Creamy three bean stew
Creamy three bean stew – healthy comfort food! The stew is totally vegetarian, but is still really high in protein, and the sauce is really rich and creamy.
As you may have noticed, I’m all about the winter warmers at the moment – and it’s technically not even winter yet! Spicy curries, hearty soups, comforting bakes… anything that means we can avoid turning the heating on until November 1st (which is the arbitrary goal we’ve set ourselves, perhaps stupidly – thank goodness for cosy socks). This creamy three bean soup is another winner.
This three bean stew has a rich, thick, creamy sauce (swoooon), and it’s packed with veggies and beans – three kinds, in case you couldn’t have guessed. As I seem to have said many times lately, it’s like comfort food made healthy. This type of meal is going to see me through til March.
One of the best things about this recipe is that it’s endlessly adaptable. If I’m honest, I had absolutely zero desire to leave the house this morning (I would happily live as a hermit if I didn’t have such lovely friends and family to see), so I made this three bean stew entirely from ingredients I already had in the house. Who doesn’t already have a cupboard full of random tins of beans? And a fridge full of veggies that could do with being used up? Just chuck ’em all in, the more the merrier.
I used mushrooms, courgette and carrots in my three bean stew, but you could use whatever you have on hand. You can also add your own combination of herbs and spices, use different kinds of beans, whatever you fancy. I also used a tin of tomato soup, just to make everything even richer and creamier (…and because I had a tin in the cupboard…) but you could use passata instead if you prefer. Serve it with garlic bread, mashed potato, salad – the world’s your (vegetarian) oyster.
As long as you end up with an amazing bowlful of creamy three bean stew, you’ve done well.
Creamy three bean stew
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 onion, sliced or diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium courgette (zucchini), diced
- 4 medium mushrooms, diced
- 400 g tin cannellini beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 400 g tin black beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 400 g tin kidney beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 400 g tinned tomatoes (~ 1⅓ cups)
- 400 g tin cream of tomato soup (~ 1 1/3 cups)
- 150 ml water (~ 1/2 cup)
- 1 vegetable stock cube, crumbled
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Small bunch fresh parsley, chopped
- 3 tbsp creme fraiche or cream cheese (I used half fat)
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan, and add the diced onion and carrot. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion has softened slightly. Add the garlic, courgette and mushrooms, and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the vegetables are fairly soft.
- Add the three tins of beans, tin of tomatoes, tomato soup, water and crumbled stock cube. Also add the oregano, and season to taste. Bring to a simmer. and cook for around 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced to produce a thick sauce. Add the parsley and creme fraiche, mix to combine, and serve warm.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/3 of the recipe.
I always like to look at member recipes the give me a good idea
Can’t wait to make this thanks
I found this about a year ago and it’s one of my favorite cold weather stews. Its hearty and filling but doesn’t leave you feeling weighed down. My family loves it so I make a double recipe and we have plenty of leftovers. This stew freezes and reheats well.
Thanks for the lovely feedback Tom! :)
Oooo this was amazing, I slow cooked mine over 3 hours and had it with sweet potato mash. As well as tinned tomatoes I put in a few fresh tomatoes that I had leftover. Yum yum 😋
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
This was so so good! As a single guy, it gave me plenty of delicious leftovers for a few days as well. I used sour cream instead of creme fraiche, and added a boatload of cayenne pepper.
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Robert, glad you enjoyed it! :)
This was delicious! Served it with a mix of rice&quinoa. Sooo yummy :) I also found it freezes really well! Will definitely make again. Thanks for the recipe! :)
Fab thank you Marubi! Glad you liked it! :)
Looks delicious! Going to make it at the weekend. Do you think it would freeze well? (If the kids decide they’re not hungry and there’s lots of leftovers…)
I haven’t tried freezing it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t! :)
I’m having a hard time finding a regular can of cream of tomato soup (maybe a specialty store) here in the U.S. — it’s all condensed! Could I just blend a can of diced tomatoes? Or what else would work? Would I need to add more cream?
Hi Erin, ah sorry, I didn’t realise it would be hard to find in the US! I’m not really sure what condensed soup looks like, to be honest. How would you usually prepare it to eat? You could try using that with a dash of cream or water, or just use tomato sauce or passata instead. To be honest, a recipe like this is quite adaptable so I’m sure whatever you do will work fine :)
Just made this, with onion, leek, carrot, swede, sweet potatoes and fresh tomatoes (as I had some that needed using). It was absolutely delicious. We did nearly have a disaster when I as near as nothing picked up the tub of gooseberry fool instead of creme fraiche, but realised in time….. and there’s plenty left to live to fight another day!
Forgot to say there was a courgette in there somewhere, too – bottom-of-the-fridge stuff.
Hahaha I’m not sure gooseberry fool would have worked! I’m glad you noticed your mistake in time! XD Thanks for another lovely comment, I think you must be one of my top recipe testers! ;)
Thanks. When you have gone to the trouble of posting your recipes, it’s nice to get comments when people have tried them!
I couldn’t agree more :)
Gosh, this looks so perfect, so creamy too. Definitely my kind of autumn/winter dish. And you can’t really go wrong with beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes, right?
This is so drool-worthy. The texture and the flavours…Mmmm! I have to veganize this :-)
You could definitely use a vegan cream instead of the creme fraiche – it would be really easy to veganise :)
Everything we need to stay cozy this winter!
Your creamy three bean stew recipe could put my battered soul at ease. :-) Thanks for sharing it!
Genius idea to use a tin of tomato soup! I’m with you on not wanting to leave the house – Sadly my children would kill me or we’d kill each other in the house for the whole half term!
Uh, yuuuuuum! This looks so hearty and so delicious. The absolute perfect meal for cool fall nights! Love!
That looks absolutely gorgeous, just my kind of food. I tend to cook beans from scratch, preferring both the taste and the texture to that of tinned beans, but would be easy enough to adapt (and no, I wouldn’t bother soaking and cooking all the beans separately, that would be far too much faff! Soak them together and cook them together…..).
I’m sure it would be easy enough to adapt :)
This looks so rich and filling, I will have to give this a go very soon. Another great recipe from you Becca, thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks Petra, hope you enjoy it! :)
Beans are a wonder. I don’t know where I’d be without them. Your stew looks delicious. I wouldn’t have thought of tomato soup, but tomatoes make most things better :)
You could use passata instead if you prefer, I just spotted the soup in the cupboard and thought it would work well! :)
Literally swooning over this right now! I adore beans and pulses and this looks so yummy!
Sounds like a filling and satisfying meal! I don’t eat enough beans, but looking at this recipe inspired me to cook more often with beans. Looks very delicious :)
Tins of soup are a great thing to have in the cupboard on stand-by – they make a great base for all sorts of dishes. This sounds so tasty and perfect for the increasingly grey and gloomy days we get as winter sets in.
This is my kind of comfort food! The sauce sounds amazing, and I love that you have used a tin of tomato soup for it!
Making a whole recipe of things already in the house is akin to the success felt after running a marathon… well, I’m not sure if it is exactly like that, because I’ve never run a marathon. I imagine it is totally the same though ;) Loving the delicious bowl of creamy bean stew you have going on there!
Hahaha! I’ve never run a marathon either, but if it’s as much fun as eating a bowl of creamy stew then I need to get on it ;) Somehow I doubt it though haha…
That looks so delicious !! Will definitely try it. Thanks for the recipe
Ooo this looks so delicious and creamy! I love the idea of using a tin of soup as the base for the sauce. This is my idea of a veggie comfort meal :)