Hearty Vegan Beef Stew
This Vegan Beef Stew recipe is so easy to make and so delicious, even your omnivore people will love it! Hearty Vegan stew recipes are perfect for meal prepping, so make a batch on the weekend and enjoy the leftovers throughout the week.
Fall just descended on our doorsteps today. Actually, it’s been building up to it for a bit, with the whole leaf-changing-colors thing, but today, stepping out the door this morning to walk the dogs, it was downright chilly outside.
That felt like fall.
And when fall rolls around I start dishing out the soups, like Vegan Minestrone. But today didn’t feel like a minestrone kind of day. I needed something more hearty. That’s why I’m sharing this recipe for Vegan Beefless Stew.
We love a recipe that results in leftovers, like a good veggie stew recipe!
It’s seriously high on our list of qualities for a dish. Well, that, and taste too. I mean, what good are the leftovers if you don’t really like it that much?
So when you fix a recipe like this Vegan Beefless Stew that’s both tasty and creates some leftovers for the week – you know you’ve got a winner.
Why Vegans Like Stew
There have been some people over the years who’ve questioned me for recreating vegan versions of dishes from my childhood. As if we make the leap to becoming vegan and we have to give up everything we loved from our past? Whatever!
I make no apologies for loving meatless beef stew!
I can remember my mom making a beef stew; the aroma would make its way throughout the house so we all knew it was coming. Even though I was kind of a picky eater, I still liked it when mom made beef stew. There’s nothing like the flavor of potatoes and carrots roasted in a savory sauce.
I make no apologies for creating and loving a vegan version of beef stew today!
I still like the savory flavor of vegetarian stew recipes today! So, it makes sense that this Vegan Beefless Stew recipe brings it all home in such a healthy, satisfying way.
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Baby carrots
- Red potatoes
- Vegetable broth
- Corn
- Stewed tomatoes with juice
- Bay leaf
- Gardein Beefless Tips
- Optional: 1 tablespoon red wine
How to Make Vegan Beef Stew
I’ve been perfecting a vegan version of vegan beefless stew over the years and I think it tastes pretty darn good. We liked it so much we made a video about it too.
Step One: Cook the Veggies
Pour 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into a dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots, and cubed potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are just starting to become tender.
Step Two: Add Broth + Other Ingredients + Simmer
Add the vegetable broth, drained corn, the whole can (with the juice of stewed tomatoes, and a bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.
Step Three: Brown Beefless Tips in a Skillet
Pour the second tablespoon of olive oil into a skillet over medium heat. Add the Gardein Beefless Tips and stir until each piece is coated with oil. Cook over medium heat until each side is browned, about 5 minutes.
Step Four: Add Beefless Tips to Stew + Simmer
Add the browned beefless tips to the pot and continue simmering for another 15-20 minutes to allow the flavors to combine. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
Optional: Add a tablespoon of red wine to the stew as it’s cooking. This adds a nice flavor to the finished stew.
Step Five: Serve
To serve vegetarian beef stew recipes, pour stew into bowls and allow to sit for a few minutes until cool enough to eat, yet still warm. Serve with sourdough bread and steamed veggies.
Expert Tips for Vegan Beef Stew
Use these tips and tricks to make this beefless beef stew perfect every time.
- I used Gardein beefless tips which worked perfectly!
- You can use frozen corn instead of canned.
- Be sure to remove the bay leaf before serving. What’s the point of a bay leaf? I love this article on adding a bay leaf to savory dishes!
- If you don’t want to use beefless tips, substitute cooked mushrooms to create a mushroom stew recipe. It’s very tasty!
- Veg stews are great served with crackers or crusty sourdough bread.
- Cook the stew in a crockpot for even more cooked in flavor. Vegan stew slow cooker recipes are amazing time savers!
- Beef stew without beef is possible in more ways than using beefless tips, you can substitute veggie crumbles for more of a “hamburger stew” type recipe.
So, why do vegans like meatless stew? I don’t know. Maybe for the same reason anyone likes stew. Because it’s savory, comfort food perfect for fall (and winter) nights.
More Stew
If you love this easy vegan stew, you’re going to fall head over heels for these:
Vegan Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 medium onion peeled and chopped
- 2 cups baby carrots chopped
- 3 to 4 medium red potatoes scrubbed and chopped into ½” cubes
- 34 oz vegetable broth
- 15 oz can corn drained
- 15 oz can stewed tomatoes with juice
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 package Gardein Beefless Tips
- Optional: 1 tablespoon red wine
Instructions
- Pour 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into a dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots, and cubed potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are just starting to become tender.
- Add the vegetable broth, drained corn, the whole can (with the juice) of stewed tomatoes, and a bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.
- Pour the second tablespoon of olive oil into a skillet over medium heat. Add the Gardein Beefless Tips and stir until each piece is coated with oil. Cook over medium heat until each side is browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add the browned beefless tips to the pot and continue simmering for another 15 to 20 minutes to allow the flavors to combine. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
- Optional: Add a tablespoon of red wine to the stew as it's cooking. This adds a nice flavor to the finished stew.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Enjoy this vegetarian beef soup recipe!
Beef stew is amazing – we’ve made it before with seitan if I remember correctly. How do the Gardein beef chunks hold up to stewing?
Hi Allysia! The Gardein beef chunks hold up great after being cooked in the stew, and even after being refrigerated and reheated as leftovers. We’re pretty happy with it!
I have many happy childhood memories of beef stew, too! And roast. All those filling, warm, wintry dishes. Yours looks delish. And I looove the video! 🙂
Thanks, Nichole! I will confess that we had help with that video! Lenny and Denise from ChoppedCon actually came and stayed with us a night and worked with us – giving tips and direction – on shooting and editing. It was a fun day!
Also, so glad you like the sound of this stew. I agree – when you grow up eating certain dishes, it’s nice to find a way to replicate them in your vegan life too!
A friend of mine made this for dinner, my whole family loved it, even the meat eaters.
Thanks for your feedback, Amy! I’m so glad to hear that. We’ve had the same experience here (sharing this stew with meat eaters who also loved it), but it’s so good to know you experienced that too.
Do I thaw the beefless tips before browning them or use them frozen?
Hi Amanda. This is a great question and something I will add as a note to the recipe itself. You don’t have to thaw the beefless tips before browning them, but it will take a little longer. Usually we just let them sit out on the counter as we’re preparing everything else and they thaw out a little before we put them in the skillet. Hope this helps!
We made this last night. The second dish from your site we’ve tried. And just like the first one….. Delicious. Thanks so much for your posts.
I made this i add some mushrooms and celery and peas was so good
Hi Hamid! We are visiting Shawn’s parents right now and we were just talking about this recipe. We made it for them the last time they were in town and they loved it! So, it’s perfect to see your comment on it today. I’m so glad you like it too! Oh, and the addition of mushrooms is perfect! I’m hoping to get Shawn more interested in eating them. Right now he’s a no go, but I sense his defenses are coming down a little!
If I substituted a stew vegetable mix (like this: https://www.wegmans.com/products/frozen-foods/vegetables/vegetables-frozen/stew-vegetables.html) instead of all of the separates, how many packages do you think I would use to add up to the amount of vegetables in this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Lauren, You could probably be fine using two of those vegetable mixes, but I like to push the envelope and I would probably try three. But we like a lot of veggies in our stew. Hopefully that helps answers your question. It’s a great idea to use a frozen vegetable mix like that! Let me know how it goes!
What is the serving size of this stew? Are there 312 calories per serving or in total?
Hi Julia. These are roughly one-cup servings and the information on nutrition is per serving. Hope that’s helpful!
If I’m making this in a slow cooker, would I just toss everything in together and cook it?
Hi Amanda. I haven’t tried this method with this recipe, however, I could see how it would work. Just cooke everything together for 4 – 6 hours. I would probably consider adding the beefless tips in the last hour of cooking. That way you get the potatoes and carrots good and tender, without degrading the qualify of the vegan beef tips. You could also cook them in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil before adding them to the stew. It adds a little crispness to the edges. That said, they’re good either way!