Hearty vegan stew Italian style featuring gnocchi dumplings, meaty jackfruit, peas and carrots and a thick red wine gravy. No beef, one pot comforting stew that checks all the boxes. Rich, savory and whole foods plant based recipe.
You’ll find a number of plant based stews on this blog, it’s really hard for me to actually choose a favorite. From the now famous jackfruit stew to my soy curl veggie stew and this spiced chickpea stew, they are all equally delicious but also unique in the way they deliver their deliciousness.
Who doesn’t love a comforting vegan stew right now ?
And if you make a loaf of this crusty bread to dunk into it you are without a doubt the king / queen of your castle!
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Which jackfruit should you use in this stew ? Glad you asked as this is very important when making savory dishes. The jackfruit has to be young unripe, so before it gets sweet. My favorite for making stews are these organic jackfruit pieces i buy in bulk from amazon. You could also use canned jackfruit packed in water / brine not syrup. Make sure to rinse it well before cooking.
- How do you thicken the stew ? Before adding the veggie stock to the pot I whisked in some whole wheat pastry flour. This way the stew naturally thickens as it cooks and no lumps are formed. If you prefer a thinner stew or want to make it gluten-free you can omit the flour. The gnocchi will add lots of body and texture too.
- Can I use potatoes instead of gnocchi ? Sure you can use about 1 pound of diced golden potatoes if you prefer or any homemade dumplings.
- Storage: The leftovers keep well in the fridge up to 4 days. They can also be frozen in lidded freezer proof containers or mason jars up to 4 months. Take care not to overfill the jars or containers and remember to thaw out in the fridge the night before reheating.
- How to serve it: Since this is already such a hearty meal, there’s no need for rice or pasta. In my opinion a thick slice of homemade bread charred under the broiler and rubbed with garlic aka bruschetta is as perfect as it’s gonna get. However you can top it with these olive oil mashed potatoes and turn it into an awesome Italian style Shepherd’s pie.
hearty stews you’ll love:
P.S. If you make this recipe please come back here to rate, tell us what you’ve changed / improvised, snap a photo and tag me with #VeggieSociety on Instagram, it alway makes my day ~ Florentina Xo’s
Hearty Vegan Stew
Hearty vegan stew Italian style featuring gnocchi dumplings, meaty jackfruit, peas and carrots and a thick red wine gravy. No beef, one pot comforting stew that checks all the boxes. Rich, savory and whole foods plant based recipe.
Servings 4 people
Calories 508kcal
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 carrots sliced into rounds
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 lb jackfruit pieces rinsed well
- 1 lb gnocchi Italian potato dumplings
- 1 cup fresh tomatoes diced
- 3/4 cup frozen green peas (thawed out and rinsed)
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 whole cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika you can sub sweet paprika
- 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley roughly chopped
- 6 cups vegetable stock low sodium
- 1/3 cup red wine
- sea salt + black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat a heavy bottom dutch oven over medium low heat and sautee the onion and carrot in a drop of oil or a splash of water until the onion is translucent. (omit oil to be WFPB & Plantricious compliant).
- Stir in the garlic and cook a few seconds until fragrant.
- Add the jackfruit pieces, thyme, bay and the red wine. Simmer until the wine is almost evaporated.
- Meanwhile whisk the flour with the vegetable stock until combined and add it to the pot with the jackfruit. Bring to a simmer and stir in the paprika and cloves.
- Cook everything together for 45 minutes until the jackfruit is fork tender.
- Stir in the gnocchi, tomatoes and green peas and cook a few extra minutes until the gnocchi float to the top and the green peas are cooked through to your liking.
- Discard the thyme sprigs and whole cloves and season the stew to your taste with sea salt and black pepper.
- Stir in the fresh parsley and serve!
Slow Cooker Method:
- Saute the onion and carrot with a pinch of salt until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds longer.
- Add the cooked onion, carrot and garlic to a slow cooker with the jackfruit, red wine and all the spices.
- Whisk in the flour and veggie stock and add them to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on slow for 5-6 hours or on hight 2 - 3 hours. Add the gnocchi and green peas and return back to high heat for 20 minutes or so until the gnocchi are cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
Notes
- You can use about 1 pound of diced golden potatoes instead of gnocchi or any homemade dumplings.
- The leftovers keep well in the fridge up to 4 days. They can also be frozen in lidded freezer proof containers or mason jars up to 4 months. Take care not to overfill the jars or containers and remember to thaw out in the fridge the night before reheating. For the recipe to be WFPB and Plantricious compliant omit all oil and make sure to use a whole grain gnocchi made with whole wheat, brown rice or corn flour.
Nutrition
Calories: 508kcal | Carbohydrates: 116g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 458mg | Potassium: 661mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 6992IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 187mg | Iron: 7mg
Peanut Stew
Red Lentil Stew
Vegetable Noodle Soup
Hi! Can soy curls be used to replace jackfruit? Thank you 😊
You sure can, just make sure to soak them first to rehydrate, squeeze the water and roughly chop them into bite size pieces before adding to the stew.
Hi Florentina! I made this stew using the Yukon Gold potatoes in my 6-quart slow cooker. I followed everything except I did not have the red pepper flakes and flax meal. I substituted potato flakes at the end to thicken and added 10 ounces of thawed frozen peas. The stew was wonderful! It was served to five people and everyone liked it! It looked just like your picture except for the peas. 🙂 We had a healthy biscuit recipe made with yeast and whole wheat pastry flour and put the stew over them individually. I am going to make it again using potato gnocchi. Amazing how the jackfruit you recommended is like meat. Thank you so much!
I’m so doing the happy dance that you guys loved the stew, woohoo! ~ Florentina Xo’s
I have to laugh and did! I did not realize your picture had peas! I should have took a picture of mine for you. Anyway,
thank you for your hard work and recipes.
Lol i love throwing some peas in all my stews hehe
Hi Florentina, the recipe of looks awesome!; I can’t wait to try it!
Question: I purchased that jackfruit and when I opened it it smelled like some sort of chemical to me which made me concerned about consuming it. I was so disappointed as I was so looking forward to having that as a meat sub.
I was Just wondering if you or anyone else who’s purchased it finds there’s a chemical smell also? I imagine it’s something about the processing. Any comments would be appreciated.
Hey Rhonda, sorry to hear that, I’m really not sure what that could be I didn’t have the same experience. At this point I would suggest not to use it and contact the seller. The canned jackfruit packed in water works great here too, the only difference is that it is a light color due to the citric acid in the water that keeps it from turning brown.
Looks wonderful but 2033 calories a portion :0
Is that right ?
That was for the entire recipe, sorry there was an error inside the recipe card, all fixed now!
Delicious!! Added Mushrooms, Edamame, Swiss Chard and celery to this recipe plus a good sprinkle of hot pepper flakes. It was fantastic!! Thanks for the great recipe.
This was the first time I have used Jackfruit. We liked it, but felt the recipe can also stand alone it was so good.
I’m so happy you loved it Shelly! Thanks for reporting back ~ Florentina Xo’s
Is there a replacement ingredient for red wine? Thank you!
Just use veggie stock instead but the deep flavor of this stew comes from the red wine.
i’m so excited to make this recipe! why is the jackfruit brown in the package? is it somewhat dried? or is it just due to the fact of no citic acid, as in the canned? Is it firmer than cannned? that would be my hope:}
The browning is simply oxidation due to the lack if acid as you mentioned. I would say it is firmer than the canned but it all gets nicely tender during the cooking process. You could also just use the canned variety drained and rinsed and adjust cooking time until desired texture is achieved.
Can you use fresh jack fruit and if so what would the measurement be?
You can use fresh in the same quantity but it must be unripe/green. Do not use the ripe yellow jackfruit as it is very sweet and more like a mango not suitable for this savory stew.