Vegetable stew recipe

A vegetable stew recipe that is quick, cheap, and easy to make.

Vegetable stew ticks all the boxes for a great family dinner. It's healthy - packed with seven types of vegetables and pulses, and cheaper than making a similar meaty dish. Plus it's quicker than a meat-based stew - ready in only 40 minutes, half an hour of which is just bubbling on hob time. This hearty, tasty dish serves four but it's easy to bulk out with extra vegetables if you need them. Plus you can adapt it according to the seasons. 

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 parsnips, peeled and diced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 250g (8oz) swede, peeled and diced
• 600ml (1 pint) hot vegetable stock
• 400g can tomatoes
• 420g can butter beans, drained
• A handful of chopped parsley

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and fry slowly for 5 mins. Add the other vegetables, cover and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes, so they start to soften.
2. Pour in the stock and canned tomatoes, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook for another 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
3. Sprinkle the vegetable stew with chopped parsley to serve.

Watch how to make vegetable stew

Top tips for making vegetable stew

Use whatever vegetables are cheap and abundant right now. Choose the ones marked as 'wonky' or 'imperfect', because they are cheaper, and once they're all chopped up and cooked there's no way to tell the difference.

We love it served with creamy mashed potato, homemade dumplings, or warm buttered bread but it's chunky enough to eat on its own, too. Make it on a Monday night to use up leftover veg from your Sunday roast.

If you have leftovers but love variety, you can blitz this stew in a food processor and turn it into soup.

What should I serve with vegetable stew?

We love this stew as bowl food on its own, with a little fresh parsley scattered over the top of a dollop of sour cream, but if you want to make it go further try it with a creamy mashed potato or a baked potato. 

Homemade dumplings are another great option - you can dip them in the sauce. You could also serve it over couscous or an ancient grain like pear barley. For an even easier option, simply serve with a chunk of crusty buttered bread.

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