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This Cozy White Bean Stew is a thick & hearty stew that’s perfect for those chilly days! Packed with creamy white beans, tender veggies, and warming spices. Vegan, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free.
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This Cozy White Bean Stew is a warm bowl of absolute deliciousness! Creamy white beans, zesty lemon, warm herbs, and a mirepoix of onion, carrot, and celery come together to create a wholesome bowl of comfort that’s perfect for the fall and winter months.
A Bowl of Liquid Cozy
If you didn’t already know, stew is similar to soup, but is prepared by stewing–aka submerging all of the ingredients in just enough liquid to cook them at a simmer for a long time, so all of the ingredients mingle! Stews are also typically thicker and chunkier than soups, whereas soups generally have more liquid.
This Cozy White Bean Stew is a hearty, veggie-packed stew made with creamy white beans, tender veggies, and warming spices, making it one of my favorite comfort dishes for those cooler days!
What You Need for White Bean Stew
This creamy White Bean Stew is made with cozy ingredients like lemon, carrot, celery, onion, and white beans, and warming spices like garlic, thyme, cumin, and black pepper that make it perfect for a chilly fall or winter day. Protein and fiber-packed white beans break down somewhat during the cooking process to form a creamy texture and thicken the stew, while carrots, onion, and celery give it that iconic mirepoix flavor!
A touch of freshly-squeezed lemon juice (and zest if you’d like!) adds a kick of bright, citrusy flavor that makes the broth oh-so-drinkable. This thick & hearty stew is filling enough to be a wholesome dinner you can enjoy anytime you’re craving a warm bowl of comfort food. The best part? It’s ready in less than 45 minutes! 😉
How to Make Cozy White Bean Stew
- Sauté the onion in olive oil, then add the carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, paprika, cumin, coriander, and pepper and mix the dry spices into the veggies. Sauté.
- Add the beans and veggie broth, mix well, and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and continue cooking.
- Finish with parsley, lemon juice, and optional lemon zest, then let sit to cool and thicken.
- Season with salt and pepper if necessary and serve with a piece of warm, crispy bread (or as desired).
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Use fresh herbs & freshly-squeezed lemon juice: The result of using fresh herbs instead of dried and freshly-squeezed lemon over bottled lemon juice will make the biggest difference in flavor! If you’re in a pickle, dried herbs can be used, but I would try my hardest to steer clear of bottled lemon juice as it will completely change the flavors.
- Choose your white beans wisely: For a creamy white bean soup, it matters which bean you choose! Not all white beans are created equal– some are creamier, while others are thicker.
- Cannellini Beans: I prefer to use cannellini beans in this recipe, because they have a medium-firm texture and break down just slightly, which makes the soup more thick and creamy.
- Navy beans: Navy beans are smaller and will break down more during the cooking, giving the soup a creamy thickness, but with less texture.
- Great Northern Beans: Great Northern Beans are the firmest of all white beans (aside from chickpeas, which I don’t recommend using bc they will be much less creamy). Because they are thicker, they won’t break down as much while being stewed, which will lead to a less creamy end result.
Serving Suggestions
This White Bean Stew is great on its own, but if you’d like to bulk it up, you can stir in a handful of your favorite greens like spinach or chard at the end of cooking. You could also serve this with a side of crispy rosemary tofu or smoky tempeh for an extra boost of plant-based protein!
Store any leftovers you have in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If you choose to freeze the stew in glass jars for later, be sure to leave 1-2” of space at the top of the jar so it doesn’t crack from the pressure as the stew expands in the freezer. To reheat, microwave or heat via stovetop. Because this stew is so easy to freeze, this recipe makes for great meal prep. You can even pre-portion out individual servings of stew so that you can easily take some to work or school to heat up!
If you’re looking for more hearty soup and stew recipes, you’ll love this Hearty Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup, this One Pot Vegan “Chicken” Noodle Soup, and this Easy Vegan Chili!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, but I would recommend cooking the beans first before adding them to the stew–otherwise, the stew will need a lot more water and will have to simmer for longer.
I like to serve this stew with a side of crusty bread, but you could also serve it over rice to make it even more filling. You could also serve this stew with some seasonal roasted veggies or a kale salad to get in more greens!
The white beans will break down and thicken the soup as it simmers, but if you’d like an even thicker stew, dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in water and add to the broth towards the end of the cooking process.
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Cozy White Bean Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 carrots sliced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 3-5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander optional
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 5 cups cannelini beans about 3 cans
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Zest of 1 lemon optional, for a strong lemon flavor
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
Instructions
- Aromatics: warm the olive oil in a large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and celery and sauté for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Then, add the garlic, thyme, paprika, cumin, coriander, and pepper. Mix the dry spices into the veggies and sauté for an additional 60 to 90 seconds.
- Simmer: add the beans and vegetable broth to the pot and mix well. Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring the stew every 5 minutes or so to prevent anything from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You may need to reduce the heat to medium-low towards the end of cooking to prevent the stew from splattering.
- Finishing Touches: Turn the heat off and stir in the parsley, lemon juice, and lemon zest (if using). Let the soup sit for 5 or so minutes, to allow the stew to cool and thicken.
- Serve & Store: serve warm, and as desired. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Delicious stew! I will definitely be remaking this!
Glad you liked it, Dunja!
This was delicious! I added diced potatoes when it came to the boiling step and through in some leftover shredded Lacinato kale along with the parsley and the lemon juice at the end for the final step. They were both great additions and made it a wholesome and delicious stew! This will be on my rotation for fall/winter meals.
Thank you, Jan!
Delicious! I’m sure it’s good with any kind of white bean but I used Butter Beans because I’m on a butter bean kick lately haha. Even my husband loved it and he’s not a bean or soup fan! I ate it on top of mashed potatoes (trust me, try it). So good and budget friendly!
Thank you Jackie! Glad you loved it!
Hi Caitlin,
I have some leftover lacinato (Dino) kale that I bought for your Butternut Squash & Brown Rice Casserole. Could I add it to this stew, and if so, when would you suggest I add it in? (I’m in the process of making a bunch of healthy meals for my son & daughter-in-law because they just had a baby and have done all of my meal planning. I don’t want the kale to go to waste.) Thanks!
I’m glad you’re interested in adding kale to the Cozy White Bean Stew! To incorporate the leftover lacinato (Dino) kale, chop it into bite-sized pieces and add it to the stew about 10-15 minutes before it’s done simmering. Stir it in, and continue simmering until the kale is tender to your liking. This not only prevents waste but also boosts the stew’s nutrition. Enjoy!
This soup was easy to make and so delicious! Thank you for another great recipe!
Always welcome, Jema!
I saw this recipe on Instagram and I’ve been craving a stew like this for days. It was exactly what I needed. <3
Glad we could help, Annelie!
So yummy! easy to make with ingredients I already had at home. I topped with a dollop of sour cream was it was delicious
I’m obsessed with creamy but also chunky veggie soups at this time of the year and if I’m cooking for just myself, this is the kind of recipe I always gravitate to. This soup came out perfectly and felt like a massive comforting hug. Don’t omit the lemon zest, it really does add another layer of flavour and works so well with the thyme! I’ll be making this again.
This looks wonderful – any suggestions for what I can use instead of lemon juice at the end, though? Someone in my family is allergic to citrus.
Another acid like white or red wine vinegar will work! You just need a little to help all of the flavors pop 🙂
The lemon juice and zest in this recipe is everything! Makes it so special and perfect. Made it on a week night, super simple, quick and delicious. Perfect for the beginning of the fall!
What a truly fantastic dish! Loved the lemon/parsley addition at the end, to really make this stew pop. Defintley a winner recipe!! Thanks for posting.
You are so welcome, Dave!
I made this recipe tonight and my husband and I were pleasantly surprised, it was very good and tasty 😊!
I’m glad you both enjoyed it 🙂