Easy Vegan Brown Lentil Stew

This is a super easy recipe for a brown lentil stew that not only requires just a handful of ingredients, but is also nutritious, healthy, and a great staple meal to create when you’re pantry is running low.

I’ve been eating this brown lentil stew (which so happens to be vegan) for as long as I can remember. It has always been a staple in my family, and it never gets old.

Both my mum and grandmother have similar Dalmatian recipes called Sočivo/Leča, but this is how my mum makes it.

As soon as autumn (aka fall for all our US friends) creeps in, this meal becomes pretty much a weekly rotation. It’s very affordable to make, ridiculously easy, packed with protein, and relatively quick for how many serves it makes.

I like to make this lentil stew in bulk and eat it over two days for lunch and dinner. It gets better with age as the flavours have had some time to mature.

I normally don’t freeze it because there’s potato in it but if you wanted to do so, you can swap the potatoes for carrots and celery, and it will freeze really well.

What kind of stock is best for this recipe?

I find it pretty tricky to find a stock that isn’t full of fillers like maltodextrin, starches, sugar, or one that doesn’t use palm oil.

Over the years I’ve created my own recipe for a veggie broth and have found a stock powder that I love.

For this recipe, you can use:

• Store bought liquid vegetable stock
• Vegetable stock cubes (bouillon cubes)
• Stock powder (I recommend Nutra Organics Vegetable Broth)
• Homemade vegetable broth

I normally use stock powder or water for this dish as I never buy liquid stock from the shops. Boiled water will be just fine if that’s all you have. Feel free to experiment and add other veggies in there to make it more of a lentil and vegetable stew.

My mum always made hers with water, as the flavours are very simple in this dish. She said jokingly “I’ve never used stock in my life!”

Do you need to soak brown lentils?

Brown lentils do need to be soaked before being added to any dish. Normally 6-12 hours is ideal. The longer they soak, the better.

I soak them overnight to make sure that they rehydrate properly. This also helps with digestion.

An even better trick to use if you get bloated by beans and lentils easily is to bring them to a boil (after soaking overnight) and cook them for 10 minutes first, drain that first water, give them a quick rinse, and then add to the pot with the rest in step 3.

If you want to slightly sprout them, you can soak them over 2-3 days, changing the water every 12-24 hours. You’ll see that they have sprouted when they start to get little white tails.

Always give the lentils a rinse before adding them to your dish. You can cook them separately in water or stock and add them to your dish cooked. If you’re making a soup or stew, I’d cook them in the dish so that they absorb the flavours of the other ingredients.

If you’re using them for a salad, for instance, cook them on their own and give them a quick rinse under cold water when they’re soft to stop the cooking process. They can be used in a salad like my super easy lentil salad.

Short on time? You can also cook your lentils in a pressure cooker if you have one. This speeds up the process and you can avoid having to soak them beforehand.

Do brown lentils take longer to cook?

Brown lentils do take a little longer to cook compared to their other lentil counterparts like puy/French lentils, black beluga lentils, and red lentils, purely due to their size.

This is why soaking them is so important.

In saying that, if you’re rushed for time or want to use other lentils in this stew, you can swap them out for puy/French lentils. The flavour will be slightly different.

I wouldn’t recommend red lentils as they would turn into a completely different dish. If you want to use red lentils, I have a soup and a stew recipe for those you can try.

What can you serve with this stew?

This easy brown lentil stew is a Dalmatian recipe that is a family-friendly meal, super cost-effective, hearty dish that you can serve with a fresh salad like this Caprese salad, or we like it with fermented vegetables like cabbage and carrot. If you ferment your own veggies, I’d recommend trying a carrot, turmeric, and garlic combination. It’s pretty amazing!

It’s also normally topped with sour cream or cooking cream, however, since we’re keeping this dish plant-based, you can substitute it for vegan sour cream, oat cream, soy cream, or even plant-based unsweetened natural yoghurt.

Lentils in a stew are a great way to add more fibre and protein to your meal and give it that comforting boost. If you love this recipe, you’ll love my other lentil dishes!

Other lentil recipes you’ll love:

1. One-Pot French Lentil, Mushroom and Sage Stew
2. Easy Vegan Red Lentil Soup
3. Wholesome Vegan Lentil Lasagna
4. Vegan Dal Makhani (Black Lentil Dal)
5. Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Vegan-Friendly)
6. Quick & Simple Vegan Lentil Salad
7. My Lentil Spaghetti Bolognese (Vegan)
8. Red Lentil Stew with Potatoes and Peas
9. Vegan Lentil Loaf With a Maple-Balsamic Glaze
10. Warm Vegan Lentil Salad with Tempeh (Gluten-Free)

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