Hearty Vegan Beef Stew

Comforting vegetarian beef stew

This vegan beef stew is hearty, satisfying and delicious. It will warm you up on the coldest of days. Made with a rich and savory broth, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas and vegan beef tips.

Bowl of vegan beef stew on a table with carrots and potatoes.

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Comforting vegetarian beef stew
❤️ Why you'll love this stew
🧂Ingredient notes
✏️ Expert tips
🥣 Serving suggestions
♨️ Storing and reheating
Step by step directions
❓FAQ's
🍛 Related recipes
📖 Recipe

❤️ Why you'll love this stew

Hot Damn!

We did it, folks! We made a comforting, warming, DAMN TASTY vegan stew recipe!

Reasons to love this stew:

It has a savory, rich flavor and is very satisfying.
It's great to make a large pot of on the stove top and have it during the colder months for the perfect comfort food meal.
Also goes great for for a St. Patrick's day meal that is a definite crowd pleaser.
It's beefless so it's vegetarian and vegan friendly.

🧂Ingredient notes

Gardein be'f tips - You can also use seitan, rehydrated soy curls, jackfruit or whatever meat substitutes you like. I give some tips on how to prevent them from getting soggy below.
Onions - Use whatever onion you have on hand. Red onion will be a little sweeter.
Garlic - it's not a stew without lots of garlic!
Frozen Peas - These add such a lovely color to the stew. Green beans are also delicious in this.
Vegan beef flavored bouillon - This creates a vegan beef broth that will add an extra beefy flavor to this stew. If you can't find this, use whatever vegetable stock you can find and just add soy sauce for more depth of flavor.
Carrots
Potatoes - Feel free to add whatever root vegetables are your favorite. If you use russet potatoes, make sure to peel them first. The skin will be too thick for this stew.
Soy sauce - Soy sauce is my secret weapon to making vegan soup broths savory and rich. It adds this amazing umami flavor that is often missing in vegetable stocks. Don't skip on this, it's such an important ingredient. This adds a nice depth of flavor and savory rich taste to the broth. Substitute with gluten free tamari or liquid aminos.
Mushrooms - I love adding mushrooms in addition to the beefless tips because it adds a nice chewiness to the soup.
Tomato paste - This adds umami (savory) depth to the broth as well. Tomato paste adds an amazing acid balance and a savory richness.
Salt and black pepper
Cornstarch - Create a cornstarch slurry by mixing corn starch with a little bit of veggie broth. This will make a thicker stew.
Bay leaves

✏️ Expert tips

Let the diced onion caramelize in the oil before adding all the other ingredients. This will add a lot of richness to the broth.
Now, it’s virtually impossible for me to make a stew without peas, so I threw them in there as well for a brightness. Plus, the green color is a beautiful addition.
I’ve also seen some beef less stews use only mushrooms as their meat alternative. We upped the chewiness of this stew by using BOTH mushrooms and the beef less tips.

Pro tip: How to prevent the Gardein tips from getting mushy

One thing I heard people complain about with other stew recipes is that the Gardein be'f tips fall apart if they are cooked in the broth too long.

I also thought the outsides were really flavorful, but the insides of them were a little bland.

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To fix this, I have you cut the tips in half so that there’s more surface area getting flavor when we sauté it.
I also have you marinate the beefless tips to add some flavor to the insides.
To prevent these from getting soggy, we don’t add the tips in until right before serving this hearty meal.

🥣 Serving suggestions

Serve this with some nice crusty homemade bread or Irish soda bread for a perfect cozy dinner. To counter the heartiness of this soup, serve it with a nice crunchy salad, or a perfectly baked potato.

♨️ Storing and reheating

Bowl of vegan beef stew on a table with carrots.

To store - This stew will last in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. It tastes amazing the next day.
To freeze - This recipe freezes well. Make a large batch and then freeze any extra you have leftover to have on hand. Just let it thaw out in the fridge and then reheat.
To reheat - Place this in a large soup pot on the stove and heat on medium heat until warmed through. Add a little liquid if it got too thick. This also can be reheated in a microwave.
To make ahead - Chop up the potatoes, carrots, garlic and onions ahead of time. Defrost and marinate the Gardein beefless tips. Once you're ready, just follow the directions.

Step by step directions

Marinate the beefless tips

First, put your beefless tips in the fridge so they thaw out if they were frozen. Cut them in half after they thaw. Put them in tupper ware and cover with the beef marinade. Let this marinate ideally over night, or at least 20 minutes.

Stove top directions

In a large soup pot, heat 3 tablespoons of oil on medium heat. Once pot is hot, cook the beef tips. Turn them every few minutes so they get browned on each side. Take the beef tips out and set aside. We're adding these in at the end so they won't get mushy.
Add a little more oil to the soup pan and saute the onions for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute until lightly browned ~ 3-5 minutes1 medium onion,2 cups sliced mushrooms
Add tomato paste, thyme, corn starch, carrots - sautee for 5 minutes2 tablespoon corn starch,2 teaspoon dried thyme,3 medium carrots,2 tablespoon tomato paste
Add the water, bouillon cubes, bay leaves, potatoes, garlic and peas and bring to a steady simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.½ cup frozen peas,4 cloves garlic,2 vegan beef bouillon cubes,2 medium bay leaves,8 cups water,2 large potatoes
Once the soup looks thick and ready, add the beefless tips and turn off heat. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and stir it in. Enjoy!1 tablespoon soy sauce

❓FAQ's

Can I make this without beefless tips?

If you can't find the Gardein beefless tips, you can just use mushrooms if you want to keep this using whole foods only. You can also use seitan, soy curls, tvp chunks or jackfruit.

Can I make this in a pressure cooker or slow cooker?

This beefless beef stew goes great in an instant pot or slow cooker.

To cook it in a slow cooker, just add all of the ingredients, then cook it on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Don't add the vegan beef until you're ready to serve, or it will get soggy. Sauté the tips up in some oil on medium-high heat until crispy, then add them in.

To cook in an instant pot, sauté the chopped onion, carrots and hearty potatoes for 5 minutes. Then add the broth and the rest of the ingredients. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. Let is slow release for 5 minutes, then quick release. Top with fresh parsley.