Nourishing Butter Bean Stew

This easy butter bean stew is such a nourishing dinner to cozy up to on chilly nights. It’s packed with vegetables, ready in 30 minutes and great for batch cooking!

There’s something soo comforting about snuggling up to a big bowl of stew with crusty bread on a cold winter night.

This butter bean stew is packed with nourishing vegetables, naturally vegan and ready in just 30 minutes! Plus, it’s full of Mediterranean flavours and super versatile too. The secret to making speedy healthy meals are canned beans. Everything is added to one pot, simmered until tender then served. So easy!

Ingredients you’ll need:

All you need to make this butter bean stew recipe are 7 simple, healthy ingredients:

• Onion: any kind of onion will work well but I prefer the flavour of brown onions for the sauce.
• Garlic: Four cloves are great, but feel free to use more or less if preferred.
• Vegetables: You’ll need carrots, zucchini and red potatoes for this mediterianan stew. I leave the skin on and roughly chop them.
• Canned butter beans: also called Lima beans. A cheap, nutritious and delicious source of protein!
• Canned diced tomatoes: to make a rich tomatoey sauce.
• Seasonings: Sweet paprika, fresh thyme + salt are essential for flavour.
• Rice: I like arborio rice here but any type of short grain rice will work!
• Liquids: I use a vegetable stock but chicken stock or even water will do the trick.
• Greens: I used silverbeet (Swiss chard) here but frozen chopped spinach, fresh spinach or kale are all great choices.
• Olive oil

How to make butter bean stew

Onions: Heat the olive oil in a large heavy based pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and potatoes.

Veggies: Add the carrots and potatoes and sauté for an additional 3-4 minutes. Then, add the zucchini, garlic, butter beans, tomatoes, paprika, thyme, salt, uncooked rice, and stock.

Cook: Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer on low for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring the stew every 5 minutes or so to prevent anything from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Thyme stems: Remove and discard the woody thyme stems.

Greens: Stir in the silverbeet then remove from heat and serve.

Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and parley, and enjoy with crusty bread.

Tips ans variations

• Spicy: If you’d like the stew to have a bit of a kick, you can add a chopped red or green chilli with the carrots and potatoes.
• Creamy: to make a creamy butter bean stew, replace 1 cup of the stock with 1 cup of cream (low fat dairy, coconut cream or cashew cream.
• Potato size: chop the potatoes roughly the same size to ensure they all cook evenly at the same time and dont overcook/ go mushy. 
• Different greens: If you’re not fond of silverbeet (Swiss chard) then you can easily swap it for kale, baby leaf spinach, English spinach or a bag of frozen chopped spinach.
• Type of potatoes: feel free to use sweet potatoes or baby potatoes instead of red potatoes. You will need to adjust the cooking time if you do though.
• Other beans: cannellini beans, borlotti beans or kidney beans will work really well too.

Storing leftovers

This butter bean stew will keep well in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat it in the microwave or on the stove- add a dash of water if the sauce looks too thick.

Other easy vegan recipes

Hearty Lentil Quinoa Soup

One Pot Vegan Orzo

Peanut Butter Chickpea Curry

15-Minute Peanut Chickpea Stir Fry

If you try this butter bean stew recipe or have a question, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.

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