Our Slow Cooker Vegan Beef Stew and Dumplings recipe is traditional home-cooking at its very best. Each bite provides a deeply savoury veggie stew enriched with sweet potatoes and the fluffiest, softest, melt-in-the-mouth, delicious dumplings. You have just got to try these easy dumplings as they are just little fluffy pillows of homely tastiness.You can also prepare this stew on the stove-top and we include an easy guide below.
Add all the stew ingredients to the slow cooker and mix well.Push the textured vegetable protein chunks down below the stock as much as possible.(Half way through cooking if possible give the stew a little stir and push the chunks down if necessary. But don't worry if you can't do this step!)
Set the slow cooker to low for 6-7 hours, medium for 5 hours, or high for 3-4 hours. Although exact times will depend on your slow cooker and how thick your veggie chunks have been cut.
If cooking on the high setting check your vegetables after 3 hours as they may be cooked through, and then the dumplings can be added.
Give the stew a good stir and add extra salt and pepper if required.
Prepare the dumplings:
Once the veggies are soft prepare the dumplings. Turn the slow cooker to the high setting while making the dumplings.
Mix the flour, milk, mayonnaise, thyme, and a few pinches of salt and pepper, together in a bowl. The mixture will be a thick sticky wet dough.
Using a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop to create 8-10 dumplings plonking each one gently into the stew. Try not to let each doughball stick to another to much but don't worry if they do as they will be fine.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and leave for 20 minutes.Gently flip each doughball over.Cook for another 20-25 minutes with the lid on.
Serve right away or use the keep warm setting for a short while.
Stove-top version: [use a large non-stick soup or stew pot]
Add the stew ingredients [increase the water to 1.9 litres / about 8 cups] and add an extra stock cube] to a large pot, bring to a gentle boil, and simmer the stew for at least 40-45 minutes, the veggies should be nice and soft, before adding the dumplings. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
Use a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon to scoop up 8-10 dumplings and add to the top of the stew spacing them out so that they are in an even layer. Pop a lid over the pot and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove the lid and flip the dumplings over, but don't worry if they are not flipped completely. Place the lid back on and gently boil for another 10 minutes.
If at the end of cooking you'd like to thicken up the stew you can use a cornflour or cornstarch slurry - which is 1-2 tablespoons of cornflour mixed with 1-2 tablespoons of water to a smooth runny paste. Drizzle the slurry into the stew and stir well around the dumplings!
Gently simmer for a few minutes, stirring frequently until the gravy has thickened. Alternatively, if your vegetable stock is not too salty you can thicken up the stew with some vegan-friendly instant gravy granules or powder.
Notes
Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
Leftovers will keep fresh in the refrigerator, within a covered container, for up to 3 days.
Or freeze for up to 2-3 months.
Reheat by placing in a saucepan and gently reheating until piping hot. Extra stock may be required if the gravy has become very thick. Although as the gravy heats it will become thinner.
We used meat-free beef flavour OXO cubes. If using vegan beef Oxo cubes you may need 3 as they are smaller than other stock cubes. Alternatively use a different beef flavour vegan stock or an ordinary vegetable stock. Using a vegan beef flavour stock does provide a rich, brown gravy colour and flavour.
We used a 3.5 litre slow cooker which has a ceramic cooking pot.