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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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.
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
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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.
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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.
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Stir in the garlic and flour. Sauté about 2 minutes more, until the garlic is very fragrant and the flour evenly coats the veggies.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Ladle into bowls and serve.
My husband loves to try new Irish dishes so I can't wait to make this for him!
I haven't tried the recipe yet because I have a question? I am vegan and do not use alcohol. I do realize this is "Irish Stew" but is there something I could use as a substitute for the alcohol and still get a similar flavor? I really like the sounds of the stew and the dumplings.
Hi Kim! You could just leave it out and the stew should still be delicious. I haven't tried anything to replicate the flavor of the beer, but perhaps a tiny bit of marmite or miso paste would do the trick.
I used stout the first time I made this recipe several years ago. I make it several times a year. The stout made it a bit bitter for me so I make it now without any alcohol and it still tastes wonderful. I add a bit of Braggs Liquid Aminos and Kitchen Bouquet if you have it. I also use Better Than Bouillon No Beef for an more beefy flavor.
I used a non-alcoholic stout with great success!
Has anyone tried to freeze this? Looking for make ahead dishes.
I haven't tried freezing it - my only concern would be that freezing can mess with the texture of potatoes. If I have a chance to freeze some I'll update the post with my results!
Hi found this recipe this week and made it today (23 Oct 2021) - our verdict 5 stars. As we are in the UK I had to substitute all purpose flour and used plain flour instead. Also, for the dumplings I used my mother-in-law’s old English recipe for suet dumplings, which is just Self Raising flour, vegetable suet, mixed herbs, salt and pepper and cold water. Hubby didn’t miss the meat at all 😂😂
I freeze it all the time and it is great. Keep the veggies on the not quite soft side and pick the larger sized dumplings to freeze since they do have a tendency to break down when reheated.
I have frozen this recipe and it works fine. Keep the veggies so they are just about tender and I choose the larger dumplings to freeze since they do have a tendency to break down when you reheat the stew.
Any ideas for subbing the mushrooms?
Eggplant, cauliflower or parsnips would all work well!
Has anyone tried this with gluten free 1:1 flour or other non-wheat flour?
Where does all the fat come from that’s listed in the nutrition information? I can’t figure it out….
Delicious. Did not have beer so I used 2 TBS blackstrap molasses and 1/2 TBS Braggs Aminos.
I just made this and it’s delicious! I won’t lie, I was skeptical when I first tried the broth after adding the broth, stout, etc. But once it simmered for a bit the bitterness from the stout went away and it turned into a delicious, rich and well-balanced stew.