My chickpea stew is easy to make and packed with smoky, delicious flavor. It's healthy, comforting, and perfect with a big crusty piece of bread. This will be your new go-to weeknight meal.
If you're looking to create a vegan meal that's delicious, healthy, and cheap, chickpeas are an excellent place to start! They're the basis for so many of my favorite dinners, like my chickpea tacos, chickpea chili, vegan chana masala, and spicy chickpea bowls. They also make an excellent main ingredient for a vegan stew!
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There's so much to love about this stew, not the least of which is how easy it is to make! You don’t need a ton of fancy ingredients. Everything is easy to find, and honestly, you probably already have much of what you need in your pantry. It also comes together in one pot, which means less cleanup (huge win!).
The stew has a spicy, smoky flavor, thanks to ingredients like peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, and smoked paprika. The overall vibe is definitely southwestern, and if you're a fan of vegan chili you'll definitely dig it!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Olive oil. You can use another high-heat oil if you'd like, but olive will give your chickpea stew the best flavor.
- Onion.
- Red bell pepper. Another color of bell pepper could be substituted if needed.
- Poblano pepper. This adds a touch of heat to the stew. You can leave it out or include some extra bell pepper if you'd prefer a milder version of the dish.
- Garlic.
- Spices. We're using smoked paprika, ground cumin, and cayenne pepper.
- Vegetable broth.
- Russet potato. A couple of red or yellow potatoes can be substituted if needed.
- Canned chickpeas. You can use dried if chickpeas if you prefer, but you'll need to soak and cook them in advance. (Soaking alone is not enough.) Try this method. You'll need 3 ½ of cooked chickpeas for this recipe.
- Fire roasted tomatoes. Using fire roasted tomatoes will give our stew maximum smoky flavor, but you can use regular diced tomatoes if that's what you've got on hand.
- Tomato paste.
- Salt & pepper.
- Toppings. This stew is delicious with or without toppings, but toppings do make everything better, right? If you agree, try chopped fresh cilantro, scallions, parsley, chives, vegan sour cream or cashew cream, shredded vegan cheese, guacamole, sliced avocado, or any combination of them.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Heat up some oil in a pot. I recommend using a big Dutch oven. Once the oil is hot, and diced onion, a red bell pepper, and a poblano pepper. Cook the onions and peppers for a few minutes, until they soften up a bit.
Step 2: Add minced garlic and your spices. Cook everything for just about a minute, until the garlic becomes very fragrant. Make sure to keep stirring everything to prevent burning.
Step 3: Add the broth and diced potato to the pot. Bring the liquid up to a boil, lower the heat, and let it simmer until the potato is tender. You can add a bit of water if the mixture becomes too dry while it cooks — just don't overdo it!
Step 4: Add the chickpeas and canned tomatoes, along with their juices and the tomato paste. Let the pot simmer for a about ten minutes more, until the stew has a nice thick consistency.
Tip: Make sure you don't add the tomatoes until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork. Adding the tomatoes too early could prevent the potatoes from fully cooking.
Step 5: Take the pot off of the burner and season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 6: Your chickpea stew is ready! Ladle it into bowls, and, if you'd like, pile on some toppings. I love to enjoy my stew with some vegan cornbread or vegan corn muffins on the side.
Variations
- Extra spicy chickpea stew. Add some heat by increasing the amount of cayenne pepper or adding your favorite hot sauce to the stew.
- Sweet and spicy variation. To add a touch of sweetness, swap out the potato with a sweet potato. For even more sweetness, add a tablespoon or two of maple syrup or organic brown sugar.
- Add veggies. Throw some of your favorite veggies into the stew. Stir in some greens such as kale, spinach or Swiss chard, add some carrots or parsnips, or thaw some frozen peas and add them when the stew is just about done.
- Add some beans. Replace one can of chickpeas with another variety of bean, such as cannellini beans, lentils, black beans, or kidney beans.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover chickpea stew keeps great! Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days or in the freezer for up to three months.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is!
Just a bit, and this partly depends on how hot your poblano pepper is (which can vary quite a bit). If you'd prefer a heat-free version, substitute some extra bell pepper for the poblano, and omit the cayenne pepper.
Yes! To make an oil-free version of this dish, simply substitute vegetable broth or water for the oil in step 1.
Try using low sodium broth, chickpeas, and fire roasted tomatoes.
More Vegan Stews
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Smoky Chickpea Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 medium russet potato, scrubbed and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 2 (14 ounce or 400 gram) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14 ounce or 400 gram) can fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Toppings of choice (Note 1)
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with the oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, bell pepper, and poblano pepper. Sweat the veggies for about 10 minutes, until they soften and the onion becomes translucent.
- Add the garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Cook everything for about 1 minute more, until the garlic becomes very fragrant.
- Stir in the broth and potatoes. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer until the potato is fork tender, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can add some hot water to the pot if the liquid level becomes too low.
- Stir in the chickpeas, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Let the stew continue to simmer for about 10 minutes more, until the sauce has thickened up a bit.
- Remove the pot from the heat and season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and top with toppings of choice. Serve.
Notes
- Some toppings that work well with this stew are chopped fresh parsley, cilantro, scallions, and/or chives, vegan sour cream, shredded vegan cheese, or sliced avocado.
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Wow, Alissa, this is our new "house fave" stew! I didn't have a poblano pepper so I added 2 cups of finely chopped green cabbage to the vegetable sauté (got some cruciferous veggies in!). I'm not a big fan of russet potatoes, so I used a Golden/Yukon potato. The chunks added a smooth, creamy texture to complement the chickpeas and fire-roasted tomatoes. When the stew was thoroughly cooked, I added 1/2 cup of vegan Mexican three-cheese blend shreds. That made it a tiny bit creamy, but not viscous like a dip, and the color turned to a pretty orange instead of red. Fun! The amount of palate heat was perfect. My husband was very positively impressed.
So delicious and easy to make. The smoky flavor is great!
I happened upon this recipe while looking for a chickpea + potato soup or stew. This will definitely be in our regular meal rotation from now on -- it is simply delicious!! The smoky and spiciness is a perfect combo with the chickpeas, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers. My husband and I made this an Indian-style meal by putting a yogurt cucumber sauce on top (to cool down the heat) and eating with naan bread. Sooo good and even better the next day! Thank you for the recipe!
I was so sad when I finished this dish. I looked forward to eating it every day. It's a keeper for sure! Thank you very much!
This is insanely delicious, just like everything else on this blog. I don’t know how you aren’t widely renowned as a vegan chef. I have used your recipes for 3 years and have never had anything less than amazing come out of it. Served this with some fried, thin sliced scallions and vegan garlic bread with cashew ricotta spread over top. Holy shit.
Thank you so much for your kind words Claire! I'm so glad you're enjoying the recipes. And that sounds like a wonderful meal!
This was sooooo delicious! It's the perfect balance of beans/veggies/potatoes and the "broth" was more like a creamy, savory sauce. Dee-lish!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
This sounds and looks amazing! I can't wait to make it!