Serves 6 to 8
Time: 1 hour
I’m dedicating this month to comfort food recipes to help get you (and me) through the winter. Try as I might to traipse around in a hoodie all year round, I have to come to terms with the reality: winter is here. And that means lots of time warming up indoors. Maybe someday I’ll have a fireplace, but for now the heat of the stove gets me through.
So let’s kick things off with a comfort classic! You can think of it as a play on vegan chicken and dumplings or just take it for what it is — a soul-satisfying, thick and hearty stew with chunky potatoes and carrot, creamy white beans, all laced through and through with dilly yumminess. The dumplings soak up all that goodness on the outside, while staying deliciously doughy in the center.
The funnest part is spooning in the squashy squishy dumpling dough only to reveal beautifully firm and plump dumplings when you lift the lid minutes later. Makes you feel like a kitchen god. Or maybe that’s the cabin fever setting in.
Recipe Notes:
~If your baby carrots are the plump kind, then slice them in half on a diagonal. If they’re thin, don’t bother. And if you’d like to use adult-sized carrots, peel and slice them in 1/4 inch diagonal pieces.
~I use a Le Creuset Dutch oven for this. You don’t need to use cast iron, but the wider the pot the better, because you need lots of surface area to make the roux and cook the biscuits later. If you don’t have a wide pot, then using a large, deep pan will work, too.
For the stew:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 medium sized sweet onion (like Vidalia or Walla Walla), quartered and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups vegetable broth, at room temperature
2 stalks celery, tops removed, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 pounds potato, in 3/4 inch chunks (peel if they’re russets)
1 cup baby carrots (see note)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
Fresh black pepper
1 15 oz can navy beans, rinsed and drained (about 1 1/2 cups)
For the dumplings:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoons dried rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or soy)
2 tablespoons olive oil
First we’re going to make a roux, but it has a little less fat than a traditional roux, which means it doesn’t get as goopy. If you’d like a more traditional roux, just add extra oil.
Preheat a large, heavy bottom pot over medium-low heat.
Add the oil and sprinkle in the flour. Use a wooden spatula to toss the flour in the oil, and stir pretty consistently for 3 to 4 minutes, until the flour is clumpy and toasty.
Add the onion and salt, and toss to coat the onions completely in the flour mixture. As the onions release moisture, they will coat more and more. Cook this way for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and stir for 30 more seconds or so.
Stream in the vegetable broth, whisking constantly to prevent clumping. Add the celery, potatoes, carrot, dill, thyme, paprika and black pepper, then turn the heat up and cover to bring to a boil. Keep a close eye and stir often, so that it doesn’t clump or boil over.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stew is nicely thickened and the potatoes and carrots are tender.
In the meantime, prepare the dumplings.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the rosemary. Make a well in the center and add the milk and olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to mix together until a wet dough forms.
When the stew is ready, mix in the beans and plop dough right on top of the stew in spoonfuls. You should get about 14 dumplings. Cover the pot tightly and cook for about 14 more minutes. The dumplings should be nice and firm. Use your ladle to dunk them into the stew to coat.
Ladle stew into bowls, topped with dumplings. And serve!
I made this for the 2nd time tonight, it is sooooo good! This is the most delicious stew I can think of. It is absolutely perfect! The dill, thyme, and rosemary go so well together!!!
Been meaning to make this for ages, and finally got around to it. The house smells amazing, and the dumplings were perfect. I *do* feel like a kitchen goddess! Thanks, Isa!
This was delicious! I used water, being out of broth, and it turned out very tasty. I also added a couple little zucchini with the potatoes and substituted 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for white in the dumplings. This will be a regular on my table from now on!
This hearty, fragrant stew is a perfect way to celebrate all that’s good.
I made this for my partner’s birthday last January. Instead of making her a birthday cake, I put a candle in one of the dumplings when I bowled it up. She loved it, and we’re doing it again this year.
Thanks for helping us start a delicious tradition.
Absolutely delicious – carnivore/cheesivore boyfriend-approved! THANK YOU!
I made this for a family dinner with my in-laws (who are not vegan) and served it with a crusty rye bread. 10 minutes into dinner, I looked around the table and everyone’s bowls were empty. This was a sure hit. I used dry herbs instead of fresh and it was still amazingly delicious.
Just made this again last night and each time it is just amazing! Thanks so much for this recipe. I’ll be posting a link on my site soon, hope you don’t mind. Genki Kitty
Isa Chandra, you rock! We made this soup tonight and it was sooo good. It’s our new go to comfort soup. Who needs chicken!
Looks like a nice meal ! 🙂
I made this last night — SO AMAZINGLY GOOD! One of my favorite recipes ever! I’m usually not a big fan of dill, but this stew was so good! I had leftovers and I was worried the dumplings would get soggy, but they didn’t! Such a great recipe – thanks!
I just made this and am currently eating it 🙂 It’s so delicious i felt the need to write a comment saying so mid-feast Yuuuuuuum 😀 (I used whole-meal flour in the dumplings to make it a little extra wholesome and added some turnips and kholrabi) This will definitely become one of my staples
This recipe is AMAZING… and so filling! My housemates tried it and said, “This is so good! It must be an Isa recipe!” Yup.
This is such a yummy and cheap recipe. I made a double batch and it lasted for almost a week. Thank you, Isa!
Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe! All three of my kids gave it a big thumbs up and that never happens. Inexpensive, simple ingredients and my kids are asking me to make it again. Amazing!!!
This turned out so good. I think next time I’ll chop the rosemary in my mini food processor because it makes such a mess. Other than that it was absolutely perfect! The southern homesick girl in me needed this. Thanks so much!
sensational recipe. glad i tried it thanks!
Very tasty & easy to make. I added a dash or two of turmeric for color.
i’m making this right now, surprising the man when he gets home from work. fingers crossed he likes it! I’ve made many of these recipes, they’re all so good!
Made this and am currently moaning after every bite! The rosemary is a PERFECT touch to the dumplings!
Made this tonight for lunches this week and it’s great!!!
made this last night….AMAZING! i was a little nervous that it wasn’t getting thick enough but when i added the dumplings it was great! also, if you are nervous about making the dumplings (i was!) don’t be!!! they are super easy.
thanks again for another awesome recipe!!!
OH. Dear!!! Tonight was our first chilly night in the Bay Area and I made this for the first time!! Pure heaven!!! As usual, the only problem was that I didn’t double the recipe!! There was only enough left over for the kids’ lunches but none for me 🙂
Incredible stew!! This is my second time to make it and its absolutely AMAZING!! For vegan – this is a huge winner. Thx so much for the recipe! My husband and I love this.
I’m making this to take to Thanksgiving dinner this year. Not a typical Thanksgiving dish, but don’t care. I made it last winter — it will hold up.
I totally made this tonight and it was amazing! I added some squash and turnip but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. It was super easy to follow and super delicious to eat. My fiancé who isn’t a vegan absolutely loved it as well 🙂
Just made this for a one pot Thanksgiving dinner! Love it!
Made this recipe with a few variations and it was so good and satisfying–perfect for a snowy winter day. Instead of making a roux, I added 1/2 c. red lentils to the broth to thicken it. I omitted the white beans (cause I didn’t have any) and used soy curls, rehydrated and sauteed a bit with soy sauce, adobo and gravy master. I’m sad to say there will not be any leftovers.
I used chickpea flour and my dumplings fell apart. What did i do wrong?
One of my favorites! A family mainstay and a go to for new moms, shut ins,etc. just love this stew! Easy to make, stick to your ribs, home style cooking. Voracious meat eaters never even ask except for seconds,
This stuff if the best comfort food ever, and the best chicken soup substitute I have tried so far. In fact I think this is BETTER than the chicken soups I remember and it gets even tastier the next day. My non-vegan boyfriend finally finished his supper : -)
These were AMAZING!!!
awesome dinner!
I stole and slightly adulterated the dumpling aspect of this recipe because I made a butternut squash soup and felt like it needed dumplings. (I don’t feel that bad because I have almost every cookbook these ladies have ever written…) I changed the spices a bit, thyme and dill, and crazy as it may sound, added nutritional yeast flakes and pepper to the mix. They’re really good! Thanks very much.
My husband and I loved this stew! He went back for seconds!
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while now and finally had a chance to make it. It was everything I imagined it would be! I followed the recipe exactly except I used dried herbs (1tsp dried to 1 Tbsp fresh). I messed up the roux but it still turned out great. Thank you so much for such a good recipe!
I made my dumplings with 1/2 chickpea flour and 1/2 brown rice flour.I also thickened my stew with a chickpea flour/water slurry .Delicious.Thank you very much!
I love this stew… this was my fifth time making it. I put a twist to it by adding soy curls and corn. I was going for a faux chicken soup.
Thank you
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Made this last night. Nom nom good. Thank you!
My son likes to make this when I ask him to do dinner. Great dish!