Vegan White Bean Stew
This Vegan White Bean Stew is so easy to make…and so tasty! This slow-cooker vegan white bean soup comes out so thick and creamy, you’ll be hard-pressed to convince someone that it’s dairy-free.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup dried Great Northern Beans soaked overnight, for canned bean use or Great Northern Bean substitutes, please see the Recipe Notes
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 carrot washed and diced
- 1 celery stalk washed and diced
- 1 sweet potato (or garnet yam) washed and small diced
- 1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth
- 4 cups water divided
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the Great Northern Beans by soaking them overnight in a brine solution. To do this, add 1 ½ tbsp of salt to 2 quarts of water in a large bowl. Add the beans and cover the bowl. Let the beans soak on the counter overnight. In the morning, drain and rinse the beans.
- Add the olive oil to a large stock pot and turn the heat to medium-low. Then the oil is shimmering, add the diced onions and salt. Slow cook the onions until they just begin to brown. About 12-15 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium, then add the garlic. Sauté the garlic and onions for 1-2 minutes being careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add the dried thyme and rosemary and stir to combine. Sauté until fragrant. About 1 minute.
- Add the tomato paste and continue sautéing until the tomato paste becomes a dark red. About 2-3 minutes.
- Add the carrots, celery and diced sweet potatoes. Stir to coat the vegetables.
- Add the vegetable broth, 2 cups of water, the soaked Great and the bay leaves.
- At this point, you can add the soup to your slow cooker and slow cook it on low for 6-8 hours. Check the slow cooker periodically and add more water as necessary. Or you can continue cooking the soup on the stove top by bringing it to a boil and then reducing it to a simmer. Simmer the soup until the beans are soft. About 2 hours. Be sure to check the soup periodically and add more water as necessary.
- As the liquid cooks down, the soup should become very thick and flavorful. Add additional water to achieve the desired consistency. Remove the bay leaves and add the sherry vinegar. Serve immediately season with salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste.
Notes
- As this soup simmered in my Multi-Cooker, I needed to add water from time-to-time. In all, I added about 2 additional cups of water.
- What’s a Multi-Cooker anyway? This kitchen appliance is very similar to a slow cooker in appearance. In addition to having slow cook setting, a multi-cooker can also braise, sauté, boil and warm, as well as make rice and yogurt. Having these features allows me to make the entire dish in my multi-cooker as opposed to having to transfer the soup to a slow cooker halfway through the recipe.
- Need a Great Northern Bean substitute? Use Cannellini Beans. Like Great Northern Beans, they are a hearty white bean that maintains its structure when cooked.
- Looking for a faster option? Use 3 14 oz cans of Great Northern Beans (or Cannellini Beans) instead of dried beans. Be sure to drain and rinse the beans before adding them to the soup. Simmer the soup for 45 minutes before serving. The soup may not achieve the same thick consistency, but it will still taste amazing!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!