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Vegan White Bean Stew Recipe
5 from 108 votes

Vegan White Bean Stew Recipe

This Vegan White Bean Stew features navy beans slowly simmered with garlic, onion, cherry tomatoes, and aromatic herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, and bay leaf. Finished with a vibrant gremolata of garlic, sea salt, olive oil, and fresh herbs, it delivers a hearty and flavorful plant-based meal. The stew offers tender beans infused with herbal depth, balanced by the bright, fresh gremolata to lift the flavors before serving.

Prep Time
1 d
Cook Time
2 hrs
Total Time
1 d 2 hrs
Course: Side Dish, Main Course, Lunch, Dinner
Cuisine: Italian, Canadian, Vegan

Ingredients

Classic Vegetarian White Beans
  • 1.5 c Navy beans soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
  • water
  • 2 Cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 c onion diced
  • 1 c cherry tomato halved
  • 1 small Sprig rosemary
  • 1 Large Sprig thyme
  • 1 teaspoon sage fresh, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ tsp black pepper fresh ground
Gremolata
  • 1 Clove garlic minced finely
  • 1 tsp sea salt coarse
  • ¼ c olive oil
  • ½ c basil finely chopped
  • ½ c chives soft herbs, finely chopped
  • ½ c parsley soft herbs, finely chopped
  • black pepper to taste
  • salt to taste

Instructions

Classic Vegetarian White Beans
    Cup of Yum
  1. Add all ingredients into a heavy bottomed pot and add water until beans are covered by about an inch.
  2. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer, put lid on and let cook approximately 2 hours, until beans are soft inside but still holding their shape. (If beans are boiling over during cooking, you can leave lid partially open or turn tempurature down a bit.) Let cool and discard bay leaf and thyme stems. When ready to serve, gently reheat and stir through salted gremolata (below). If you opt not to use the gremolata, be sure to season your beans with salt and pepper to taste.
Gremolata and Assembly
  1. Mix all ingredients except additional salt and pepper for seasoning. Right before serving, stir gremolata into hot beans and season to taste with any additional salt and pepper.
  2. This recipe is excellent on it's own, served with a little crusty bread and a simple crunchy salad or as a side dish to a larger meal. These beans also work great as a base for cassoulet or do like the Italians and top crostini with the creamy beans. These will keep 3-5 days in your fridge and you can easily double the batch if you want leftovers.