Vegetarian Stew Recipe with Beans and Rice
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.This Vegetarian Stew recipe with beans and rice is healthy and hearty. It’s a budget-friendly, family-friendly, plant-based meal that the whole family will enjoy!
This was one of the first recipes I made when I was just starting to learn how to cook.
I remember loving its simplicity and after it was a success, I definitely gained more confidence in the kitchen! Since I first tried this recipe, I have updated it with some modifications that are healthier and even more flavorful than the original.
The things I love about this meal are:
- It doesn’t take more than 20-30 minutes and that includes cooking time
- It has tons of anti-oxidant rich veggies and tons of flavor
- It is a complete protein thanks to the brown rice + beans, so it fills you up for a long time!
For all of those first-time cooks out there, this is the recipe for you! You really can’t mess it up – I promise 🙂
Oh and it’s family-friendly too. My husband and kids loved it so much they went back for seconds, and then we had it for leftovers the next day as a topping for nachos. Yum!
Tools and Equipment You’ll Need For This Recipe
How To Make Vegetarian Bean Stew – Step By Step
Step 1: Cook rice according to package directions, keep warm, set aside. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the bell pepper and red onion in the olive oil, until the onion is cooked (about 5 min). Add tomatoes at the end and cook for an additional minute.
Step 2: Add black beans, red kidney beans, tomato sauce, salsa; stir to combine.
Step 3: Add remaining ingredients, stir to combine and simmer for at least 10 minutes — note: you can simmer it for longer on low heat, it’ll just bring the flavors together even more!
Step 4: Serve with brown rice and maybe some chips on the side.
What makes this Vegetarian Stew Recipe healthy?
- Plant-Protein: This stew has 17 grams of plant protein per serving. Since this stew pairs rice and beans together it makes for a complete protein source.
- High in Fiber: Loaded with fiber this stew has 18 grams of fiber. The daily recommended fiber is 25 grams, so you’re nearly hitting your recommended fiber in one serving of this stew.
- High in Vitamins and Nutrients: With tomatoes, corn, peppers, and onions this stew is loaded with vitamins and nutrients. Tomatoes are high in vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K. Peppers are high in antioxidants, and vitamin C.
Will kids enjoy this Vegetarian Stew Recipe?
Kids will love this stew. It’s full of kid friendly flavors with the black beans, corn and tomatoes. Use a mild salsa to keep the spices kid friendly. Reduce or exclude the cayenne pepper to reduce the heat.
How long does vegetarian stew last?
Store this stew in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. If you’d like to freeze this stew transfer to an air tight container or a freezer bag. This stew will last 2-3 months in the freezer when stored properly.
How do I make my stew thicker?
If you’d like an even thicker stew mix 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 1 tablespoon of water to create a paste. Stir the paste into the stew to thicken the broth.
What do you serve with this Vegetarian Stew recipe?
- Serve over brown rice or this 4 ingredient cilantro lime rice.
- Add a few tortilla chips for scooping.
- Pair with a fresh green salad.
- Add diced avocado or guacamole as a topping
- Shredded Mexican cheese would work well as a topping
- Add diced cilantro for a topping
Top Tips For Making this Vegetarian Stew Recipe
- Use prepared salsa.
- The longer you simmer the stew, the more flavorful it becomes.
- Use prepared brown rice to save time.
- If you don’t have brown rice, you can use any whole grain like: quinoa, millet, farro, barley, or wild rice
- For some additional fiber, antioxidants and veggies, add 6oz chopped baby spinach to this dish (you can add it at the same step you add the beans.
- If you’re making this for kids, reduce or omit the cayenne and choose a mild salsa.
- Feel free to add toppings like: diced avocado or guacamole, Mexican shredded cheese, diced cilantro, crushed tortilla chips, diced tomatoes.
More Vegetarian Stews!
- Spicy Tomato, White Bean and Vegetable Stew
- Kale And Black Bean Soup
- Stewed Red Beans
- Indian Chickpea and Potato Stew
- Cauliflower and Sweet Potato with Lentil Stew
If you have tried this Vegetarian Bean Stew recipe, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!
Vegetarian Stew Recipe with Beans and Rice
This Vegetarian Stew recipe with beans and rice is healthy and hearty. It's a budget-friendly, family-friendly, plant-based meal that the whole family will enjoy!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 342.5kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked brown rice (or any whole grain like quinoa, millet, etc.)
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow, red, or orange bell pepper diced
- 1 cup red onion diced
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- 15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained 1 can
- 15 oz red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 1 can
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 8 oz tomato sauce 1 can
- 1 cup prepared salsa
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper more or less to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning more to taste
- 6 oz baby spinach (optional)
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions, keep warm, set aside
- Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the bell pepper and red onion in the olive oil, until the onion is cooked (about 5 min); add tomatoes at the end and cook for 1 min.
- Add black beans, red kidney beans, tomato sauce, salsa, corn; stir to combine thoroughly. (If using baby spinach, add it here). Add remaining ingredients (all spices); stir to combine; simmer for 10 minutes (or as long as you like – the longer it simmers, the longer the flavors have to blend together).
- Serve with brown rice and maybe some chips on the side.
Notes
Top Tips For Making this Vegetarian Stew Recipe
- Use prepared salsa.
- The longer you simmer the stew, the more flavorful it becomes.
- Use prepared brown rice to save time.
- If you don’t have brown rice, you can use any whole grain like: quinoa, millet, farro, barley, or wild rice
- For some additional fiber, antioxidants and veggies, add 6oz chopped baby spinach to this dish (you can add it at the same step you add the beans.
- If you’re making this for kids, reduce or omit the cayenne and choose a mild salsa.
- Feel free to add toppings like: diced avocado or guacamole, Mexican shredded cheese, diced cilantro, crushed tortilla chips, diced tomatoes.
Nutrition
Calories: 342.5kcal | Carbohydrates: 65.4g | Protein: 17.2g | Fat: 3.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.6g | Sodium: 1285mg | Potassium: 1194mg | Fiber: 18.2g | Sugar: 9.9g
Although I like fresh tomatoes and I can tolerate fresh diced tomatoes in a soup or stew, I’m not a fan of tomato sauce in any dishes. Is there something I can substitute for the tomato sauce. I’m not a vegetarian so if it’s something meat/poultry based, I’m fine with that choice. Thanks for any help you can offer. Other than this sticking point for me it looks delicious.
Hi Sandy! If you like fresh tomatoes, I think you can substitute fresh diced tomatoes instead of the tomato sauce in this recipe! Let me know how it turns out!
What a healthy delicious recipe!! This looks so good! I love the variety in the stew as well as all of those different textures. Vibrant colours that look fun too, well done.
Thanks so much Adrianne!! I can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you!
What a vibrant dish! I love a hearty and tasty stew.
Me too!! This is one of my favs!
WOW! Your recipe has come up at the right time: I am kind of tired of beef stew… Your vegetarian stew seems a great alternative 🙂 Thanks.
This really is a great alternative to a meat-based stew – I promise it will keep even the meat eaters satisfied because it is so hearty and flavorful!
Love this version of stew. So colorful and flavorful. Yum!
Yay!! Thanks so much!!
Vegetarian and bean stew is my favorite vegetarian dish. It’s so packed with flavors and I totally never miss the meat. Adding rice is a smart move to make it even more filling.
Mine too!! And yes, adding the rice is great because not only does it add wonderful texture, it also helps to make the meal a complete protein!
Great recipe, I’ll definitely have to try this! I like and use Lundberg brown rice, it’s even organic! I found the biggest selection from OrganicMarketOnline.com!
Thanks for the tip Gina! I’m sure you will love this recipe!
how would you do this if you were doing it in a slow cooker and would you add any more liquid?
Hi Candice! I don’t think you’d need much more liquid cooking this in a slow cooker. I’d just put it on the lowest setting and let it simmer for a long time. Maybe check on it once in a while and if you see it getting dry, add a bit more liquid – but it should be ok. Let me know how it turns out!
You have some great recipe ideas for a healthy dinner. thank you.
Thank you so much Linda! Enjoy! 🙂
This looks like a fantastic, delicious, and healthy food to fuel up before a good run or workout! I make a black bean soup with veggies that is similar, but I like the addition of the rice here. I’ll be trying it out soon! Thanks!
Yes it is definitely a great source of energy before a workout! The rice makes it a complete protein — I bet if you added some rice to your black bean soup it would make it even heartier 🙂 Let me know how this recipe turns out for you – I’m sure you will love it!
Hi Anjali,
I followed your recipe to do this dish. It tastes great. My kids love it . Thank you. The only thing I change is I used white rice instead of brown rice. I never bought brown rice. What is the different between white rice and brown rice?
Oh great!! I’m so happy you and your kids liked this dish! So basically, brown rice is the less-processed form (the unmilled form) of rice. It has a mild nutty flavor, and is a little more chewy and much more nutritious than white rice. I’d highly recommend trying it if you haven’t before!
The main difference between brown and white rice are in the processing and nutritional content. When only the outermost layer of a grain of rice (the husk) is removed, brown rice is produced. To produce white rice, the next layers underneath the husk (the bran layer and the germ) are removed, leaving mostly the starchy endosperm. During this process, key nutrients in brown rice like fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, fatty acids, etc. are lost in their white rice counterparts. Sometimes white rice is enriched to “get back” some of the vitamins, but you won’t get back the fiber and magnesium that’s in brown rice. Essentially — brown rice is white rice’s more healthy cousin! It has more fiber and nutrients and is more of a “whole grain.” You can buy cooked brown rice in the frozen section that you can heat up in under 5 minutes to save on time, otherwise brown rice takes about 30 min-1 hour to cook simmering on the stove compared to white rice. Hope that helps!
Making this over the weekend…can’t wait to try it out. Looks delish
Thanks Debbie! Let me know how this recipe turns out for you!
This looks great, I love the addition of brown rice to the chili!
Glad you like it! And yes – the brown rice gives a nice “hearty” base to the chili 🙂 Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!