(44 votes, average: 3.68 out of 5)
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This hearty vegetarian Irish stew is full of flavor and super easy to make in the slow cooker or on the stovetop. Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or any cold winter night!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 3 large celery stalks, diced (about 2 cups)
- 1 large yellow onion, diced (about 2 cups)
- 10 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (can sub gluten-free flour, corn starch, or arrowroot powder, as needed)
- 1 14.9-oz. can of Guinness®
- 6 small or 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 3 1/4 cups)
- 3 small or 2 medium-large turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 1 1/2 cups green, brown or black lentils, rinsed (I used green)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- Optional: fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
For the slow cooker:
- Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add celery and onions and cook until onions are translucent and celery is soft, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker.
- Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and add mushrooms in a single layer. Let sauté until lightly browned without disturbing, about 5 minutes. Flip mushrooms over and let sauté until tender and browned, another 5-7 minutes.
- Add flour to mushrooms and stir to coat. Let cook until flour begins to lightly brown, about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in the Guinness and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer mushrooms and liquid to the slow cooker.
- Add remaining ingredients: potatoes, turnips, carrots, lentils, tomato paste, mustard, bay leaves, paprika, sugar, salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Pour in vegetable broth and stir ingredients.
- Cover slow cooker and let cook for 8-9 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high. Remove bay leaves.
- Optional: Garnish with parsley.
Notes
For the stovetop, follow these instructions:
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and add onion, celery and mushrooms. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add flour to vegetables, stir to coat and let cook for a few minutes, until the bottom of the pot begins to brown.
- Pour in the Guinness and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are tender, about one hour.
Other Notes:
- It can be tempting to want to throw all the ingredients into the slow cooker instead of sautéing some of the ingredients first. If you want to save time and another pan, you can do this. However, I tested it both ways and found that sautéing the onions, celery and mushrooms first helped to add more flavor to the stew and I think it’s worth the extra step. But it’s helpful to know if you’re strapped for time, you can just dump it all in the slow cooker.
- You can store this stew in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Serve with my whole wheat Irish soda bread or my Irish soda bread muffins! This would also be perfect with a side of my vegan cauliflower colcannon.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 75 minutes
- Category: Stew
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Irish
