Oh-so-creamy and packed with deliciousness, this Rustic Vegan “Cheeseburger” Stew gives you all the feels of a truly decadent soup with a healthy twist. The best part is that it is super easy to make; you literally throw all the ingredients into the pot, then give a few ingredients a whirl to create the most amazing creaminess you can image. Grab a spoon and dig in to this vegan nod to the classic Cheeseburger soup with a healthy twist. It is sure to have your family running back for seconds. It is totally delicious, rich, and comforting in all the right ways.

Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free and no highly processed ingredients.

Hi there, Ameera here!

Mom and I really enjoy taking old-fashioned classics and converting them to Whole Food Plant Based.  This dish is straight out of the archives of old school recipes.

Back in the day, creamy, dreamy cheeseburger dishes were all the rage. Moms everywhere were finding ways to present tasty “cheeseburger-style” dishes in new and inventive ways.  Some even made them into soups. Now, how creative is that?

This Rustic Vegan “Cheeseburger” Stew is a nod to those creative moms of the 60s and 70s who were all about trying to transform dishes in fun new ways.

Transformation

And now, here we are in 2020 trying to transform those dishes into healthy, creative vegan dishes.  I have to say most Whole Food Plant Based food bloggers are creative folks.

It’s all about finding ways to take classic, unhealthy omnivore dishes and turning them into a healthy, flavorful, vegan dishes. Mom and I love it.

We spend a lot of time exploring conversions; unfortunately, not everything is an easy conversion. Let me tell you, we’ve had a share of kitchen failures along the way!

MmmMmm

This stew is so creamy and dreamy!  Giving the carrot and potato a ride in a high-speed blender is what creates the luxurious texture of this stew.  Once you place that deliciousness back into the stew and mix it up, it creates an ultra-rich and thoroughly tasty stew.

Rustic?

We call it rustic because we rough chopped the celery, carrots, and potatoes so that they are featured in this stew.  No little tidbits of veggies here, they are all front and center!

I’ll let Mom tell you more!

Hi!  Robin here.

This dish came straight out of the 70s, very old school.  Monkey and I loved converting this recipe. It turned out crazy delicious. **Stay tuned for a decadent and cream version in stew form featuring the awesome cashew.**

We hope you give this yumminess a try!  We just know you and your family are going to love it!

If you try this comforting stew, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us!  We would love to hear from you.

Products Used:

• High-Speed blender
• Instant Pot or Ceramic/Enamel Lined Dutch Oven or similarly large stock pot with a tight-fitting lid

Rustic Vegan “Cheeseburger” Stew

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• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 10 Minutes
• Cook Time: 14 Minutes
• Total Time: 24 Minutes (+Rest)
• Yield: 4-5 Servings 1x
• Category: Stew
• Method: Instant Pot/Stovetop
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Oh-so-creamy and packed with deliciousness, this Rustic Vegan “Cheeseburger” Stew gives you all the feels of a truly decadent soup with a healthy twist.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Base Ingredients:

• 1 cup yellow onion, fine dice
• 3 medium carrots, 1-left whole, 2-rough chop *
• 2 medium celery ribs, rough chop
• 2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, 1.5 inch dice, 1-sliced in half *
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 Tablespoon hot sauce *
• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon organic maple syrup
• 1 ½ cups low sodium vegetable broth *
• 1 ½ cups water (or broth) *
• 1 Tablespoon reduced sodium tamari *
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 2/3 cup dry lentils, sorted & rinsed *
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast

Spice/Herb Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
• ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried ground mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
• 1 bay leaf

Optional Toppings:

• Chopped parsley

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Instructions

Instant Pot Instructions

1. Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients (except the bay leaf) in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
2. Add all the Base Ingredients and Spice/Herb Mix, stir well to combine, then tuck the bay leaf into the mixture. Set the Instant Pot to Manual Pressure High for 14 minutes.  When finished, press Cancel and allow to sit for 4 minutes, then do a Quick Release.  Unplug the Instant Pot.
3. Once all the pressure is released, carefully remove the lid. Remove and discard the bay leaf.  Locate and remove the whole carrot and the potato which was cut in half and place them into a high-speed blender with ½ cup of hot water (hot tap water).  Blend on high until smooth, thick, and creamy, then gently stir the mixture into the stew until the whole stew is thick and creamy.

Stove Top Instructions

1. Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients (except the bay leaf) in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
2. Add all the Base Ingredients and Spice/Herb Mix, stir well to combine, then tuck the bay leaves into the mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover with a tight-fitting lid.  Simmer for 40 to 50 minutes or until the lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Once the lentils and potatoes are tender, remove and discard the bay leaf.  Locate and remove the whole carrot and the potato which was cut in half and place them into a high-speed blender with ½ cup of hot water (hot tap water).  Blend on high until smooth, thick, and creamy, then gently stir the mixture into the stew until the whole stew is thick and creamy.

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Notes

*TIPS for Success:

• Instant Pot: If using an Instant Pot, make sure you really stir the mixture well before putting the lid on to cook. Also, stir well after adding the buzzed carrot and potato mixture back into the stew to make sure the creamy mixture gets distributed all throughout.
• Liquids: FYI:  If using an Instant Pot (or stove top), when you remove the lid after the Quick Release, the soup will look very watery.
• Bay Leaf: Do not forget to pull out and discard the bay leaves before emulsifying the stew.
• Stove Top Cooking: Largely dependent upon the size of the potatoes and the lentils selected will determine when you add the potatoes to this stove top pot.  Lentils can vary greatly in cooking times.  The key is that you want to time and coordinate the tenderness of the lentils with the tenderness of the potatoes, so they are both done at the same time.  If unsure, dice the potatoes on the larger side as lentils generally take between 40 to 50 minutes to get tender and you don’t want your potatoes to turn to complete mush.  It is definitely more challenging to coordinate this way. We highly recommend using an Instant Pot if you have one.

*Notes Continued:

*Carrot/Potato:  The reason you are leaving one carrot whole and slicing the largest potato in half is for easy identification and removal.  Both the whole carrot and the sliced large potato will be fished out in the end and placed in a high-speed blender with ½ cup of hot water.  The speed of the blender creates a highly homogenous mixture by overworking the starches which in turn will create a very creamy stew when added back into the pot.  

*Vegetable Stock:   We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.

*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium.  You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.

*Lentils:  We used Palouse Brand Small Brown Lentils (also known as Pardina or Spanish Browns).  We love them because they taste awesome and hold their shape well.

*Water: There is 1 1/2 cups of water in the base ingredients. There is 1/2 cup of hot tap water that is used to blend the potatoes and carrots. This recipe has a total of 2 cups of water.

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

*Serving:  4

*Storage:  Refrigerate and use within 5 days

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