Vegan Irish Stew with Savory Herb Dumplings

Rich stout beer is the key to creating an intensely flavorful, and totally delicious batch of vegan Irish stew! Top it all off with some fluffy herbed dumplings and you're in vegan comfort food heaven.

Happy Pi Day! This recipe was supposed to be a pie, and as you can see, it is not. For a while there I thought I'd start a new tradition and post an Irish themed pie every year to hit both Saint Patrick's Day and Pi Day. I did manage to do that back in 2016. But then last year I posted a very not Irish pizza. And this year I failed at making my Irish recipe into a pie. Ah well.

So yeah, initially I thought a vegan Irish stew pot pie would be the thing. But as much as I love a good savory pie, they're a ton of work. Who has time for that when pie day falls in the middle of the week. And dumplings are just as tasty as pie crust, in my humble opinion. So Irish stew with dumplings it is!

What makes this stew Irish, you ask? Well, first off, it's totally not authentic. It's a bit like my vegan beef stew, and if you enjoyed that I think you'll dig this too. But it's the addition of some Irish stout, cabbage, and savory dumplings that make this stew totally inauthentically Irish. And totally delicious.

The stew starts with some mushrooms. They're hearty, savory, and the perfect replacement for meat that you'd find in traditional Irish stew.

Add some carrots, onions, celery, and sauté everything for a bit until it begins to soften.

Stout is the key ingredient that makes the stew super savory. Add that, along with some cabbage, potatoes and seasonings, and let it simmer for a bit.

While the stew simmers, you can mix up the dumpling dough. Drop spoonfuls into the stew, cover, and let it cook a little longer until the veggies are super tender and the dumplings are soft and fluffy.

Tips for Making Amazing Vegan Irish Stew...

• Lots of non-vegan Irish stew recipes call for Guinness. Unfortunately, most Guinness isn't vegan. Guinness is now vegan! It would make a great choice for this stew. Alternatively, check Barnivore to find a good vegan stout.
• Don't like mushrooms? I know I've got a lot of readers that feel this way. Try swapping them out with eggplant or seitan.
• Avoid crowding the pot when you cook the mushrooms, and don't stir them, just flip them halfway through cooking. In order to get some nice browning you'll want a fair amount of contact between the bottom of the pot and the mushrooms. Cook them in batches if needed.

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4.9 from 29 votes

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Vegan Irish Stew with Savory Herb Dumplings

Rich stout beer is the key to creating an intensely flavorful, and totally delicious batch of vegan Irish stew! Top it all off with some fluffy herbed dumplings and you're in vegan comfort food heaven.

Course Entree

Cuisine American, Irish

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 591 kcal

Author Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

For the Stew

• 3 tablespoons olive or canola oil, divided
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped
• 2 medium celery stalks, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle vegan stout beer (such as Sierra Nevada Stout)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 cups chopped cabbage
• 1 small russet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Dumplings

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons unflavored soy or almond milk
• 3 tablespoons olive or canola oil

Instructions

1. Begin by making the stew. Coat the bottom of a large pot with 2 tablespoons of oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms in an even layer. Avoid crowding the pan and cook them in batches if needed. Allow the mushrooms to cook for about 5 minutes, flip, and cook 5 minutes more, until lightly browned on both sides. Remove them from the pot and transfer to a plate.

2. Add the remaining oil to the pot. When the oil is hot, add the celery, carrot, and onion. Sauté for about 10 minutes, until the veggies begin to soften.

3. Stir in the garlic and flour. Sauté about 2 minutes more, until the garlic is very fragrant and the flour evenly coats the veggies.

4. Stir in the stout, broth, tomato paste, cabbage, potato and thyme. Return the mushrooms to the pot. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and allow the mixture to simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. The veggies should be a bit firm at this point. You can add up to a cup of water during simmering if the broth reduces too much.

5. While the stew simmers, make the dumpling dough. Stir the flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, salt, thyme and chives together in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the milk and oil to form a soft and sticky dough. Be careful not to overmix.

6. After the stew has simmered for 10 minutes, taste test the broth and season it with salt and pepper to taste. Then drop 2-3 tablespoon dollops of the dough into the stew. Make sure you've got plenty of room, as the dumplings will expand as they cook.

7. Cover the pot and lower the heat. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes more, until the veggies are tender and the dumplings are fluffy.

8. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Irish Stew with Savory Herb Dumplings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 591 Calories from Fat 212

% Daily Value*

Fat 23.6g36%

Saturated Fat 1.9g10%

Sodium 938mg39%

Potassium 1659mg47%

Carbohydrates 73.9g25%

Fiber 8.5g34%

Sugar 10.7g12%

Protein 17.6g35%

Calcium 250mg25%

Iron 6.1mg34%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.