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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.
So delicious!!! Came together pretty quick for a weeknight meal after a 10 hour work shift lol. Was a perfect cozy meal as described! Can’t wait to make the creamy dill white bean soup next!
Please do! Thank you so much, Danielle!
Definitely one of the best soups I’ve had! So easy and so flavorful. Thanks for the great recipe 😊
Fantastic! Thanks, Elaina!
Loved it. Will make again. Chose it because I’m looking for low sodium meals. I cooked it down until it was thickened and used it as a side dish. Very tasty and did not miss the salt. The lemon really added a lot. I’m going to dry your creamy white bean soup next. The ingredients, including tahini, sounds wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing
So happy you loved it, Wendy!
I absolutely love this. Great thing is, if you’re missing a few ingredients just throw something else in and it’s still fantastic.
Glad you loved it, Cormac!
All the family love it!
Never worry particularly which beans – all seem
to work well.
Always have to double-up to meet demand!
So glad your family loves it, Bunny!
So warm and comforting! Thanks for this quick and easy recipe, Caitiln 🙂
You’re so welcome, Amanda!
I accidentally only bought one can of beans and ended up using some baked beans too haha, it was so good though!!
Glad you enjoyed!
Absolutely delicious! I used Rancho Gordo little white beans and then blended most of it once it was nice and soft. It has an almost smoky southwestern vibe that’s great with a little buttered cornbread on the side.
Sounds delicious!
This was DELICIOUS. I’m doing a fast that limits what I can eat so I chose this recipe to make for dinner and was shocked at how much I enjoyed it. I poured it over a little rice and mm mm mmm, just delicious. I’m certainly bookmarking this and making it again outside of the fast.
Thank you, Brianna! Glad you found it delicious. ♥
This was so tasty! I especially love the broth. The lemon and fresh herbs add so much flavor. I’ll definitely be making this again. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Glad you loved it, Sarah!
Just made it and wow! So good, and so many good ingredients. This will definitely start to be on my rotation. Thank you for the recipe!
We’re glad this wowed you, Victoria!
Love it! Perfect for this time of year, it truly is a cozy soup. This is going in my meal rotation. Wow, thank you so much. Sometimes trying new recipes can be frustrating so it is so rewarding to cook something new and delicious.
Thank you Jasmine! Totally get what you mean about trying new recipes – I’m glad this one worked out for you 🙂
Love, love it. This is the second time I have made it. Followed the directions the only thing I added was two handfuls of spinach just because I like spinach and look for every reason to us it. I just love the way it makes the house smell.
Wonderful addition, thank you for sharing!
So delicious and easy to make! I will definitely make it again.
Thank you, Sandy!
So yummy. Made this with what I had on hand, with dried herbs but fresh lemon juice. Used navy and canneneli beans.
Glad you like it, Sara!
I love beans and I was thinking about new ways to cook them when the recipe for this stew came up on my Instagram feed and I knew I had to make it! We absolutely loved it at my house! Thank you, Caitlin! We will 100% be making it again! 💛
Thank you, Sonia! So glad you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Excellent recipe! The end result was a little different than I expected but in a good way. The lemon really adds a lot of freshness to it. Will definitely make it again.
Thank you, Jeff, glad you enjoyed!
This soup was so so so delicious! Perfect cozy meal for a rainy day. The only swap I made was that I used bottled lemon juice (2 tbsp) instead of freshly squeezed and it tasted great.
Thank you, Ellen!
This is absolutely delicious, simple to make, cozy and hearty! I will be making it again and again this fall and winter. I did not have thyme so I used fresh rosemary and sage and the flavor was wonderful.
Thank you, Sam!
Yummy and comforting. Family liked it.
I made it using Snow Cap heirloom beans (that I had previously cooked from dried), and I used dried thyme and the optional coriander. Snow Cap is a very creamy whitish bean, so it fit your description of creamy-textured bean.
I reduced the broth to 2.5 cups and cooked the final stew in my instant pot (8 min high pressure, 10 min NPR). It came out more like soup than stew, probably because I used too much broth. The fresh parsley and fresh lemon really give the flavor a nice lift. Tastes even better on day two.
I’ll make it again in the IP, only next time with less broth; maybe only 2 cups. Thanks for the tasty and easy recipe!
Hi Pam, sounds great! Let me know if you try it again in the instant pot. 🙂