If you are a veggie lover, this recipe is for you!
Lentil stew with a million vegetables in it!
This is one of those recipes where you feel super healthy and full of energy when you’re done eating, not the slightest bit sluggish or weighed down. It’s perfect for starting the new year off on a healthy foot… especially if your new year’s resolution is to eat more veggies.
The stew has a million of them, remember?
Eh, close enough. 
A few days before Christmas, I stocked up on a million veggies (with an emphasis on mushrooms) from the Asian market, and this stew was a way to use them all up! The recipe is adapted from a lentil tagine recipe found in The Whole Foods Cookbook, and it’s the same lentil-veggie stew pictured in the post about what I ate for Christmas dinner.
“1 Million Dollar” Vegetable Stew
(with an option for slow-cooker lentil stew)
- 1.5 cups onion, chopped (190g)
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (15g)
- 3 tbsp olive oil (If desired, you can get away with 1 tbsp. Technically you can omit; it will just be better and more flavorful with the oil)
- 1 1/2 cups bell peppers, sliced or diced (350g)
- 4-6 carrots, sliced (95g)
- 1 cup celery, chopped (140g)
- 6 cups sliced mushrooms (Any variety will do; feel free to mix and match. I used 300g button mushrooms, 150g portabellas, and 350g shiitakes)
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (30g)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste (30g)
- 2 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/3 cup dry lentils (200g) (See nutrition link below for all substitution notes)
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (360g)
- 2 15oz cans diced tomatoes (I used regular, not unsalted.)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 5oz box raw spinach
- 1 1/2 tbsp grated lemon zest (important)
Heat a large saucepan, then add the oil and onion. Sauté 5 minutes, until onions begin to brown. Add the garlic, peppers, carrots, and celery, and cook 5 more minutes. Then add everything else up to the cumin, and cook 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Now add all but the spinach and lemon zest. (If you have a crockpot, you can transfer the ingredients to your crockpot at this time.) Cover and cook on low until the lentils are soft and have absorbed most of the liquid– it takes about an hour on the stovetop. Time will vary if you use a slow cooker, depending on the strength and size of your particular crock pot. Add spinach and lemon at the very end, and cook 2-3 minutes until the spinach wilts. This recipe makes 8 servings (or 6 larger “Katie-sized” servings).
View Lentil Stew Nutrition Facts
Also see above link for substitution notes.
Great recipe, I have done it twice now. I omitted the lemon, but added can of coconut milk at the end when you add the spinach.
I just ate two bowls of this.
I was low on mushrooms so added a zucchini and a little squash.
Delicious.
I understand that tomatillos have a citrusy flavor. If I add them to the recipe, do you think I could skip the lemon? Or would it be inadvisable to add them at all?
I actually tried this and added three to the recipe. Other than the slightest spike in citrusy flavor, it tasted exactly the same. Thank you though!
Just wanted so stop by and say how much I loved this recipe! I made it a few weeks ago for my non-vegan (but supportive) parents and they loved it! There’s just three of us so we had some awesome leftovers for the week. I replaced the mushrooms with some different veggies and the whole thing turned out perfectly. Thanks Katie, I love your dinner recipes!
Hi Katie, I LOVE your site & recipes- cannot wait to try them! I don’t have a laptop so is there an easy way to print the basic recipe since my PC is not in the kitchen?? Thanks!
The best way to print is to hi-light the recipe itself, right click and hit copy; then open a new Word document and hit paste. Then you can name the recipe and save it in a CCK folder, and print that document as needed.
quite a lot of work to get it printed isn’t there some way the web site could have a print button. I’m 70 & quite computer illeterate
All newer recipes (recipes posted in 2015 and beyond) do have a print option, thanks to reader feedback like yours! 🙂
Thank you for some very interesting veggie recipes, I am so tired of finding some sort of meat in each recipe I look up, so thanks and I will be visiting your website more often.
Hello!
How long would you suggest cooking it in the crock pot? I am just beginning using a crock pot for meals, so I am new to this! Thank you!
Cook until lentils are tender. Time will depend on your crock pot.
I made this tonight and it was super good! I didn’t have fennel seeds so I used dill weed instead. Still great! Next time I’ll make sure I make it way in advance because I didn’t end up eating it until 8:00 by the time the lentils were soft. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Katie,
I just wanted to take this time to let you know how much I appreciate this blog and all the effort you put into it for all of us readers. I have been a avid follower of this blog for about two years now, and I am only 14 years old! I was looking for references to lead a healthier lifestyle, and your recipes have helped me to accomplish this, along with a few other factors such as exercise and overall more of an understanding of my own wellness. Some of my favorite recipes are this one, your banana pancakes, 24 carrot cupcakes, and crustless pumpkin pie- all of which have been approved by my dear not-so-healthy siblings and tasteful parents! It helps me a lot to have a variety of interesting recipes so that making and eating healthy meals and snacks does not become tiresome. I also read every single one of your posts and love how you are so personable and friendly to your readers and seem like a wonderful person in general. Thank you so much for helping me onto a better, healthier path! I hope you receive enough gratitude for what you do!
Sincerely,
Brooke
P.S I have yet to become a vegan, but I have gone from a flexitarian to a vegetarian over the past few months. I’m hoping to switch over completely sometime in the future, but for now being in a meat-loving family it is too difficult and cumbersome! Thanks for inspiring me!
Hi Katie!
I previously typed up a very long comment but I do not think that it posted. I’ll summarize it instead. So, I am a 14 year old girl who has been reading your blog for 2 years now. Your blog was one of the first outside resources that helped me begin a healthier lifestyle. I appreciate the effort you put into all your recipes and the kindness you show to all of your readers, and I can’t thank you enough for all of the variety of recipe ideas you have given me. My absolute favorite recipe on this website is this one, and my entire carnivorous family approves as well! Thank you so much for all that you do.
Sincerely,
Brooke
Thank you so much, Brooke! Sometimes messages automatically go to my spam folder for no apparent reason… sorry if that happened to yours. I really appreciate the sweet words!