This Vegetable Stew is easy to make and the perfect comforting, hearty one-pot dinner that the whole family will enjoy! It’s filled with zucchini, red peppers, mushrooms, sweet potatoes and plenty more healthy, tasty stew ingredients. Gluten-free, vegan, paleo, Whole30 compliant and easily low carb or keto.
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A Hearty and Healthy Vegetable Stew
There’s nothing like a warm and cozy dinner on a cold winter night. With this simple homemade vegetable stew, you’ll be getting tons of healthy veggies into your diet and loving every bite. My family loves cozy and comforting stews like this in the colder months and a few other favorites include this hearty slow beef stew, Irish Beef Stew and this Instant Pot Beef Stew.
Who doesn’t love the convenience of a one-pot dinner like this, both in terms of cooking and clean up. It seriously couldn’t get easier! This veggie stew recipe is a no-brainer when it comes to busy weeknight meals and it also happens to be gluten-free, vegan, paleo and Whole30 compliant.
Is Vegetable Stew Healthy?
By nature, vegetable stew is a great healthy dinner option. With this recipe, it’s even more so! In addition to all the nutritious veggies in the stew, it’s made with vitamin-rich tomato puree and vegetable stock. It also uses arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch for a healthier way to thicken the stew.
Recipe Ingredients
Feel free to play around with the veggies you put in your stew. The ingredients listed below are how we make ours, but there really aren’t many rules here! This stew is easy to switch up, and it’ll taste amazing no matter which veggies you include.
- Onion: Finely chopped.
- Garlic: You’ll need about 4 cloves.
- Carrot: I love how soft and warm the carrots get inside this stew! Feel free to leave this out to make a keto vegetable stew.
- Red Bell Pepper: If desired, you can use a different kind of bell pepper.
- Mushrooms: I used cremini mushrooms.
- Zucchini: Slice into semi-circles of your desired size.
- Sweet Potato: Peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. You can leave this out or swap with butternut squash, turnip or pumpkin to make this vegetable stew keto.
- Italian Herbs: Go with your favorite brand of Italian seasoning or make your own.
- Tomato Puree: This will add flavor and some thickness to the stew.
- Coconut Aminos: This light soy sauce substitute is way lower in sodium!
- Balsamic Vinegar: For flavor.
- Arrowroot Starch: Mixed with 3 tablespoons of water.
- Chopped Tomatoes: You can use fresh or one 14-ounce can of San Marzano diced tomatoes.
- Vegetable Stock: Nutrient-dense vegetable stock ties this stew together.
- Kale: Chopped to desired size.
- Salt & Pepper: To taste.
How to Make This Vegetable Stew
If you have a stove and a decent-sized pot or pan, you can make this stew. Certain vegetables take longer to cook, so they’ll need to go in sooner, while veggies that cook quickly like kale go in at the end.
- Heat Oil & Cook Onion: Heat a tbsp of olive/avocado oil in a large pot/pan over medium heat. Finely chop the onion and add it in. Stir and let cook for a few minutes.
- Add Garlic & Carrot: Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute. Peel the carrot and cut it into semi circle slices. Add to the pan.
- Prepare Pepper, Mushrooms & Zucchini: Cut the red pepper into ½-inch chunks, the mushrooms into quarters and the zucchini into semi circle slices.
- Add to Pan: Add them all to the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes, until starting to brown and soften. Add a little more oil if needed.
- Cook Stew: Peel and cut the sweet potato into ½-inch pieces. Add it to the pan along with the herbs, tomato puree, coconut aminos, balsamic vinegar, arrowroot starch slurry, chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and leave to cook for 20-25 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft through. Add chopped kale within the last few minutes.
- Season & Serve: Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve and enjoy!
Tips for the Best Bowl of Stew
With these helpful tips, a perfect pot of stew is right around the corner. No stress necessary!
- Add Kale in At the End: If you add your kale in too soon, it will likely get a little too mushy. Add it last and cook the stew for just a few more minutes.
- Adjust Consistency: If your stew comes out too thick for your liking, you can easily thin it out by adding a little water.
- Season to Taste: The amount of salt and pepper you use is totally up to you. You could also add some heat to this stew by stirring in some red pepper flakes, if you’d like.
Serving Suggestions
This stew is not hard to pair with other dishes, as it goes well with tons of different sides. The ideas below are some of my go-tos!
- Pair with Dinner Rolls: Sometimes, a simple dinner roll is the way to go. I definitely think that applies here. I just love dipping soft pieces of bread into this warm, savory stew!
- Serve with Chicken: If you eat meat, try pairing your veggie stew with a juicy piece of Grilled Chicken for an ultra healthy and satisfying dinner.
- Wash Down with a Cup of Hot Cocoa! If you’re making cold-weather comfort food, why not go all out? My easy Vegan Hot Chocolate is an equally cozy drink to follow up this stew with.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Leftover vegetable stew should be refrigerated in an airtight container. Enjoy it within 2 days for the best freshness. Reheat your stew in the microwave in 60-second increments, stirring after each one. Add more broth or water to thin out the stew, if needed.
Can I Freeze Veggie Stew?
You can definitely freeze this stew if you’d like to, though it may cause your sweet potatoes to get a little grainy. It will taste great regardless, but do keep that in mind. Thaw frozen stew before reheating it, and enjoy it within 2-3 months.
More hearty vegetable dinner recipes:

This Vegetable Stew is easy to make and the perfect comforting, hearty one-pot dinner that the whole family will enjoy! It's filled with zucchini, red peppers, mushrooms, sweet potatoes and plenty more healthy, tasty stew ingredients. Gluten-free, vegan, paleo, low carb, keto and Whole30 compliant.
- 1 onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 carrot
- 1 red bell pepper
- 6 cremini mushrooms
- 1 zucchini
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 tbsp Italian herbs
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1.5 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp arrowroot starch , mixed with 3 tbsp water
- 14.5 oz tin chopped tomatoes
- 3.5 cups vegetable stock
- 1.5 cups chopped kale
- salt and pepper , to taste
Heat a tbsp of olive/avocado oil in a large pot/pan over medium heat. Finely chop the onion and add it in. Stir and let cook for a few minutes.
Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute. Peel the carrot and cut it into semi circle slices. Add to the pan.
Cut the red pepper into ½-inch chunks, the mushrooms into quarters and the zucchini into semi circle slices.
Add them all to the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes, until starting to brown and soften. Add a little more oil if needed.
Peel and cut the sweet potato into ½-inch pieces. Add it to the pan along with the herbs, tomato puree, coconut aminos, balsamic vinegar, arrowroot starch slurry, chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock.
Bring to a gentle simmer and leave to cook for 20-25 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft through. Add chopped kale within the last few minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve and enjoy!
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