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 when I shared my vegan shepherd's pie recipe back in 2016. But then last year I posted a very un-Irish Greek pizza. And this year I failed at making my Irish recipe into a pie. Ah well.
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 vegan 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.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Oil. Use olive oil, canola oil, or any high-heat oil that you normally like to cook with.
- Cremini mushrooms. Just about any variety of fresh mushrooms can be substituted if you'd like. White button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms (even though they're totally not Irish), or even oyster mushrooms will all work. Not a fan of mushrooms? Try swapping them out with eggplant or seitan.
- Celery.
- Carrots.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- All-purpose flour. Whole wheat flour should work fine if you'd like to make your stew a bit healthier.
- Stout beer. Stout is a dark, intensely flavorful beer brew. Make sure the stout you use is vegan by running the brand through Barnivore. Guiness and Sierra Nevada stout are both vegan. Porter is a good alternative to stout if it's not available.
- Vegetable broth.
- Tomato paste.
- Cabbage. I used green cabbage, but red cabbage will work just fine as well, even if it gives your stew a different look.
- Potato. The recipe calls for a russet potato, but a couple of red or gold potatoes will work just fine.
- Fresh thyme. Use fresh! Normally I'm okay with subbing dried herbs, but since we're putting thyme in our dumplings, fresh is the way to go for this recipe.
- Salt & black pepper.
- Nutritional yeast flakes. Not to be confused with baker's yeast! Nutritional yeast is a product that you can buy in the natural foods section of most supermarkets. It will give the dumplings a cheesy flavor.
- Baking powder.
- Fresh chives.
- Non-dairy milk. Use a variety that's unsweetened and unflavored. The recipe suggests soy or almond, but if you need an alternative, check out my guide to dairy-free milks.
How It's Made
The following 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!
The stew starts with some mushrooms. Sauté them in some oil until they're tender and browned. Avoid crowding the pan — this may mean cooking them in batches.
Take the mushrooms out of the pot and transfer them to a plate when they're done.
Add some carrots, onions, celery to the pot. Sauté everything for a bit, until the veggies begin to soften.
Stir in the flour and garlic. Cook everything for about a minute more.
Add your stout to the pot, along with some broth, tomato paste, cabbage, potatoes and thyme. Let it simmer for a bit.
While the stew simmers, you can mix up the dumpling dough, which is made from a mix of flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, salt, herbs, non-dairy milk and oil. Drop spoonfuls of the dough into the stew, cover, and let it cook a little longer until the veggies are super tender and the dumplings are soft and fluffy.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan Irish stew will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 days. The dumplings will get a bit soggy as it sits, but it will still taste delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is! Guinness removed animal products from their stout in 2018, and it's not totally vegan.
You can! You can simply leave it out, or try an ingredient or two to replace the savory flavor that stout supplies. A few options that have worked for myself and readers are non-alcoholic beer, marmite, miso paste, soy sauce or liquid aminos, and balsamic vinegar.
Probably. I haven't tested a gluten-free version, but I believe an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend should work to thicken the stew and make the dumplings. You'll also need to use a gluten-free beer. Try one of the gluten-free stouts on this list, making sure to check with Barnivore that the brand you choose is also vegan.
More Vegan Stew Recipes
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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 Guinness or 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 black 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.
Hi. looks yummy but how can we make healthier as in lower fat & sodium pls?
Thank you! Most of the sodium comes from the broth, so use a reduced sodium variety and cut down on the amount of salt in the dumplings to lower the sodium content. You can also sauté the veggies in water, and instead of sautéing the mushrooms in oil simply add them to the stew at the same time as the broth and beer.
OMG this is delish! Thank you Alissa!!! I doubled the recipe as it is a lot of prep, and I'll freeze a lot of it. I don't like stout so I used the suggestions of Blackstrap molasses and liquid aminos, as well as a bit of Vegan ham base and Vegan beef stock instead of vegetable stock. I am dieting, so I didn't make the dumplings. Maybe after I lose more weight! If it is this good now, I am very sure it will be even better reheated tomorrow. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!
This recipe has become a St. Patrick's Day tradition in our home! I have made it the last 3 years, and my kids have started making sure I am prepared to make it in the days before March 17. My daughter, who is 9, had been mentioning all this week that we HAD to have the stew and dumplings, how it's a tradition now, and how we can't celebrate without it lol. Even my husband raves about this stew to his coworkers every year! This recipe was an absolute treasure to find, and I look forward to making it for many more St. Patrick's Days to come! Thank you so much for creating something that helps bring the family together!
Alissa,
This stew is delicious! We made it for the first time last night and all I can say is 'Oh My!'.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Also, I love reading the creative ideas in the comments!
We make this recipe all the time and love it. It’s the closest veggie version to my Irish nana’s beef stew that I’ve found, I’m sure that’s thanks to the stout. My nana can’t cook much anymore but helps roll the dumplings when we make this together. We’ve also served it with veggie sausages rather than lentils which worked really well too. Thank you!