This easy butter bean stew is warming and flavourful, yet it takes just 25 minutes to make. It’s a naturally vegan recipe that’s filling and tasty, just perfect for those super busy weeknights.

A butter bean stew is the perfect cozy treat for a cold night when all you want is to dig into a bowl of goodness and scoop up those beans with your favourite crusty bread.

This butter bean and vegetable stew is ready in just 25 minutes, but there’s absolutely no compromise on flavour.

In fact, the garlic and fresh rosemary infuse the stew with so much flavour, it will be quite difficult not to go for seconds.

Also read: Instant Pot Vegetarian Bean Stew | Medieval Times Copycat Recipe

It’s no secret that I love beans and I cook everything with them, from delicious veggie soups to chilli and even pasta.

The secret to making all these delicious and nutritious meals quickly is canned beans. While I do love the taste of beans cooked from scratch, that’s not an option most of the time.

If you love beans, but your schedule doesn’t allow you to deal with soaking and boiling beans, canned beans are your friend. There’s very little difference in taste if they’re cooked right anyway.

Mediterranean white bean dish with tomatoes on the side

Ingredients and substitutions

Olive oil — A good quality extra virgin olive oil is essential for this Mediterranean bean stew to truly elevate the flavours.

Also read: Easy Italian Bean Stew – The Plant-Based School

Red onion — Any kind of onion works well in this stew, but I prefer the flavour of red onions for the sauce.

Bell peppers — I like to use red peppers with butter beans in this stew, but you can use any color you may have at hand.

Garlic — Fresh garlic is a must in this recipe — don’t use a paste or frozen garlic because you’ll be missing out on so much flavour.

Fresh rosemary — if you don’t have fresh rosemary, you can substitute it with 1 teaspoon dry rosemary. Alternatively, you can use oregano or an Italian seasoning mix.

A bowl of white bean stew with parsley on top

Also read: Hearty Bean Stew – The clever meal

Chopped tomatoes — Just like in the case of oil, try to use the best quality chopped tomatoes you can because it really makes a difference in the flavours.

Butter beans — When using butter beans from a can, all you have to do is rinse and drain them. If you’re using butter beans that you’ve cooked from dried, you need to cook them before using them in the stew. A pressure cooker is always a good idea to speed up that process.

How do you make butter bean stew?

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep pan that has a lid. Saute the red onion, carrot and red pepper for 3-5 minutes over medium heat until they soften.
Next, stir in the garlic and fresh rosemary and continue to cook for another minute until fragrant.
Stir in the tomato paste, vegetable stock, chopped tomatoes and butter beans. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and simmer on low-medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add the fresh parsley, season to taste, and serve with a salad or some crusty bread.

Recipe notes and tips

You can make a big batch of this butter bean stew as it will keep well in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 5 days. Reheat it in the microwave or on the stove — you may need to add a dash of water if the sauce looks too thick.
If you’d like the stew to have a bit of a kick, you can add a chopped red or green chilli with the garlic and rosemary.
Simmering the stew for just 10 minutes is enough since the beans are already cooked. However, if you have more time and want to allow the flavours to develop more, you can simmer it for up to 30 minutes (you may need to add some extra water or stock).

If you liked this easy butter bean stew, you might also like some of my other easy vegan recipes: