Vegan Campfire Stew [slow cooker & stove-top recipe]

To prepare a gluten-free campfire stew you will need to use a gluten-free soy sauce such as Tamari soy sauce, and check that your vegan Worcestershire Sauce is gluten-free. If not you can replace the Worcestershire sauce with extra soy sauce. Lastly, check that your canned baked beans are free from gluten ingredients.

In the UK, canned baked beans refers to beans mainly haricot beans that are cooked in a tomato sauce and canned. Haricot beans are also known as Navy beans in other countries. Mixed beans in a tomato sauce are also available and these can be used instead of ordinary baked beans. Popular choices of baked beans in the UK include Branston beans and Heinz beans both of which are vegan-friendly, however, branded cans of beans are now quite expensive as food costs continue to rise, so supermarket own brand of baked beans are great budget-friendly substitutes and they are usually vegan-friendly.

Alternatively, you can prepare a batch of your own home-made Baked Beans in a Tomato Sauce or even substitute the baked beans for a home-made batch of Boston Baked Beans.

It's easy and quick to prepare campfire stew on the stovetop. Simply add all the ingredients to a non-stick pan, skillet, or similar, along with 2 cups [500ml] of vegetable stock. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer until the vegetables are soft which usually takes around 45 minutes. If the stew becomes too thick, add a little extra water or stock.

Another option, is to sauté the celery, carrots, onions, and bell pepper in 1-2 tablespoons of oil until nearly soft, and then add the rest of the ingredients. This first step can reduce the cooking time required for the stew as well as increase the flavours.

Image below: Campfire stew cooked on the stove-top.

If you're cooking your campfire stew for a cook-out, BBQ, or over a campfire then baked potatoes roasted on the camp fire hot coals are a great accompaniment. Prick the potatoes all over the skin and then wrap them up in a double layer of foil, place somewhere safe on the hot coals until cooked.

Alternatively bake your potatoes in an oven or microwave. I like to soften the potatoes using a microwave and then crisp them up by rubbing a little oil over the skin and finishing them in an air-fryer or oven until the skins are crispy and brown. You can also use this method to bake sweet potatoes.

A few more ideas:

* Home-made Cornbread Muffins [gluten-free recipe included within the post recipe notes] or a slice of this Slow Cooker Cornbread.

* A slice of home-made Slow Cooker Boston Brown Bread.

* A wedge of this Irish Soda Bread [wheaten bread].

* Buttermilk Scones

* Carrot hotdogs topped with the camp fire stew is a delicious meal that my kids especially love.

* The campfire stew filling can be used as a vegan sloppy Joes filling by stuffing it into a bread roll. If you would like a different recipe for Vegan Sloppy Joes then do have a look at our family favourite recipe.

* A cooked grain such as Quinoa, couscous, rice, or barley.

* Vegan coleslaw, either shop-bought or home-made. I like to prepare an easy home-made coleslaw by mixing vegan mayonnaise with shredded red cabbage, grated carrot, and finely sliced red onion.

* Potato wedges, fries, or chips.

Mashed potatoes or mashed root vegetables such as turnips [rutabaga], mashed celeriac, mashed carrots and parsnips, or try this Old Fashioned British Champ which is a tasty mix of mashed potatoes, mashed carrots, and cabbage.

*Corn-on-the-cob, or a mix of cooked frozen peas and sweetcorn.

* Pasta, spaghetti pasta, or thick pasta noodles.

* Tortilla wraps: use the stew as a filling along with crisp lettuce leaves.

* Oven roasted large tomatoes are also delicious served with campfire stew as they provide a juicy burst of flavour. I like to roasted tomatoes in an oven with no additions for about 15-20 minutes at 180 Fan / 200 Celsius / 392 Fahrenheit / Gas 6. Roasting tomatoes are a great way to use up tomatoes or cherry tomatoes that have gone a bit soft or wrinkly but still perfectly fine.

* I often serve my family's campfire stew with mashed potatoes and steamed cabbage. My kids like nutritional yeast flakes mixed through the cabbage once it's cooked. Even our 2 dogs love cabbage with nutritional yeast!

Yes, here are a few suggestions:

* Instead of canned chopped or diced tomatoes, you could use tomato pasta sauce or tomato passata.

* Replace the baked beans with canned mixed beans in a tomato sauce, or canned kidney beans in a tomato or chilli sauce, or prepare your own home-made Vegan Baked Beans.

* If jackfruit isn't available or you're not keen, then substitute with chopped firm tofu or tempeh, or diced mushrooms. Smoked tofu is a particularly nice option. Alternatively, use a can of chickpeas or lentils instead of the Jackfruit.

* Replace any of the vegetables with courgette [zucchini], eggplant [aubergine], butternut squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, etc.

* The granulated sugar can be replaced with your regular sugar or syrup.

* Replace the vegan Worcestershire sauce with the same amount of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar.

* Smoked paprika can be replaced with regular paprika or sweet paprika. Alternatively try chipotle powder or paste.

* The nutritional yeast flakes and the liquid smoke are optional ingredients but do add nice flavours so are recommended if you have them.

***Do keep in mind that any adaptations or substitutions that you make may change the overall flavour profile of the finished campfire stew but of course the ingredients are all tasty so your finished dish will still be nice***

It's easy to prepare canned jackfruit as its just a case of draining the liquid and then giving the jackfruit a quick rinse under a running cold tap.

For some recipes the jackfruit may need to be pulled [shredded using a couple of forks] before using or for this campfire stew recipe simply add all the pieces of jackfruit straight into the cooking pot as they will be pulled at the end of cooking.

You may notice pieces of the jackfruit core or tougher parts amongst the fibrous bits, but there is no need to remove these as they can be safely eaten and will soften up once cooked.

It's really easy to pull jackfruit pieces so that it resembles pulled pork or chicken. Add the pieces of jackfruit to a cutting or chopping board and use two cutlery forks to pull or scrape apart the fibrous pieces of jackfruit. Its the same method that is used for pulling pork, and it's easier to pull if the jackfruit has been cooked first.