Name: Vegetable stew recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Serves: 4
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, peeled and sliced; 2 carrots, peeled and diced; 2 parsnips, peeled and diced; 2 celery stalks, chopped; 250g (8oz) swede, peeled and diced; 600ml (1 pint) hot vegetable stock; 400g can tomatoes; 420g can butter beans, drained; A handful of chopped parsley

By Rosie Conroy

last updated 4 January 2024

Contributions from

Jessica Ransom

in Recipes

This vegetable stew recipe is cheap, easy to make and perfect for batch cooking or freezing

This healthy stew has five of your 5-a-day and only 1g saturated fat per portion.It’s delicious on its own but you might like to serve it with some crusty bread or rice to soak up some of the sauce. By keeping the stew vegetarian it reduces the cook time drastically compared to if you were cooking meat. It’s great for making ahead and then reheating in portions.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
250g (8oz) swede, peeled and diced
600ml (1 pint) hot vegetable stock
400g can tomatoes
420g can butter beans, drained
A handful of chopped parsley

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Method

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and fry slowly for 5 minutes. Add the other vegetables, cover and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes, so they start to soften.
Pour in the stock and canned tomatoes, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook for another 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Sprinkle the vegetable stew with chopped parsley to serve.

Watch how to make our vegetable stew

Top tips for making our vegetable stew

Use whatever vegetables are cheap and abundant right now. Choose the ones marked as 'wonky' or 'imperfect', because they are cheaper, and once they're all chopped up and cooked there's no way to tell the difference.

What should I serve with vegetable stew?

We love this stew as bowl food on its own, with a little fresh parsley scattered over the top or a dollop of sour cream, but if you want to make it go further try it with a creamy mashed potato or crusty bread.

Homemade dumplings are another great option as you can dip them in the sauce. You could also serve it over couscous or an ancient grain like pear barley.

How to store vegetable stew?

Once cooked, you can cool the stew and store in the fridge in an airtight container or a large bowl covered with cling film. It will keep for 4-5 days but is also suitable for freezing. We recommend freezing in portions and then you can defrost only what you need. Reheat on the hob or in the microwave until piping hot.

What can I add to a vegetable stew?

You could chop any leftover veg from a roast dinner and mix it in towards the end of cooking. You could also blend the mixture if you would prefer a soup or you’re weaning little ones.

If you’re not vegetarian, you can also add some cooked shredded meat for the last 10 - 15 minutes of cooking. Just make sure it’s piping hot. Beef, chicken or lamb would all taste great.

How do I thicken a vegetable stew?

You could add a tablespoon of vegetable gravy granules to thicken the sauce. Alternatively, remove a couple of tablespoons of the sauce and put in a small bowl with equal amounts plain flour. Mix to a paste then dilute with a little more of the stew sauce. Add the mixture back to the pot and stir to combine.

Jessica Ransom

“For an extra hit of flavour, consider adding a tablespoon of miso paste to the stew. It will give a deep, rich, umami flavour. I’d recommend mixing it in with your stock to dilute. You could also add a couple handfuls of spinach leaves for the last couple minutes of cooking for another boost of nutrients.”

For this stew you need a large pan with a lid. This one from Our Place is stylish enough for you to bring to the table and let everyone help themselves.

We have lots more comforting vegetarian recipes including this vegetable hotpot and our easy vegetable casserole.

Rosie is an experienced food and drinks journalist who has spent over a decade writing about restaurants, cookery, and foodie products. Previously Content Editor at Goodto.com and Digital Food Editor on Woman&Home, Rosie is well used to covering everything from food news through to taste tests. Now, as well as heading up the team at SquareMeal - the UK's leading guide to restaurants and bars - she also runs a wedding floristry business in Scotland called Lavender and Rose.

With contributions from