Vegetable Stew from the Crockpot

Ginny McMeans

Published:

December 29, 2019

Last Modified:

June 18, 2024

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Vegetable Stew from the Crockpot is proof that simple ingredients can make for one incredible meal. It’s also healthy and is loaded with two kinds of mushrooms for an easy vegan and vegetable stew recipe.

You are going to love this rich stew concocted with earthy mushrooms, sweet onions, and a couple of our favorite root vegetables. Potatoes and carrots.

This is predominately a mushroom stew focusing on two different varieties. Baby cremini mushrooms for their extreme earthy flavor and button mushrooms for there all-around good taste.

Do you have picky eaters at home? I certainly have some challenges to satisfy fussy eaters in my family but thank goodness they all like mushrooms. What would I do without mushrooms!

They are incredibly nutritious and add a deep richness to a wholesome stew.

I’ve found many other ways to introduce them into our family meals too. Like with this Stuffed Mushrooms. Those can be used as a side dish or an appetizer.

This vegetable stew recipe has developed over the years. It all started with a stew recipe from, believe it or not, Burt Reynolds. You know, Smokey and the Bandit? Well, maybe you don’t know but that’s alright. 🙂

Anyway, that was the stew I made for years and I loved the rich flavor that dry red wine added to it. Next came a mushroom stew from the New York Times food column.

It didn’t have the red wine but it didn’t have meat either and I wasn’t eating meat anymore so a lightbulb went off in my head. Combine the two recipes for a deep rich mushroom stew.

I made it for the slow cooker and got an easy and rich vegetable stew. That is now this!

Ingredients for veggie stew

Baby cremini mushrooms – have an earthy flavor and a meaty texture.
Button mushrooms – seem innocent compared to creminis but they are the most versatile for recipes.
Yellow onion – gives a sweetened caramelized flavor after it is cooked.
Carrots – are sweet and offer a wonderful balance to the hearty vegetables.
Potatoes – add another texture along with being very tasty.
Garlic – just seems to be needed for one of the hidden flavors.
Dried thyme – has a gentle flavor but is also earthy and lemony in its undertones.
Ground sage – is my favorite for adding to savory dishes that need to be ‘meaty’.
Salt & ground black pepper – are inescapable because they just add so much flavor with such a little amount.
Cayenne pepper – came from the NY Times recipe and it adds heat without you knowing it.

Vegetable broth – is the base liquid that everything else is built on.
Dry red wine such as a good zinfandel or merlot – adds a deep undercurrent of flavor.
Diced tomatoes – are acidic but also sweet. I sometimes su
Tomato paste – is concentrated tomatoes and the flavor is deep and rich.
Kitchen bouquet – has been around forever. It is concentrated caramel with vegetable flavorings but be careful not to add too much.
Liquid smoke – is a natural product that makes a savory dish deeper in flavor.
Flour – for thickening the juices.

How to make crock pot stew

It’s super simple and so rewarding.
The quickest way to save time is to clean and pare all of the vegetables first. Cut up the potatoes last so they don’t have time to turn brownish.
Add all of the vegetables to a large crockpot. One that’s at least 6 qts.
Measure and start to add the vegetable broth, wine, diced tomatoes and tomato paste, kitchen bouquet and liquid smoke.
Do NOT add the flour until much later. I’ll tell you when in a minute.
Now add in all of the seasonings and spices.
It won’t look like you have enough juices at this point but believe me a lot of liquid cooks out of the mushrooms and you will have plenty after it cooks a while.
Stir well and cover. Cook on high 4 to 5 hours or low 8 to 10 hours.
Now about the flour – sometime after the juices are hot on up to about a half-hour to an hour before serving -scoop out some of the juices into a cup.
Add the flour to the hot juices in the cup. Stir well until the flour is blended.
Pour it all back into the stew and stir well. Cover and let finish cooking. This thickens the juices.

This vegetable stew recipe is so comforting and deliciously seasoned. And guess what? You can also serve it over rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes.

Now, THAT is a versatile stew.

I also like to serve it in a bowl with its juices, just like a stew, and dunk crusty bread into it.

If dunking is something you’d like to do too you can add another 1/2 cup or so of vegetable broth so that there is more dunking liquid.

Everything has become tender during cooking and the seasonings meld together for incredible flavors.

Besides the flavors of the concentrated seasonings, you can’t beat tender carrot and potato bites, sweet tantalizing onion, and lots of meaty mushrooms.

Slow cooker hearty meals

Have a little pasta with your Vegan Spaghetti Sauce from the Slow Cooker.

Navy Bean Soup is a classic and so comforting.

Here’s a lentil meal that comes in the form of a Lentil Vegetable Soup. Also from the crockpot.

If you take a photo of your rich mushroom stew I would love to see it. Follow me over on Instagram and tag me on your photo @vegan_in_the_freezer.

Your opinion means a lot to me and if you’d like to leave a comment and possibly a star rating I’d love to hear your thoughts.