This vegan Beef Stew is the ultimate cold weather comfort food! Tender vegan beef pieces slow cooked in a rich stew with potatoes, onions, carrots, and mushrooms make for a cozy meal that everyone is sure to love!

vegan beef stew: a classic, reinvented

If you would’ve told me 6 years ago that I’d be able to enjoy hearty, meaty, comforting beef stew as a vegan, I would’ve laughed in your face. But here I am – not only enjoying it – but sharing the recipe with all of you to enjoy, too! Honestly, a big bowl of this cozy stew is the perfect way to ring in the Fall season.

So change into your comfiest pajamas, pour yourself a glass of wine, put on your favorite fall jazz playlist, and let’s get to cookin’ the best vegan beef stew!

what goes in vegan beef stew

I know the ingredients list might seem a little long and daunting, but I promise it’s mostly fresh herbs, veggies, and pantry staples! Here’s what you need to make it:

• Dried ‘Beef’ Pieces: this is the brand I buy on Amazon. It’s similar to TVP or soy curls. All you have to do is rehydrate them and they’re good to go! They are delicious and work well in SO MANY DISHES! Also check your local asian markets for imitation beef. Another accessible brand are these Gardein Plant Based B’ef Strips. If you can’t find either, feel free to sub for any of your favorite brand of beef strips, or you could use soy chunks or soy curls. Please note if you use an alternative, cooking times and methods will vary.
• Flour: I use all-purpose, but if you want to make this gluten-free, you can simply sub out the flour for cornstarch. To do so, toss the beef pieces in cornstarch instead of flour, per step 1 of the instructions. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and pour it in per step 3 of the instructions where’d you’d pour in the flour.
• Red wine: for this recipe, I’m using red wine vinegar and dry red wine. The red wine vinegar adds just a touch of acidity when used to deglaze the pot, and the dry red wine adds fullness and richness to the stew. If you don’t cook with wine, you can sub the red wine vinegar for balsamic vinegar and the dry red wine with additional broth. If subbing for broth, I recommend using bouillon paste or cubes to make a highly concentrated broth.
• Mushrooms: I like cremini, but feel free to use your favorite varietal.
• Herbs and aromatics: the usual suspects like onions (regular and pearl), celery, parsley, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves are added to this vegan beef stew for (you guessed it) more depth of flavor!
• Flavor enhancers: tomato paste and vegan Worcestershire sauce add a flavor bomb of umami – layering flavors in this beef stew is KEY!
• Broth: for this recipe, I highly recommend using a vegan ‘beef’ bouillon. This way, you’re able to mix the bouillon with water and make it a bit more concentrated and rich. I find the brands Edward & Sons (cubes) and Better Than Bouillon (paste) are most readily available. Also check your local Asian markets! To make a broth, simply add the bouillon base or cube dissolved in water. For the base bouillon, it’s a 1:1 ratio (1 teaspoon base mixed with 1 cup of water makes 1 cup of broth); for the cube bouillon, it’s a 1:2 ratio (1 bouillon cube mixed with 2 cups of water makes 2 cups of broth). If you’re unable to find vegan beef broth, you can sub for vegetable or mushroom broth, but I still recommend using a high-quality bouillon paste for this as well!
• Vegetables: keeping it classic with baby potatoes, carrots, and peas, but feel free to add or omit whatever you like here!

how to make it

this is one of those “low and slow” kinda recipes. Don’t like the long cook time deter you – most of it is simmering time to really marry those flavors together. So while that’s going, you can do some chores around the house, cozy up with a good book or movie, and enjoy the leftovers of that bottle of wine you bought for this stew 😉Here’s How to make it:

1. Rehydrate the vegan beef, then brown it!
2. Deglaze the pot with the red wine vinegar, the it’s time for the mushrooms, onion, celery, garlic, parsley, thyme, and rosemary.
3. Now for even more umami – add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining flour and stir to incorporate.
4. Add the red wine and simmer until it thickens and reduces by about a third.
5. Then pour in the broth, reserved beef pieces and bay leaves and simmer another 90 minutes.
6. Time for the veggies to join the party! Stir in the potatoes, pearl onions and carrots and continue to simmer until the potatoes are just barely tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Then add the peas and cook until heated through and the potatoes are fork tender, another 5 to 10 minutes.
7. The best part! Serve immediately with fresh parsley. Enjoy by itself or serve over mashed potatoes or white rice. Enjoy!

more soups and stews to get cozy with

1. Loaded Baked Potato Soup
2. Zuppa Toscana
3. Chick’n Afritada
4. Chipotle Chick’n and Rice Soup
5. Pesto Tortellini

tools you need

• Large mixing bowl
• Heavy bottomed soup pot or large Dutch Oven
• Sharp knife and cutting board
• Wooden cooking spoon and tongs
• Soup ladle

stew time!

I hope you love vegan Beef Stew as much as I do! I promise, it’s as comforting and cozy and meaty as its original counterpart! If you try this dish and enjoy it, I wanna know! Snap a photo, take a video, or make a story and post it to Instagram or TikTok, and tag me at @eat_figs_not_pigs and #EatFigsNotPigs. I love seeing your recreations of my recipes!

Til next time, friends!

XO!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Vegan Beef Stew

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

2 hours 30 mins

Total time

3 hours

 

This vegan Beef Stew is the ultimate cold weather comfort food! Tender vegan beef pieces slow cooked in a rich stew with potatoes, onions, carrots, and mushrooms make for a cozy meal that everyone is sure to love!

Author: Ashley

Recipe type: Vegan

Cuisine: Stew

Serves: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 200g dried vegan beef pieces or 1 pound vegan ‘beef’ pieces
• 6 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, plus more to taste
• 6 teaspoons avocado oil, divided
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 1 white onion, diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 12 cloves fresh minced garlic
• 2 tablespoon fresh minced parsley, plus more for garnish
• 2 teaspoons fresh minced thyme
• 1 sprig fresh minced rosemary
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups vegan-friendly dry red wine
• 5 cups vegan beef broth
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 pound baby potatoes, cut in half or quartered (depending on their size)
• 10 oz pearl onions, peeled
• 4 large carrots, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups peas

Instructions

1. Add the dried beef pieces to a large bowl and cover with enough boiling hot water so that they’re submerged by about an inch. Rehydrate for 20 minutes and drain thoroughly to remove as much liquid as possible. Toss the rehydrated beef pieces with 4 tablespoons of flour, and the salt and pepper.
2. Heat 4 teaspoons of the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the seasoned beef pieces and cook until heated through and slightly crisp around the edges, 6 to 10 minutes. Remove the beef pieces and set aside.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and deglaze the pot with the red wine vinegar. Once deglazed, add the remaining oil to the pot. When oil is hot, add the mushrooms, onion, celery, garlic, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and some of the liquid has cooked out of the mushrooms, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and remaining flour and stir to incorporate. Cook 1 to 2 more minutes.
4. Slowly pour in the red wine and simmer, stirring every few minutes, until the sauce thickens and reduces by about a third, 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Pour in the broth, reserved beef pieces and bay leaves. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring every so often.
6. Stir in the potatoes, pearl onions and carrots, continue to simmer, while covered, until the potatoes are just barely tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
7. Then, add the peas and cook until heated through and the potatoes are fork tender, another 5 to 10 minutes.
8. Serve immediately with fresh parsley. Enjoy by itself or served over mashed potatoes or white rice. Enjoy!

3.5.3251