Ah, Harissa. I almost always have this spicy pepper paste in the fridge to throw on veggies, tofu or to throw in this stew. This vegan Harissa white bean stew is one of the most flavorful and delicious stews I have ever had! It’s not often that I find a healthy stew that I just can’t stop eating. Once I have eaten a bowl of this stew, I will just keep going back for another spoonful out of the pot and then another until I have to stop myself. It’s that good. It’s also one of the easiest meals to throw together and the best thing on a chilly night.
For this vegan Harissa white bean stew, you can use either store bought Harissa, if you can find it, or you can make your very own with easy to find ingredients. I have included the recipe for homemade Harissa, and it makes enough for the stew with some left over to top your stew with. That is what I like to do, put a nice dollop of Harissa on top of my bowl before I eat it.
As I mentioned, I love Harissa! This combination of spicy and sweet with the white beans, caramelized onions and carrots is off the charts amazing. It is crazy how much flavor is in this stew even though it cooks in such a short amount of time. The most work that you need to do is just puree the Harissa if you are making your own. Then just caramelize the onions, saute the carrots and garlic. Those steps are the only ones that really require any thought. The rest of the ingredients are just dumped together to create one of the greatest stews you will ever taste! You will want to make this recipe over and over forever.
Vegan Harissa White Bean Stew
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 1 Medium Sweet onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons Agave syrup
- 6 Cloves Garlic, chopped
- 2 Large Carrots, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato paste
- 1/4 Cup Harissa, store bought or homemade(recipe below)
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh lemon juice
- 28-30 ounces(2 cans) Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 Cups Vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 Sprig Fresh Thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
Harissa paste
- 1/2 Cup Roasted red peppers, from a jar(chopped)
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon Caraway seeds
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon Crushed red pepper, depending on how spicy you want it
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Agave syrup
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- If making your own Harrisa, put all of the Harrisa paste ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Set aside.
- Then, heat the olive oil on medium high in a large soup pot. Add the onions. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Saute, reducing heat to medium, for about 5 minutes. Then drizzle the agave over the onions and toss to coat. Continue sauteing until the onions are nice and brown. About 5-10 more minutes.
- Then add the garlic and carrots. Saute for another 5 minutes to cook the garlic and start to soften the carrots and get some color on them. Season with another pinch of salt and pepper.
- Now, add the tomato paste and 1/4 cup of Harissa to the vegetables and toss to coat them. Saute for just a minute.
- Then add the lemon juice and scrap any bits up off the bottom of the pot.
- Next, add the cans of cannellini beans, toss to combine everything. Then pour the vegetable broth into the pot and add the paprika and the fresh thyme. Stir to combine everything.
- Add a few pinches of salt and pepper. Then heat the stew on medium high, bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10-15 minutes to develop the flavors. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with some extra Harissa on top if desired.
Nicole Miller
All your recipes are so tasty and filling! Thank you for your commitment to this blog and providing such delicious comfort food. I’ve make a handful of your recipes and they are on point. Much appreciated!
Emily G
The FLAVOR is on point. Love that such a simple soup can have such complex and warming flavors. Will make again and again!
Debra
I love soups! I have to say, just when I thought there was nothing more you could do with soup, then I see your recipe for this soup and wow! Thank-you, thank-you…. another keeper. I followed exactly, needs no modifications. Well done!
Kiersten
I am planning on making this as a starter with your vegan chicken milanese for valentines day! I have never seen a homemade harissa recipe, thank you!
Kriss
Complete deliciousness! Thank you for the homemade harissa recipe! Much needed after all the stores here in Paris seemed out of it on their shelves. Will definitely be trying more of your recipes from here on..
Judy
Delicious! I have a recipe for Chickpea Harissa soup but was needing one for white beans, because I react to chickpeas. I also use Miso Mild Harissa to control the amount of spicy. We love this soup. It’s so wonderful on a crisp fall night. Oh, another change I made was rosemary in place of thyme. That was sort of by accident because I had no thyme but did have rosemary. Turns out, that was delicious and we may keep it that way.
Lauren R
I have made this recipe multiple times now, and I just wanted to drop a line to say that it is delicious, warming, easy and also cheap to make! It has found its way onto a pretty regular rotation at my house, where we like to serve it with some toast + Miyoko’s cultured butter + garlic and red pepper flakes.