Vegetable Stew with Dumplings (vegan)
This simple Vegetable Stew with Dumplings is perfect for cold winter nights. Get the recipe below.
Page Contents
Comfort food
Is there anything more comforting than a big bowl of stew? As the cold nights draw in I immediately want a hearty bowl of warm vegetables in a rich sauce, all mopped up with crisp but fluffy dumplings.
When most people think of stew they think of hunks of meat in a thick gravy. This is a much more vegan-friendly affair. It’s packed full of seasonal vegetables, in a rich sauce, topped with herby dumplings. All made without any animal products in sight!
I use shallots, potato, carrots, parsnips, chestnut mushrooms and peas. They are a riot of colour and full of flavour. The good news is they are also all easy to come by! You can, however swap any of them out for your favourite vegetables. The possibilities are endless.
The sauce is made with vegetable stock and white wine that has been infused with a bouquet garni of thyme, bay and sage.
The dumplings are crisp on top but light and fluffy in the middle. They are like herby sponges ready to soak up the stew’s rich sauce. To add extra flavour to these delicious dumplings I’ve added every vegan’s favourite ingredient – nutritional yeast! If that doesn’t convince you to try this recipe I don’t know what will.
The recipe
Vegetable Stew with Dumplings
Ingredients
- 25 grams non-dairy butter
- 12 shallots
- 200 grams chantenay carrots
- 200 grams parsnips cubed
- 250 grams potato peeled and quartered
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 300 millilitres white wine
- 500 millilitres vegetable stock
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 sage leaves
- 150 grams chestnut mushrooms Cut into thick slices
- 100 grams frozen peas
For the dumplings
- 100 grams self raising flour
- 50 grams vegetable suet
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 5-8 tbsp cold water
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan and add the shallots and a pinch of salt.
- Fry the shots for 5 minutes before adding the carrots, parsnips and potatoes to the pan.
- Fry for a further 5 minutes until the vegetables have started to soften.
- Add the minced garlic and flour and stir to ensure all of the vegetables are coated in the flour.
- Pour over the white wine and stir well to ensure all of the flour has dissolved.
- Add the stock to the pan along with the thyme, bay and sage leaves and bring to a simmer.
- Transfer the contents of the pan to a casserole dish and add in the mushrooms and peas.
- Cover the casserole dish with a lid and place in the centre of the oven
- In the meantime, make the dumplings by stirring together the self-raising flour, suet, nutritional yeast, mixed herbs and a little salt and pepper.
- Add 5 tbsp of cold water to the dumpling mix and bring together gently until its formed a pliable dough (add the remaining 3 tbsp of water if required).
- Remove the lid from the casserole dish.
- Split the dumpling dough into 4 pieces and place them on top of the stew.
- Place the casserole dish back into the oven (uncovered) for another 20-25 minutes or until the top of the dumplings are crisp and golden.
Notes
Serving suggestions
This recipe has pretty much everything you need in a meal: soft veggies, a rich sauce, and not one but two types of starchy carbohydrate (potatoes and dumplings!)
If you still feel the need to serve something along side this stew then I’d recommend a big plate of leafy greens: maybe some cabbage, kale or spinach. Broccoli or Brussels sprouts would also go well.
More heart warming dinners
The dinner recipe archive
For the full range of delicious dinners check out the recipe archive.