Kale & White Bean Stew

Happy New Year! I wanted to start off the beginning of the year with a simple, warm and delicious stew. I’m thinking some of us might want to do a food reset for the new year (myself included), and this recipe is a great one to get you off on the right foot!

We’ve been making this stew for years as a part of our regular batch-recipe rotation and meal prep, so I’m so excited to share it with you, to hopefully add in to your own recipe arsenal.

Pretty surprisingly, this stew doesn’t use any spices, but instead develops all of it’s flavor from the right mix of veggies all cooking together in the pot. It honestly surprises me how tasty this mix of vegetables can be on their own without the addition of spices (since so many of my recipes are spice-heavy, aiming to impress with bold flavors).

This stew is:

• Warm
• Hearty
• Filling
• Showcases it’s ingredients wonderfully

I like to eat it with toast on the side and add a little bit of cayenne, pepper and salt at the table. You could also top it off with nutritional yeast and a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice to brighten it up even more.

If you try out this recipe, please share it with me by commenting here or on my YouTube channel, or even tagging me in a photo on Instagram @plantsnotplastic. Enjoy!

Plants Not Plastic

Kale & White Bean Stew

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Servings: 17 cups

Course: Soup

Ingredients Equipment Method Video Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 large yellow onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 8 medium Roma tomatoes diced; sub 5 cups diced canned tomatoes
• 4 medium carrots chopped
• 6 stalks celery chopped
• 3 cups white beans 1 cup dry, sub two 15 oz cans
• 4 medium Yukon potatoes chopped
• 7-9 cups water [note #1]
• 1 bunch kale chopped

Equipment

• large pots (mine is 8 quarts)

Method

 

1. In a large pot over medium-high to high heat [note #2], saute onion, garlic, carrots & celery until onions are fully translucent and there is some browning on the bottom of the pan, about 10-14 minutes
2. Add tomatoes to deglaze the pan and cook them down until they've begun to caramelize and brown, another 10-20 minutes [note #3]
3. Add beans, potatoes and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cooked uncovered for 10 minutes, until potatoes are soft
4. Stir in the chopped kale, cover, and cook for an additional 2 minutes
5. Serve by itself, with cayenne, salt & pepper, frozen corn, over rice, with toast, or cool and store for the week
6. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

1. Seven cups will result in a thicker stew, nine in a more soupy stew.
2. Cooking over medium heat will take longer but you don't have to watch over the pot while it's cooking as much; I typically cook over high heat and watch the pot/stir more often to get to the next step faster.
3. How long you cook the tomatoes is up to you; cooking them for longer will result in more caramelization, and more flavor at the end in your stew.