White Bean Stew with Potatoes and Corn
Don't miss this smoky, savory, veggie-packed white bean stew with potatoes, corn, peas, and spinach. It's vegan, gluten-free comfort food.
Servings: 6
Calories: 293kcal
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper diced
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 cups (950 ml) vegetable broth
- 1 4- ounce 113-gram can diced green chiles
- 1 pound (454 grams) Yukon gold potatoes, diced small
- 16 ounces (454 grams) frozen corn kernels
- 10 ounces (283 grams) frozen peas
- 1 15.5 ounce can white beans drained and rinsed
- 5 ounces (142 grams) baby spinach leaves
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ cup chopped cilantro or scallions
Instructions
- In a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are starting to soften and there's a touch of browning on the bottom of the pot.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, one minute more.
- Stir in the vegetable broth and green chiles. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and add potatoes. Cook, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes depending on size.
- Uncover the pot. Add the corn, peas, and beans and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Add the baby spinach and cook until wilted, a few minutes more.
- Off the heat, stir in the lime juice and cilantro or scallions.
- Ladle into bowls and serve garnished with sour cream and shredded cheese if you like.
Notes
- Canned white beans are easy to keep on hand and easy to work with. I've pictured cannellini here, but you can use any variety.
- Yukon gold or other gold-fleshed potatoes cook up beautifully, retaining their shape when creamy and tender.
- Frozen corn works just as well as fresh, so I reach for it here. I've pictured fire roasted corn because that's what we had on hand when I made the video. It definitely added some extra smokiness to the stew, but I usually make this recipe with regular frozen corn.
- A good vegetable broth adds a lot of mellow flavor and ties the dish together. This is my favorite kind.
- Chili powder refers to the spice blend, not pure ground chili.
- I like to use sweet smoked paprika, but you can use hot smoked paprika instead if you want to add some heat to the stew.
- Diced green chiles in a can are always in our pantry. You can use either mild or hot in this recipe. I use mild.
- As with most stews, the flavors of this dish only meld and improve over time. White bean stew keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week and can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- This dish freezes well for up to a year.
- This recipe is amenable to substitutions. I'd leave the spice blend alone and keep the overall proportion of vegetables to broth intact. Otherwise, you can play to your heart's content. Try swapping in a different variety of beans, sweet potatoes for the Yukons, or another leafy cooking green like kale or collards for the spinach. Just be sure to add the ingredients at the appropriate time so they'll cook through without getting overcooked. (For example, kale takes longer than baby spinach to get tender.) If you're not vegan, I've also been known to toss in some leftover diced sausage or shredded chicken.
Nutrition
Calories: 293kcal | Carbohydrates: 54.1g | Protein: 10.6g | Fat: 4.5g | Fiber: 9.7g