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!
Made this tonight and it was a big hit! We used dried dill (half as much), dried thyme (half as much), fresh rosemary, and we didn’t have any beans. It was amazing!! I think there will be many more dumplings in our future!
This is the best thing I’ve eaten all year! Having leftovers for bfast right now.
Thanks!
This was fantastic!!!!! Thanks so much!
Made this last night.. it was soooo delicious! Wow!
Any ideas how to make this crock-pot friendly? Hoping to bring it to a crock-potluck dinner thingy.
I made this for Christmas lunch and it was delicious. Just made it again, but I used chickpea flour instead of regular flour and it was great !! It changed the flavor a bit , but was still excellent !
Just made this for dinner on a freezing, rainy night – never cooked anything using the roux method before, but it was absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes, thank you!
Wow. Just starting to cook vegan/vegetarian, and my friend told me about your blog/site. This soup was amazing..such flavor. Thanks for providing all these recipies and info…you’re making it very easy to be vegan! (Dissapointed in some other recipies I’ve tried from different cookbooks (not yours)..many of them seemed to taste like dirt/too earthy for my taste). This stew was superb. Now I’m going to run out and get your newest cookbook! Thanks.
Just made this and it was DELICIOUS! My omnivore partner couldn’t stop eating it.
Wow! This was AMAZING. The entire family loved it. Definite keeper 🙂
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a week and I’m so glad I decided to make it for dinner tonight. Was delicious and very satisfying: perfect winter comfort food. Just realized its the first time I’ve ever made stew or dumplings and it was very easy. I halved the recipe and made a few small changes but everything turned out great: used sweet potato and turnip along with the potatoes and carrots, subbed butter beans for the navy beans and fresh parsley for the rosemary (new kitchen isn’t quite stocked yet), and used partially whole wheat flour in the dumplings.
Can’t wait to share this with my sister for lunch tomorrow, she could definitely use some healthy comfort food!
I will absolutely be making this again!
Made this tonight. It was fantastic! Used dried thyme (less, of course) and white kidney beans because that was what I had on hand. Turned out great, but next time I’ll add more carrots because they always get picked out and eaten first! Even my picky 3 year old ate every bit of it (except for the beans… sigh).
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I only had dried herbs but it was still great. Thank you, Isa!
I finally got round to making this, after a few months of it peeking out of my brain and begging to be cooked. I was not disappointed, as always, your food is divine. I never had any belief in my cooking skills until I discovered AfR by happy accident on amazon. I never felt I could be vegan either. How you proved me wrong! My husband was firmly carnivorous until I started making your food, and now he usually eats entirely vegan meals or has them with some meat (for him it’s a massive step, he never ate veg or even carbs and so was wasting away on an atkins type existence)
So, I thank you!
I actually used seitan instead of the beans. Gave it the perfect texture of chicken and dumplings. Plus, I didn’t have fresh dill so I used chopped cilantro. Fabulous recipe. Thanks so much for sharing
Perfectly delicious! Can’t wait to make it for omnivore friends who don’t believe dinner is complete without flesh. This stew will change their mind!
I made this tonight and my whole family ( meat eaters, might I add ) wanted to know what I was cooking because it smelled delicious! Awesome recipe! Thank you!
I made this tonight. It was incredibly tasty, and filling enough for the boyfriend (a difficult feat with vegan fare). More importantly, it was not nearly as much work as I had anticipated. We are not strictly vegetarian, just healthy. Nonetheless, this recipe is a winner for me.
I used dried dill with no issues. While I would typically reduce the amount of dried herb, mine was a bit old so I used the full two tablespoons and loved the flavor. Using a leveled tablespoon measure to scoop out and shape my dumplings yielded twenty-one. They were still a bit larger than I want to put in my mouth in one bite, but were cooked perfectly at the prescribed fourteen minutes.
Dumplings are the love of my life, and have been sadly absent for many years. First there were the years I tried to make them whole wheat, which never worked despite many many tries. Then I became vegan just a year ago, and I lost all hope for dumplings. My cooking has been fine but a little sad lately, and making this dish this really got me excited about cooking again in a way I haven’t been since my first few months of being vegan. Thanks, Isa, for reuniting me with my beloved dumplings! Oh, and this was absolutely delicious — first time in a while that Omni Boy hasn’t added cheese or meat to something I made.
made this last night and it was FANSTASTIC! thank you! this is a great one for nay-saying non-vegans too, everyone loves it. easy recipe, though my stew didn’t thicken up till the very end (after i added dumplings) which caused me to question myself as i worked along. was also a startled by the size of the dumplings when i opened the pot at the end (forgot about the magical power of baking powder). will make this again.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. That is all.
You have no idea how long I’ve been trying to find a chicken n dumplings equivalent in the vegetarian world. This was spot fucking on.
Just made this with a few substitutions for my diet and things I didn’t have. Still turned out absolutely wonderfully. What a great flavour packed warming wonder. Thank you so much!
Made today with whole wheat flour. If you’re used to whole wheat flour, and perhaps add an additional tblspoon of milk to the dumpling dough, this should be no problem. If you’re not used to whole wheat flour, this recipe is not the place to try it first. Kidlet loved it, and I added some chopped baby bellas for a little meaty texture. Thanks for another great one Isa!
So good. Tasted exactly like I imagined & wanted it. I made it gluten-free and it was nom nom nom.
Isa, why you so awesome? You have so much awesome! Thank you for sharing it with us.
This was soooo good! I know it is supposed to be “winter food” but it tastes delicious even in April…sooo good!
Made this today for my vegan personal chef client…..it had a lovely flavor. Added frozen peas and some lemon juice to brighten it up and added chives to the dumpling mix to give it a light onion flavor and color . The dumplings were very dense (I used soy milk), but then I can’t expect it to have the same fluffy”ness” as a dumpling made with buttermilk and eggs. 🙂 Great stew, will make again.
This is my first time on your site and I am really excited to try your recipes! Tonight I made this stew and it turned out wonderful. Thick, hearty and very satisfying. I used white whole wheat flour and great northern beans, otherwise, kept everything else the same. Delicious! Although I think the stew would be even better withOUT the dumplings. Next time I make this, I will do without them and add a bit more dill. Thank you =)
We finally made this, and our Italian host mother loved it too!
I made this today, and I must say, it was excellent. I used dried herbs and added mushrooms, zucchini, and cauliflower. Next time, though, I might use less rosemary in the dumplings. Or chives instead.
Thank-you so very much. ^_^
Made this last night and the only sound you could hear was spoons clacking on bowls. Kids even asked for seconds! Definite keeper!
OMG. This was amazing. I didn’t have soy or almond milk so I used vegetable broth instead, and the dumplings still came out good.
Thanks Isa!
BEST. STEW. EVER.
End of story!
Truly an amazing, flavorful dish. Love the dumplings. It came out great using dried dill and fresh rosemary.
Can I substitute the all purpose flour with an alternative flour such as coconut flour? Please let me know! Thank you so much!
Looks a good recipe. Great comfort food. Interesting with the sweet paprika and olive oil.
If anyone fancies trying a traditional British vegan stew and dumplings check out http://www.veganrecipes4u.com/stew_dumplings.html
i have made this twice, and both times doubled or tripled the paprika. i also added cauliflower to this and it was a great addition. i found fresh rosemary was also better for the dumplings. But overall, i love this recipe and will definitely make it again and again. Thank you!!
best stew I have made or eaten in a LONG time
This is the best stew I have ever tasted! The dumplings remind me so much of the ones that my grandmother used to make with chicken and dumplings only the rosemary makes them so much more tasty. Thank you for this! I will be making it all Fall and Winter 🙂
This is such a wonderfully tasty, easy and quick recipe. Especially now that it is officially soup weather!
I’ve made this 4 or 5 times since I discovered the recipe a couple months ago, and it is so good. Totally hits the spot for my great grandma’s chicken and dumplings. The only thing I really do different is whisk some cornstarch in some soy milk and add it in the end to thicken it up (hers was always gravy-ish). I’ve also replaced the onions with leeks when I had some that I needed to use up, still delicious. Thank you for this recipe!
I love this recipe and have made it a thousand times! Would it be ok to use rice milk if I’m all out of Almond/Soy?
Yep!
Fantastic recipe – husband approved. The dumplings turned out perfectly!
Isa, since changing to a ‘mostly’ vegan diet a year ago your cookbook ‘Veganomicon’ has been my most used reference. Your recipes are excellent and almost always turn out perfectly with a great combination of flavors.
Thanks for your creativity and easy to follow instructions!
Aw, thanks for letting me know! Glad you’re having fun with it.
I’ve made this twice now and it has come out amazingly both times. I add a bag of frozen peas at the same time as the dumpling dough for some extra green. I just heated up some leftovers in the office microwave and the smell made everyone hungry.
I have made this stew twice now. I add the beans in when I put the celery and potatoes in and use all fresh herbs and O.M.G.. I believe I could eat it Every. Day. Really. It is one of the best soup/stew recipes I have ever made, Vegan or Not. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I brought the leftovers for lunch today and it is all I can think about.
Soo yummy ! I made a few modifications: pasilla pepper (1/2) instead of onion and garlic, chard stems for celery stalks, 1/4 c. Red lentil in place of white beans. Also added fresh parsley. Served over finely chopped chard leaves (steams in the bowl- pretty and great texture)!
Was delicious ! Used what I had on hand and enjoyed it. My sweetie loved it and said , ” you made a happy, cozy dinner.”
Thank you for the inspiration !!! 🙂