Butter Bean Stew

Name: Butter Bean Stew
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) olive oil; 1 small yellow onion (1 cup), diced into 3/4-inch pieces; 2 large cloves garlic, minced (~2 1/2 teaspoons); 1 1/2 cups carrot, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds; 1 1/2 cups celery, sliced 1/4-inch thick; 3/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers (~12 ounces); 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano; 1 teaspoon paprika; 1/2 teaspoon cumin; 1-1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 3 tablespoons all purpose flour; 3 cups vegetable broth (we used low sodium); 2 15 ounce cans butter beans, drained and rinsed; 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar; 2 cups roughly chopped spinach; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

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This Butter Bean Stew is a hearty and flavorful dish, packed with plenty of vegetables, nutritious beans, and warming spices. This comforting recipe is easy to make, and comes together in under an hour for an delicious weeknight meal.

Finished butter bean stew in a blue bowl. — This stew is perfect for chilly days or when you need a comforting and satisfying meal.

If you're anything like us, you probably have more than a few cans of beans sitting in your pantry right now. This hearty stew is the perfect use for a can of butter beans!

It's creamy and rich (but on the lighter side when it comes to nutrition), naturally dairy free and loaded with flavorful vegetables. It also stores well in the fridge, so it's just as delicious the next day as leftovers or for meal prep. (And yes, you can freeze it, too!)

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Why We Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Instructions
Tips and FAQs
More Stew Recipes to Enjoy
📖 Recipe
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Why We Love This Recipe

Easy recipe: This butter bean stew comes together in under an hour and only requires 5 simple steps. Plus, you probably already have most of the ingredients needed!
Budget friendly: Butter beans are an affordable ingredient, as are the rest of the staples in this stew. This stew can also be made in large batches and frozen for future meals, which can help save time and money in the long run.
Nutritious: Butter beans are a good source of protein, fiber, and essential nutrients such as iron, folate, and potassium. Combined with other nutrient dense ingredients like carrots, spinach, onion, red peppers, olive oil and tomato paste, this stew makes for a nutritious and well-balanced meal.
Plant-based: This comforting stew just happens to be naturally vegan. Plus, it's still super rich and creamy, so nobody will know it's dairy free!

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this butter bean stew:

Ingredient Notes

Butter beans: Butter beans are a large, white lima bean with a creamy texture and buttery flavor. You can find them in the canned vegetable section, next to other bean varieties. If you can't find butter beans, there are a few options for substitutions:
- Lima beans are a great alternative, as they are similar in size and texture to butter beans. They do, however, have a stronger flavor and aren't quite as soft and buttery as butter beans.
- Cannellini or Great Northern beans: Both are slightly smaller in size than butter beans, but have mild, slightly nutty and buttery flavor. Both would work well in this stew.
Salt: We use Diamond brand kosher salt. If you choose to use fine grain sea salt or table salt, start with a little less salt and then taste and adjust the recipe if needed.
Vegetable broth: Use a low sodium vegetable broth so that you can better control the salt content in the soup. If you'd like, you can also try this recipe to make homemade vegetable broth from leftover veggie scraps! If you're not vegan/vegetarian, feel free to sub with chicken broth.
Spinach: Feel free to sub with another leafy green like kale or swiss chard.
Flour: A small amount of flour helps thicken up the broth for a super creamy soup without any added dairy. We used all purpose flour, but of course gluten free all purpose flour works too.
Carrots: You can use fresh or frozen carrots in this recipe. Since this is a stew, we like to cut them into thicker rounds, but you can also dice if preferred. Not a fan of carrots? Try subbing with parsnips, potatoes or zucchini.
Herbs: We used fresh parsley and dry oregano. Whenever substituting fresh for dry, remember that 1 teaspoon dry = 1 tablespoon fresh. You could also add in your favorite herbs like dill or thyme.
Roasted red peppers: We used roasted red peppers from a jar, which you can typically find near canned tomato products in the grocery store. You can also substitute with fresh red bell pepper, but you won't get the smoky flavor.
Red pepper flakes: Leave them out if you don't want any spice.

Instructions

(1) Heat a large pot to medium and add oil. Add in onion and sauté for 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

(2) Stir in carrots, celery, roasted red peppers, tomato paste, oregano, paprika, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes, until vegetables start to soften.

Left: onions cooking in pot. Right: adding in the other veggies to the pot. — We like to cut our vegetables into larger chunks in this recipe since it's a stew.

(3) Whisk flour into 1 cup of the broth.

(4) Add to the pot with the remaining 2 cups of broth and the butter beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

Left: whisking the flour and broth together. Right: adding the broth and beans into the pot. — Flour mixed with a small amount of broth helps thicken the stew without adding in any milk or cream.

(5) Remove lid and stir in spinach, parsley, and red wine vinegar. Taste and add an additional ¼ teaspoon of salt if desired. Simmer uncovered for 5 additional minutes and serve warm.

Left: adding the spinach into the pot. Right: finished butter bean stew. — Add the spinach and parsley right at the end and cook just until wilted.

Tips and FAQs

Change up the vegetables/spices: This butter bean stew can be super versatile and customized with just about any vegetables you have on hand. Try swapping in ingredients like zucchini, potatoes and corn, or change up the spices to your preferences. As long as you keep the general quantities the same, this stew should work however you make it.
Add another protein: It's easy to add another protein to this stew, like chicken, sausage, beef or a vegan alternative. Add in the raw protein during step 2 of the recipe, cooked until browned, then continue as normal. You may need to add an additional 1-2 cups of liquid to account for the added volume.
Serving suggestions:
- Serve this stew as a main dish topped with some fresh herbs, red pepper flakes, and some crusty bread on the side. It would also be delicious with our garlic bread or a thick slice of homemade cornbread!
- Since this stew is relatively thick, you can serve it over a grain (like rice or quinoa), mashed potatoes or even polenta.
- Enjoy with a light salad, like our Kale Caesar Salad or our Italian Chopped Salad.
Storage: You can place leftovers in an airtight container and enjoy within 3-5 days. Reheat in a saucepan over medium low heat. You might need to add back a bit of vegetable broth to loosen the stew up a bit.
Make it gluten free: Substitute regular all purpose flour with a gluten free alternative. Other than that, this recipe is naturally gluten free.

Can I make butter bean stew in a slow cooker?

Yes, this butter bean stew can be made in a slow cooker. Add all ingredients except spinach, parsley and red wine vinegar to your slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Stir in the spinach, parsley and red wine vinegar 10 minutes before serving.

Can I freeze butter bean stew?

Yes. Allow the stew to cool to room temperature, then transfer it to an airtight container or freezer bag. Label and date the container, then freeze for 3 to 6 months. To reheat, thaw the stew overnight in the refrigerator, then heat over medium in a pot on the stove until hot.