Italian bean stew

5 from 4 votes

This Italian bean stew is easy, fulfilling, and delicious, made with simple ingredients that you might already have in your pantry.

It's a great recipe for a quick but fulfilling homemade dinner, ready in just over 30 minutes, but also great as a meal prep recipe.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Beans, Plant-Based

Servings: people

Calories: 156kcal

Author: Nico

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
10 leaves sage or rosemary
1 small chili pepper or chili powder
1 large can of 28 ounces or 800 grams of whole peeled canned tomatoes
2 small cans of 15 ounces or 400 grams each of beans cranberry beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans (that's about 480 grams of drained beans)
salt & pepper to taste
1 handful parsley

Finely chop onion, celery and carrot. You can use a food processor if you like.
Warm up the olive oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add the chopped vegetables and fry on medium heat for 5 minutes, adding a dash of water if necessary.
Finely chop the sage leaves and the chili pepper and add it to the pan with the other vegetables. Keep cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the canned tomatoes to the pan, rinse the tomato can with ½ cup of water, and add that to the pan too.
Season with a generous pinch of salt, and pepper. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Crush the tomatoes with a fork, then rinse the beans and add them to the pan. Stir and let simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Taste the stew, adjust for salt and pepper, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving on toasted bread, polenta, rice, cous cous, or on top of your favourite grain.
Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley on top, and if you like, a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Nutritional values are just for the bean stew, without polenta, bread, or couscous.