Kidney bean stew is a hearty and flavorful dish perfect to keep you warm on a cold day. It's packed with a lot of delicious ingredients that make this stew very enjoyable and satisfying. This bean stew gets ready in just 30 minutes and is vegan and gluten-free.

Whether it's a rainy day, snow day, or just a day colder than usual if, you are looking for a quick, easy-to-make, one-pot recipe to warm you up then this kidney bean stew is a perfect recipe for you.
This hearty bean stew can get ready in just 30 minutes if you have cooked or canned kidney beans.
It's a vegan and gluten-free dish.
Ingredients needed
For this stewed kidney beans with vegetables recipe you will need the ingredients shown below:
Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions
- Beans: Home-cooked or canned red kidney beans, both are fine. If using canned beans, discard the liquid and rinse the beans to get rid of the metallic taste. If you have cooked the beans at home, don't discard the water in which they were cooked, use it in the stew. You can make a similar stew by using other beans like white beans, red beans, garbanzo beans, black beans, etc.
- Onion: I have used yellow onion but, white, and red onions can be used too. Use whichever variety is available to you.
- Vegetables: I have used carrot, bell pepper, and celery. You can use vegetables of your choice. Some other vegetables that taste good in this stew are green peas, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. You can also add mushrooms and sweet corn kernels. Leafy greens like spinach, spring onion, or kale can be added too.
- Tomato paste: It adds a rich flavor of tomato to the stew, making it taste even better.
- Vegetable bouillon cube: If you don't have bouillon cube, use vegetable stock instead of water.
- Cilantro: Use fresh parsley or other fresh herbs of choice if you don't like the taste of cilantro.
- Seasonings: I have used paprika, dried basil, ground cumin, salt, and black pepper to season this bean stew. Feel free to use the seasonings you like. I also keep altering the seasonings I use, depending on what's available and also what I feel like using that day. Some other ingredients that I use to flavor this stew are fresh ginger, bay leaf, dried oregano, thyme, chili flakes, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Canned diced tomatoes: Use crushed tomatoes if you don't want chunks of tomatoes in your stew. If you don't like using canned ingredients, use very finely chopped fresh tomatoes. Cook them for a longer period than canned tomatoes i.e. until they change their color to a brighter red and turn mushy.
- Cooking oil: Extra virgin olive oil is the best cooking medium for this recipe. If you don't have that you can also regular olive oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil.
The quantity of ingredients, details of the other ingredients, and nutritional information are shared in the recipe card.
How to make kidney bean stew (step-by-step instructions)?
Making this hearty bean stew is very easy, just follow the step-by-step instructions given below:
Step 1: Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add chopped onion, celery, carrot, and minced garlic.
Step 2: Cook until the onion turns translucent.
Step 3: Add diced bell pepper.
Step 4: Saute for 3-4 minutes i.e. until the bell peppers are no longer raw but still crunchy.
Step 5: Add paprika, cumin powder, basil, ground black pepper, and crumbled vegetable bouillon cube.
Step 6: Saute for a minute.
Step 7: Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and salt.
Step 8: Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Step 9: Add kidney beans and saute for a minute.
Step 10: Add water and mix.
Step 11: Cook for around 10 minutes on a medium flame.
Step 12: Turn off the heat. Add fresh lemon juice and cilantro. Mix.
Your comforting, hearty kidney bean and vegetable stew is ready to be enjoyed.
How to serve?
Serve this kidney beans stew hot or warm with crispy garlic cheese toast or any toasted bread.
You can also serve savory muffins or cornbread with it.
It also goes well with a rice dish like vermicelli rice, plain white rice/ brown rice, or any seasoned rice dish.
You can pair stewed beans with a fresh crunchy green salad, mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, baked potato wedges, or grilled vegetables too.
Storing, freezing, and reheating tips
To store, allow the stew to reach room temperature then transfer to an airtight container. Consume within 3 days.
It also freezes well. Freeze in airtight, freezer-safe, batch-size containers for up to 3 months.
To reheat on the stovetop, transfer the bean stew to a cooking pot. Cover the pot and cook covered on medium heat until the stew is heated well.
To reheat in the microwave, if the stew is frozen, thaw it first. Then transfer it to a microwave-safe container. Microwave it for around 2 minutes, take out the container, stir well, and microwave further until nicely reheated.
If the stew is too thick, add some hot water or stock and then reheat. Check and reseason, if required.
Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions
- You can use canned as well as home-cooked kidney beans to make this stew.
- If using canned beans, strain them, discard the liquid, and rinse the beans before using them in the recipe. This will help to get rid of the metallic taste of canned food.
- If cooking kidney beans from scratch, don't discard the liquid in which the beans were cooked. Use it along with plain water to adjust the consistency of the stew.
- You can add more vegetables to this kidney bean stew like broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, green peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.
- Adjust the quantity of seasoning to suit your taste.
- Similar soups can be used with different varieties of beans too.
- Non-vegans may also add some shredded melting cheese to this soup.
- If you want to make a spicy bean stew, add red pepper flakes along with other seasonings.
- Whenever you are adding more water to adjust the consistency of a stew or soup, it's better to add hot water instead of cold water and then cook further.
Frequently asked questions
The main difference between a stew and a soup is in their consistency. The stew is thicker with solid pieces and chunks of ingredients. Soup is generally thinner and has more liquid in it. In soup, generally, the ingredients are present in comparatively smaller pieces or blended.
No, kidney beans and red beans are not the same. But, you can also use red beans to make bean stew if you don't have kidney beans.
More easy bean recipes
If want to include more beans in your diet and looking for easy bean recipes then don't miss to check out the following links:
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Recipe
Kidney bean stew
Equipment
- Large cooking pot
- Chopping board
- Knife to chop vegetables
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups cooked kidney beans around 450 grams
- 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 medium bell pepper chopped
- 1 medium carrot chopped
- 1 celery stalk chopped
- 3-4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice adjust to taste
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 can diced tomatoes around 400 grams
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon paprika powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper adjust to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3.5 cups water or as required to get the desired consistency
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large cooking pot. Add chopped onion, carrot, celery, and minced garlic. Saute until the onion turns translucent.
- Add chopped bell pepper and saute for 3-4 minutes or until the bell peppers are no longer raw but still crunchy.
- Add paprika, cumin powder, basil, ground black pepper, and crumbled vegetable bouillon cube. Saute for a minute.
- Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add cooked kidney beans and water. Mix and cook on medium heat for around 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Add lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Mix and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- You can use canned as well as home-cooked kidney beans to make this stew.
- If using canned beans, strain them, discard the liquid, and rinse the beans before using them in the recipe. This will help to get rid of the metallic taste of canned food.
- If cooking kidney beans from scratch, don't discard the liquid in which the beans were cooked. Use it along with plain water to adjust the consistency of the stew.
- You can add more vegetables to this kidney bean stew like broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, green peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.
- Adjust the quantity of seasoning to suit your taste.
- Similar soups can be used with different varieties of beans too.
- Non-vegans may also add some shredded melting cheese to this soup.
- If you want to make a spicy bean stew, add red pepper flakes along with other seasonings.
- Whenever you are adding more water to adjust the consistency of a stew or soup, it's better to add hot water instead of cold water and then cook further.
- More recipe tips and tricks are shared in the post above, please follow them to make this recipe.
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