Hearty Smoky Vegan White Bean Stew with potatoes and poblano peppers! Plant-based, packed with flavor, high protein! and low-fat!
VEGAN WHITE BEAN STEW
Holy moly is this a delicious vegan soup recipe. I love spice, I love potatoes (you know this by now) and I love a smoky flavor in soups/stews. I also love easy, simple ingredient recipes. This one is basically just adding ingredients to a pot and roasting 2 veggies.
This vegan white bean stew is high protein, low-fat and packed with flavor! It uses simple basic ingredients, nothing fancy or strange. I love simple soups that are also comforting, like this 8 ingredient lentil soup and this creamy vegan lentil soup.
The base is made from white beans and yukon gold potatoes for lots of thick, creaminess and flavor that naturally comes from the gold potatoes. They are simply flavored with some onion, a good dose of garlic and some smoked paprika. To further the flavor and smoky element, some roasted and broiled potatoes and poblano peppers are added on top of of the stew. I then threw on some red pepper flakes for an extra dose of heat and smokiness….to say this was delicious would be an understatement!
It is hard to believe this bean potato stew is vegan, gluten-free and oil-free and just 8 ingredients.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
Full recipe and details on recipe card below.
- Dry uncooked white beans
- Low-sodium vegetable broth
- Yellow or white onion
- Garlic
- Chipotle chile pepper
- Yukon gold potatoes
- Vegan Worcestershire sauce: You can find vegan worcestershire sauce at Sprouts, Whole foods and on Amazon. I buy the Annie’s brand.
- Smoked paprika
- Poblano peppers
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN WHITE BEAN STEW
Step 1: Soak the beans overnight in a large pot of water.
Step 2: Add the vegetable broth, onion, garlic, salt and pepper to a large bowl. Stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to low and simmer, covered and cook for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: After the 90 minutes is up, add just 6 of the chopped potatoes to the pot with the worcestershire sauce and smoked paprika. Stir and bring back to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
Step 4: While the potatoes are cooking, roast the reserved potatoes and poblano peppers.
Step 5: Once the soup is done, puree part of the soup with an immersion blender. Garnish with roasted poblano peppers.
IS THIS STEW SPICY?
Poblano peppers themselves are rather mild in heat. It will depend on them though. Sometimes they hardly have any heat and sometimes they can have quite the kick. They have more of a smoky flavor than bell peppers. However, since these are just as a topping, they really do add such an amazing smoky flavor and texture to the stew that is just incredible.
Additionally, the seeds are the most spicy part, so make sure to toss those out when roasting the poblano peppers. They really do complete this vegan stew, so don’t leave them off!
MORE VEGAN SOUPS AND STEWS TO TRY
- Vegan Cauliflower Curry Soup
- Low-fat Smoky Broccoli Potato Soup
- Sweet Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Lazy Red Lentil Curry Soup
- Sweet Potato & White Bean Curry Soup
- Lazy Day Tomato Bisque
- Easy Vegan Ramen Noodle Soup
- Tomato Rice Vegetable Soup
Vegan White Bean Stew (High Protein)
Ingredients
- 2 cups (388g) dry white beans, soaked overnight
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 heaping cup (160g) finely diced onion
- 4 large cloves of garlic, minced (heaping tbsp)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile pepper (optional, but gives a nice smoky heat element, or you could sub with 1/4 teaspoon black pepper)
- 9 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces, separated (1330g) weigh for accuracy)
- 2 tablespoons vegan worcestershire sauce (I use the Annie's brand)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 poblano peppers, sliced into 1/4 inch strips
- Garnish: red pepper flakes if desired
NOTE
- This recipe uses dry white beans, not canned, which is how the thick stew and flavors are reached by slow cooking, so don't use canned beans! You will not end up with the same result. I promise the slower way is worth it! Please note that the ingredients are added at different times.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- First you will need to rinse and soak your beans overnight. Just add them to a large pot and cover with water by a few inches and cover. In the morning, rinse off the beans and add them back to the pot.
- Add the vegetable broth, onion, garlic, salt and pepper (if using). Stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, peel and chop all of your potatoes. Make sure to reserve 3 of the potatoes for broiling.
- After the 90 minutes is up, add just 6 of the chopped potatoes to the pot with the worcestershire sauce and smoked paprika. Stir and bring back to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
- While the potatoes are cooking, you will want to roast your remaining 3 potatoes and sliced poblano peppers. Make sure to toss the seeds out when slicing the poblano peppers or they will be really hot! The peppers themselves are relatively mild in heat. Preheat an oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Add only the potatoes to the pan and salt and pepper generously. Roast them for 10 minutes and then add the poblano peppers (season as well) to the pan and cook them both for 10 more minutes. They should be tender by then. Turn on the broil just for a couple of minutes, watching closely, just until they turn golden brown.
- Your stew should be ready by now. Take an immersion blender and puree part of the soup into a thick stew texture. I only did about half I guess. Basically you want the broth gone and the stew part creamy and part chunky, with lots of beans and potatoes still in tact. Just do it to your desired preference. If it is too thick, add just a little more broth. Taste and add any more spices, salt, etc. if needed. Add to serving bowls and top with the broiled potatoes and poblano peppers. I then topped mine with red pepper flakes. YUM.
Notes
Nutrition
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This was wonderful and perfect for a snowy day lunch.
(Ended up having to use Adzuki beans since we ran out of white beans. Used same amount as called for just no overnight soaking. The beans were cooked to perfection)
Served it on a bed of baby spinach and topped with sliced Daring chicken.
Yum!
Love, love this stew: smokey, spicy and satisfying. My kitchen has never smelled do good!
Yay!!
We love this recipe in our house! I was wondering if you think this would be doable in the crockpot or pressure cooker?
So glad! I have never tried it, I don’t own one!
Hi Brandi
I’m in Australia. Is there a good sub for Poblano I might find here please? 🙂
Hi Troy! Hmmm, poblanos give a LOT of flavor and smokiness here. You can try a mix of green bell peppers and jalapeno I suppose!
I make a lot of your recipes. I am looking forward to making this recipe. Question, is there something I can substitute for the vegan Worcestershire Sauce? I try to avoid soy and vinegar.
You could try something like coco aminos instead??
This was so tasty and filling. I love the smoky creamy combo. I used cranberry beans, because that’s what I had and added a drizzle if lemon with the other toppings. I also did the first step (cooking beans and onions in broth) in my pressure cooker, which cut the 90 minutes to about 45/50.
I love hearing this Squirrel, so glad you loved this recipe!
I wonder if there’s a way to make this in an instant pot?
I’ve not tried it, so I’m not sure!
This stew is SOOOO good. I added half the amount of liquid smoke and it was perfect. Wow!
Yay, really glad to hear how much you enjoyed it Cary! Thank you!
Yum! Made this for Easter dinner. It was a hit. My 5 year old had thirds. Love that it’s oil-free.
My recommendation is to figure out an Instant Pot version to speed up the whole process. Keep up the good work. I’m loving your recipes. Especially using my kitchen scale.
So wonderful to hear that Delnora!! I actually do not own an instant pot, so I don’t have advice on that. I do, however, have this same recipe in my cookbook that is much faster using canned beans and slightly different for using the canned!
My husband and I made this, today. Fabulous flavors and textures!
Wonderful Siri, so happy to hear that!
Brandi, I stumbled across your website a couple of weeks ago and I just cannot stay away. What a nice concept you have – 8 ingredients or less for such delicious looking meals that are also easy to prepare.
One thing that I really like about your recipes is that they have “body”. I don’t know how to explain that except to say that they’re healthy, but made with love. Maybe that’s what “body” is – love. Dishes that look so good can only be made with love. I’m pretty much doing the McDougall Plan so I also appreciate that they are made without oil, dairy, no meat.
So when I stopped by your site and saw the images of the Dark Chocolate Chipotle Sweet Potato Fudge recipe, I lost my breath for a moment. Those fudge squares look so good I started swooning. I will be making those along with several of your recipes this month as a start.
I am just getting started on my plant-based journey so I had to be sent here by the true and living God who knows that this website will be a great help to me.
I really appreciate you and I will spread the word.
Well so long and looking forward to more of your creative efforts. You are appreciated.
Oh – would you happen to have recipes for zucchini bread and bread pudding ?
Smile
Thank you so much for this website.
Hi Linda! Welcome to my site and thank YOU for such a wonderful and kind comment you left. You are so sweet. I definitely put love into every single recipe and take such pride in them, so thank you so much for noticing and saying such a beautiful thing. Enjoy the fudge, it is SO GOOD! Be sure to come back to that post or any other recipes you try and let me know! I’m sorry I actually don’t have a zucchini bread or bread pudding, so sorry! I’ve never liked bread pudding unfortunately but I have been planning to do a zucchini bread actually recently, so I will mark down your request. Stay tuned! 🙂
Yea, this is DA bomb. It has that super smoky taste of years past. Sooo good! A must try this fall if you have not. Both boys enjoyed it so much.
I’m so thrilled to hear that Estee, thank you for the review!
Can it be easily done in a crockpot? Or will potatoes get soggy/over cooked? Thanks!
Hi Annemarie! I have no idea. I have never tried it so I can only suggest the stovetop method. I have not used a crockpot in years either, so I’m afraid I don’t have suggestions on making it work the same. So sorry!
That was the best soup I have ever ever made. Ever. My husband just caught me licking the ladle while I was doing the dishes! The smartest thing I did today was make 2X the amount. I added some ume plum vinegar at the end, for some umami flavor. And, because I’m lazy, I didn’t peel the potatoes that went into the oven for topping, and I may try not peeling the entire batch of potatoes next time (unless you tell me otherwise!). Also, for science, I put a serving amount in the freezer– I’ll let you know how it freezes. Brandi– I’m new to your recipes, and I gotta tell you– from now on, if you say something is the best and I have to make it, I will be running to the kitchen to do as you say.
Wow, now this feedback just made me shout for joy!! That is so amazing to hear!! I’m just beyond happy that this is the best soup you have EVER made, yay!! Thank you very much for making it and leaving such wonderful feedback!