmer for an hour and a half and stir occasionally. Then thicken with Gravy Granules, or Cornflour (we always use Onion Gravy Granules).
- Then you'll need to make and add the Vegan Dumplings (see below), before transferring to the oven for the last half an hour.
Making the Vegan Dumplings
This Vegan Dumpling Recipe is super easy to follow and here are some step by step pictures to show you the consistency at each stage.
- Put the dry Dumpling ingredients into a bowl and mix together with your hand, or a spoon.
- Slowly add the water to the bowl, mixing as you go. Be sure to only add a little at a time. You want the Dough to form but not to be too sticky.
- Tear off a golfball sized piece of the dough for each dumpling.
- Form the Dumpling Dough into balls (as pictured above). They don't need to be perfect.
- Place gently on top of your Stew (below).
- Cook your delicious Stew & Dumplings in the oven for 30 minutes - See the recipe card for more details.
Storage
Once cooked, the stew can be kept for up to a week in an air tight container in the fridge. To re-heat you can use the microwave, or if you have the time
Recipe Tips
- When adding water to the Vegan Dumplings mixture, do it a little at a time. This way you are less likely to make it too wet or sticky.
- If you add too much water to the Vegan Dumplings mixture, then it's really easy to bring it back. Simply add more Flour, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired dough consistency.
- When making Vegan Dumplings, you might find that the dough can stick to your hands. A way of avoiding this is to pour a little Flour on your hands before rolling the dumplings.
- When preparing the vegetables for the Stew, always leave the skin on everything, except the Shallots and Garlic. You also can't tell once the Stew is finished.
This saves you the time and hassle of peeling all of the veg when doing your prep, and it adds a load more fiber to the pot too!
Stew leftovers work reeeeeally well in Risotto. Use Vegetable Stock to cook your risotto rice in. Then add your leftover stew in when your rice has about 15 minutes left until serving. Season with Vegan Parmesan or Nutritional Yeast, and squeeze over a little fresh Lemon Juice.
Give it a try and let us know what you think of it.
Serving Suggestions
This is a One Pot Meal, and as such, it's a really enjoyable dinner all on it's own. If you are feeling particularly hungry, or maybe just fancy a little something on the side, then a nice Crusty Bread or some Mash Potato will go very well with it as well. Or for a lighter option, an extra serving of greens such as Tenderstem Broccoli, Green Beans or Cabbage.
FAQ'S
Yes you can. This stew keeps for up to 3 months, once frozen.
If you decide not to try the Vegan Dumplings, or maybe you just fancy something different, then this Stew goes really well with mashed or jacket potato. If your feeling really hungry you could try having it with our Harissa pesto potatoes with green beans and peas.
You can mix this up and add whatever Root Vegetables you fancy. Also try different beans as well.
These are 100 % vegan dumplings as they are made with vegetable suet. Be sure that this is what you pick up at the shop as normal suet is not vegan. In the UK we use Atora vegetable suet, which is also available on Amazon
We use gravy granules to thicken ours, as we find that they add to the depth of flavour. Equally so you can always use cornflour, mixed in a little cold water, if you prefer. Either way you add the thickening agent once the stew is ready to come off of the hob, just before you add the vegan dumplings and transfer the pot to the oven.
We have used a wide variety of root vegetables as well as Sprouts, Apple, Mushrooms, and Butter Beans in this recipe, but you can use pretty much any vegetables or pulses that you fancy. The only thing to consider is how well the structure of any given vegetable will hold up after 1 & ½ hours on the hob. ie Broccoli and Cauliflower florets will break up, but Broccoli and Cauliflower stalk goes really well in a stew(we use it often in our own ) it's just a case of using the firmer vegetables, or parts thereof.
The basic vegan dumplings recipe is just 3 ingredients - vegetable suet, self raising flour and water (with an optional pinch of salt to taste). You can however elaborate on this considerably, and as with the stew your only limitation is your imagination. We often add a generous amount of chopped fresh thyme to ours and these are delicious. Equally so they are very nice with parsley, sage, oregano or even a little finely chopped rosemary. Go easy on the rosemary though as it packs quite a punch !
Recipe
Hearty Vegan Stew and Dumplings Recipe
Equipment
- Large Casserole Dish or Stew Pot
- Mixing Bowl
- Sharp Knife
- Chopping Board
Ingredients
Stew
- 250 g Carrots
- 250 g Mushrooms
- 250 g Celeriac
- 250 g Swede
- 250 g Brussel Sprouts
- 250 g Parsnips
- 250 g Turnip
- 250 g Shallots
- 235 g Butter beans 1 Can, drained
- 1 Apple - Braeburn Gala or similar
- 5 Cloves Garlic minced
- 2 Vegetable Stock Cubes
- 1 ½ tsps Marmite
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- ½ teaspoon Pepper or to taste
- ½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
- 250 ml Red Wine optional
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree
- 1 tablespoon Dried Thyme
- 4 Bay Leaves
- 40 g Gravy Granules (Optional alternative - 1 ½ tbsps of Cornflour mixed with a little cold water to form a paste)
- 1 litre of water approx
Vegan Dumplings
- 150 g Self Raising Flour
- 70 g Vegetable Suet
- Pinch Salt optional
- 75-100 ml water to bind
Instructions
Prepare the Vegetables:
- The Root Veg: Wash and chop all of your Root Vegetables, and the Apple, in to 2cm pieces.250 g Carrots, 250 g Celeriac, 250 g Swede, 250 g Parsnips, 250 g Turnip, 1 Apple - Braeburn
- The Shallots: Cut the ends off of the Shallots and peel the outer skins. You can either cut them in to quarters or, if they are quite small, we like to use them whole.250 g Shallots
- The Sprouts and Mushrooms: Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms can go in quartered, halved or whole, just make sure that they are cleaned prior to putting in to your pan.250 g Mushrooms, 250 g Brussel Sprouts
- The Garlic: Peel and crush the Garlic, or finely chop with a knife.5 Cloves Garlic
Cook the Stew:
- Put the Olive Oil in a large oven proof pan or casserole dish, turn your hob to medium heat and once hot, add the Garlic and the Tomato Puree and stir for about 30 seconds.1 tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree
- Add the Shallots, Celeriac, Swede, Carrot, Turnip, Parsnip and Thyme and continue to stir for a couple of minutes.1 tablespoon Dried Thyme
- Add the Red Wine, and leave to cook for a couple of minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate. (If not using Red Wine then add an extra 250ml of water instead)250 ml Red Wine
- Add Water: Pour in 1 litre of water to your pan and stir.1 litre of water
- Add the remaining ingredients: Crumble in the Vegetable Stock Cubes, then add the Marmite, Apple, Brussel Sprouts, Mushroom, Butter Beans, Bay Leaves and the Salt & Pepper. Stir to combine.235 g Butter beans, 2 Vegetable Stock Cubes, 1 ½ tsps Marmite, ½ teaspoon Salt, 4 Bay Leaves, ½ teaspoon Pepper
- Simmer: Place the lid on the pan, and simmer on medium heat for 1 ½ hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes.
- Thicken: Mix the Gravy Granules with ½ litre of boiling water and then add the Gravy mixture to the pan and stir gently through. (You can use Cornflour & cold water if preferred).40 g Gravy Granules
Vegan Dumplings recipe and method:
- Pre-heat: Preheat the oven to 190°C /390°F/Gas Mark 5
- Put the Self-Raising Flour and Suet into a bowl with a pinch of Salt, and lightly mix together using your hands. Add in enough water to bind it all together to form a firm dough. If your dough is too sticky, add in a little more flour.150 g Self Raising Flour, 70 g Vegetable Suet, Pinch Salt, 75-100 ml water to bind
- Separate the dough in to 8, and roll each portion in to balls using your hands. A light dusting of Flour on your hands makes this easier to do.
- Once you've rolled your Vegan Dumplings, place them on top of the Stew, distributing evenly.
- If your ovenproof dish has a lid, place this on top of the Stew & Dumplings and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Alternatively you can cover with foil.
- Remove the lid or foil, and place back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the Dumplings are browned and crispy on top.
Notes
- When adding water to the Vegan Dumplings mixture, do it a little at a time. This way you are less likely to make it too wet or sticky.
- If you add too much water to the Vegan Dumplings mixture, then it's really easy to bring it back. Simply add more Flour, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired dough consistency.
- When making Vegan Dumplings, you might find that the dough can stick to your hands. A way of avoiding this is to pour a little Flour on your hands before rolling the dumplings.
- When preparing the vegetables for the Stew, always leave the skin on everything, except the Shallots and Garlic. You also can't tell once the Stew is finished.
This saves you the time and hassle of peeling all of the veg when doing your prep, and it adds a load more fiber to the pot too!
Give it a try and let us know what you think of it.
Sam
Best casserole ever !!!
Yasmin
Hi Sam,
Im glad that you enjoyed it as much as we do!
Yasmin