This vegan Butter Bean Stew is made with just a few wholesome ingredients. It takes less than 30 minutes to make but is so tasty, filling, and satisfying. Serve on its own or over rice for a heartier meal.
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Vegan Butter Bean Stew
This butterbean stew is naturally vegan without any of the typical vegan meat substitutes. It has less than 10 ingredients and they're all "clean" and healthy whole food ingredients.
But the best part is that this stew doesn't taste like health food. It has a nice depth of flavor thanks to smoky cumin and chili powder and aromatic onion and garlic. It has a tangy but light broth, and best of all—it is loaded with creamy soft butter beans.
This stew is easy to make—just sauté your onion and garlic with the spices, add the beans and diced tomatoes, and stir in some spinach and herbs. DONE! Less than 20 minutes of cook time.
More vegan stews to try: Tofu and Black Eyed Pea Stew
Butter beans vs lima beans
Butter beans are not the same as lima beans, taste-wise! Lima beans (as we are used to them) are firmer, starchier, and smaller than butter beans. Butter beans are larger, more tender, and—like their name suggests—buttery soft and creamy in texture. They are a large white bean.
If you're on the fence about trying this because you are not a fan of lima beans, I really recommend trying this stew! And be sure to also give my butter bean hummus a try.
If you want, you can use great northern beans or cannellini beans in this stew, but I really love how the large butter beans really stand out here.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or cooking oil of your choice)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 15-oz can butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes (I like to use the fire roasted kind for extra flavor)
- 2-3 cups baby spinach (or add as much as you like to add more nutrients! The spinach wilts an almost "melts" away into the stew)
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves (or use fresh parsley), divided
- salt, to taste
More vegan white bean recipes: White Bean Butternut Squash Mash
Equipment
- Soup pot or large pan with high sides
- Cutting board, knives
- Measuring spoons
More vegan stews to try: Vegan Cassoulet
Instructions
Preheat your pan over medium heat, then add the olive oil. Add the diced onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is softened and starts to turn golden brown. Don't let it burn.
Add the minced garlic, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add the diced tomatoes with the juices and the butter beans (drained). Stir and bring to a gentle boil.
Remove from heat and stir in the spinach and half the cilantro leaves until the spinach wilts. Carefully taste the broth and add salt, to taste (start with ¼ teaspoon and add more as needed).
Serve hot, garnishing with fresh cilantro leaves.
Recipe variations and add-ins
→ Try making it spicy! Use a spicy chili powder, use diced tomatoes with chilies, or hot paprika.
→ If it's too acidic and you can't handle straight up diced tomatoes, try adding a pinch of baking soda and/or a pinch of sugar. The baking soda neutralizes the acid (helps prevent heartburn), and the sugar makes the sauce a little sweeter.
→ Thicken the broth by adding a tablespoon of tomato paste.
→ Turn it into a soup! Try adding 1-2 cups of broth and serve this like a soup. Make sure your broth is seasoned well, otherwise this will be bland.
→ Add chopped kale instead of baby spinach. Stir the kale in along with the tomatoes and beans because it needs more time to cook than spinach.
→ Add a protein: Crisp up some cubed tofu or add soy curls to the stew.
What to serve with butter bean stew
This stew makes a great meal when spooned over rice or brown rice. It has a nice sauce that gives rice flavor, and the rice makes it a more complete meal.
Instead of rice, try spooning this stew over another grain, such as cooked bulgur wheat or quinoa.
Enjoy it as a soup and make some crusty bread or vegan garlic bread by brushing olive oil and diced garlic with a pinch of salt over a baguette.
Since this stew has spinach, tomatoes, onion, and beans, I typically don't make a salad or a side vegetable to go along with this, but that's definitely an option too.
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Recipe
Butter Bean Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 15 oz can butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes, fire-roasted if can find those
- 2-3 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves, or parsley, divided
- salt, to taste
Special equipment
- Soup pot or pan with high sides
Instructions
- Preheat your pan over medium heat, then add the olive oil. Add the diced onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is softened and starts to turn golden brown. Don't let it burn.
- Add the mince garlic, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the diced tomatoes (with the juices) and the butter beans (drained). Stir and bring to a gentle boil.
- Remove from heat and stir in the spinach and half the cilantro leaves until the spinach wilts. Carefully taste the broth and add salt, to taste (start with ¼ teaspoon and add more as needed).
- Serve hot, garnishing with fresh cilantro leaves.
ReaderRita
This is heavenly. When I first read the recipe, I thought that with the chili powder, tomatoes, beans and cumin that it would too closely resemble chili; I was SO wrong. The incredible flavor this combo creates is waaaaaay more than just the sum of its parts. It is rich and savory and satisfying in the best way. It is now part of our regular dinner rotation. Everyone loves this dish!
The only thing I did slightly differently is that we have someone who is sensitive (not allergic) to onions (but not garlic- go figure!), so after chopping the onions, I rinsed them in cold water and let them drain in a colander, then added them as usual. All of the flavor, but none of the “sting”. Didn’t need any other alterations- it was great as-is.
(But I do agree with what commenter Marie said about adding carrots to tomato dishes instead of sugar- have done that forever and it works every time- plus- it’s more veggies!)
I’ve already sent two friends here for this recipe- it’s so yummy!
Marie
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I learned a little tidbit years ago to help people with acidity of tomatoes. Just add some grated carrot or carrot juice. It's healthy and does the job. That's why carrot can be seen in some store tomato sauces. I'm thankful I do not have problems with that or gluten intolerance. Thank you for all you do to help people with recipes to be vegan/vegetarian.
Kate
Enjoy this recipe as much as we did!