A thick and hearty vegan beef stew recipe that makes a hearty meal that your family will love! This tasty stew is filled with potatoes, carrots, peas, and beef seitan, and it tastes amazingly similar to traditional beef stew.
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❤️ You will love this recipe
A bowl of this hearty vegan stew is true vegan comfort food at its best!
If you miss traditional beef stew and want a vegan option that tastes just like the real deal, this beefless stew recipe is for you!
My family loves hearty soups like vegan green chile stew, vegan lasagna soup, vegan cream of chicken, and 15-bean soup, but this beefy stew is one of our favorites.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive Oil - or any oil that you choose.
- Onions - white or yellow onions work best. You can use red onion too. You can also add garlic or swap a few cloves of garlic for the onion.
- Carrots
- Celery
- Oregano - for flavor or other herbs of choice.
- Thyme -for flavor
- Sea Salt - for flavor.
- Black Pepper - for flavor.
- Soy Sauce - for a beefy flavor. You can also use Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Amino for a gluten-free option.
- Tomato Paste - for a rich umami flavor.
- Water - or low-sodium vegetable broth
- Potatoes - you can use yellow or red skin potatoes if you don't want to peel them or you can use russet potatoes and peel and cube them. Yukon gold potatoes are also a good choice.
- Vegan Beef - you can use my homemade beef seitan, homemade vegan steaks, store-bought seitan, or even Gardein beefless tips. Trader Joe's also carries a frozen Korean "beef" that works great. You can also use Butler Soy Curls for a gluten-free version.
- Flour - all-purpose flour works best. You can also use a slurry of cornstarch and water to thicken the stew instead.
- Vegan Dry Red Wine - check Barnavore for which wines are vegan. You can use 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar instead of red wine if you choose.
🔪 Helpful tools
- A dutch oven - or a large heavy-bottomed soup pot.
🥄 How to make a vegan beef stew with seitan
Step 1 - Make the vegan beef seitan or use premade beef-flavored seitan, beefless tips, or rehydrated soy curls.
Step 2 - Peel and dice 1 medium onion, then drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a large pot and saute the diced onions over low heat.
Step 3 - While the onions are cooking, peel and dice the carrots and celery and toss them into the pot along with salt, oregano, thyme, and black pepper. Turn up the heat to medium-high and stir for 2 more minutes.
Step 4 - Add 6 cups of water or low-sodium vegetable stock, soy sauce, and tomato paste.
Step 5 - Peel and dice 6 cups of potatoes and add them to the stew then bring to a slow boil and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Step 6 - In a cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed frying pan, saute 4 cups of cubed vegan beef in 4 tablespoons of oil until it's slightly charred on all sides. Then sprinkle your meat substitute with 1/3 cup of flour until it's well coated.
Step 7 - Once the potatoes and veggies are tender, add the flour-coated faux meat to the stew and stir well until the stew thickens. Add 1/2 cup of dry red wine along with the "beef" if desired for more flavor. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- If using Butler Soy Curls - rehydrate 2 cups of the soy curls in 2 cups of vegan beef flavored broth, then saute as you would the vegan beef.
- You can also thicken the stew with starch instead of flour. To do this mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or potato starch in 1/4 cup of cold water. Mix it until it dissolves, then add it to the hot stew towards the end of cooking. Stir well until smooth and thick.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Swap out the seitan with Butler Soy Curls rehydrated in a vegan beef-flavored broth for a gluten-free vegan beef stew. Instead of thickening the stew with flour, mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of cold water and stir it into the hot broth. Be sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce as well.
You can also make my vegan stew with mushrooms and kale for a lighter and naturally gluten-free recipe.
If you don't want to use a plant-based vegan meat substitute, you can use portabella mushrooms cut into large chunks instead of vegan beef.
🥡 Storage and reheating
Refrigerate: The vegan beef stew will keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days in a sealed container.
Freeze: This vegetarian beef stew will freeze well and can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow it to thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Reheating: Reheat a serving of this beefless beef stew in the microwave for about 3 minutes or warm it over medium heat until hot.
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan beef stew recipe
Vegan Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup onions
- 2 cups carrots
- 2 cups celery
- 2 teaspoons oregeno
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce (or Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 6 cups water (or low sodium broth)
- 6 cups potatoes
- 4 cups vegan beef
- 1/3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup vegan red wine (or 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar)
Instructions
- Make the vegan beef seitan or use premade beef-flavored seitan, beefless tips, or rehydrated soy curls.
- Peel and dice 1 medium onion, then drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a large pot and saute the diced onions over low heat.
- While the onions are cooking, peel and dice the carrots and celery and toss them into the pot along with salt, oregano, thyme, and black pepper. Turn up the heat to medium-high and stir for 2 more minutes.
- Add 6 cups of water or low sodium vegetable stock, soy sauce, and tomato paste.
- Peel and dice 6 cups of potatoes and add them to the stew then bring to a slow boil and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
- In a cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed frying pan, saute 4 cups of cubed vegan beef in 4 tablespoons of oil until it's slightly charred on all sides. Then sprinkle your meat substitute with 1/3 cup of flour until it's well coated.
- Once the potatoes and veggies are tender, add the flour-coated faux meat to the stew and stir well until the stew thickens. Add 1/2 cup of dry red wine along with the "beef" if desired for more flavor.
Notes
- If using Butler Soy Curls - rehydrate 2 cups of the soy curls in 2 cups of vegan beef flavored broth, then saute as you would the vegan beef.
- You can also thicken the stew with starch instead of flour. To do this mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or potato starch in 1/4 cup of cold water. Mix it until it dissolves, then add it to the hot stew towards the end of cooking. Stir well until smooth and thick.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
How do I make the beef seitan??
If you want to make homemade beef seitan use this recipe... https://thehiddenveggies.com/vegan-beef/
Made this stew and it was delish ,will make it many more times
Thanks
I'm so happy that you like the stew, Kerstin! 🙂
I've made this recipe several times now and it's amazing. Tastes totally beefy :). I''ve got one question though (sorry if it's a silly one). I would like to serve it with potato puree next time so I would omit the potatoes from the recipe. Should I change the recipe in any way because of that, like cut the amount of water or salt?
You may want to reduce the time that you simmer the vegetables. It should only take about 20 minutes for them to cook without the potatoes in the pot. The potatoes are also a large bulk of the stew, so it will probably need less salt too. So happy that you like the recipe.