This beautiful and healthy chickpea and vegetable stew is the perfect light and healthy family meal. It’s quick and easy to make and can be eaten both hot and cold making it the perfect summer dish.
There is nothing more refreshing and satisfying than a bright bowl of turmeric chickpea and vegetable stew. This stew is packed with nutrients and is the perfect pick-me-up when you’re feeling sick.
This stew is bursting with flavours. The fresh produce, though stewed, makes this stew taste refreshing and light. I actually enjoy this both hot and cold. Think gazpacho but with cooked veggies instead! Don’t knock it until you try it!
I promise you this might become the new summer stew. In its cold form, it can be the perfect cooling dish in the middle of a hot summer day.
Preparing Turmeric Chickpea Stew
Ingredients
Produce
Swiss chard: Swiss chard: Chard or Swiss chard is a leafy green with tougher stalks that are often cooked separately from the greens. The stalks can be white, red or yellow without chaning the taste or nutrients. This leafy green is packed with vitamins K, A and C and and is a good source of magnesium and potassium.
Potatoes: I use yellow flesh potatoes in this recipe. Yellow potatoes are a bit more sweet and softer so overcooking them will make them mushy quickly. White flesh potatoes are a bit more starchy and will hold their shape better so feel free to use white flesh potatoes instead.
Carrot: This root vegetable is slightly sweet, bright and filled with vitamin A and fibre. Baby-cut carrots are just smaller pieces cut from a larger carrot. Carrots are rich in potassium, fiber and vitamin C and antioxidants.
Onion: Onion is a very common vegetable that is used both raw and cooked in food preparation. It has a sharp flavour raw that often sweetens once cooked. There are many varieties of onions, some that are milder than others. We use the common onion or yellow onion in this recipe.
Garlic: Garlic is a bulb that is edible and is grown in soil. Though the green shoots it sprouts, called garlic scapes, are also edible, we are referring to the actual bulb that the scapes grow from. Garlic bulbs are made up of multiple cloves and depending on the variety you may have anywhere from 4 to 10 cloves, if not more. This is important to know because recipes will often call for a specific number of cloves which can vary in size greatly.
Cabbage: There are many varieties of cabbage the most common, in North America, being the green cabbage and purple, also referred to as red, cabbage. This is an annual vegetable that grows in a head with dense leaves. Cabbage is packed with nutrients and is low in calories making it an excellent addition to most meals.
Pantry
Vegetable stock: I use vegetable stock in this recipe because of its mild flavour. It also makes this soup vegetarian. Vegetable stock is made by cooking
vegetables and some spices to release the flavours. The liquid is the broth or stock that is then used for other means, such as the base for this cauliflower soup.Chickpeas: Also called garbanzo beans, chickpeas are a legume, are beige in colour and somewhat round in shape. They are high in protein, fiber and iron. They are relatively mild in flavour and make a great meat substitute in many dishes.
Diced Tomatoes: These tomatoes are chopped and cooked then canned. Canned doesn’t necessarily mean in a can although this is how you are most likely to find them in the grocery store. Canning is a process of preserving food like the ones I used which are in a jar that I canned myself.
Sugar: White or granulated sugar is refined sugar made from either cane sugar or beet sugar. It is completely freed of molasses through the refining process and ground to granules smaller than salt.
Olive oil: I use olive oil for this recipe because of its mild flavour. Olive oil is the fat extracted from olives. The least processed is extra virgin olive oil, which I use in this recipe.
Bay leaves: Bay leaves are the leaves of the bay laurel tree. Bay leaves are most often added to dishes whole and then removed after cooking, before serving. When used in their dry form they don’t soften during the cooking process so are not pleasant to eat.
Turmeric: Turmeric is a plant from the same family as ginger. On the outside, it looks just like ginger but peeling it reveals a bring yellow, almost orange flesh. For this recipe, we use dry or powdered turmeric which is a dried and ground form of the spice.
Dried Marjoram: Marjoram is a perennial herb from the mint family. It has a strong flavour, especially in its dried form, that has similar undertones as oregano and thyme. Marjoram is native to the Mediterranean but has spread across many continents. It is typically grown for cooking purposes.
Maggi seasoning: Add umami flavour to your soups, stews and sauces with this flavour enhancer. Made up of fermented wheat and some added flavours this seasoning is a must in every kitchen.
How to Make Chickpea and Vegetable Stew
Since we’re using so much fresh produce there is a bit of chopping involved. Luckily it takes only about 5 minutes to get everything prepped before you start cooking. Then finish off the prepping at the same time as you cook.
Step 1: Prep the veggies
The first veggies that you will start with are the onions, carrots, potatoes and Swiss chard. Wash everything then peel the onion, carrots and potatoes and trim the stems of the Swiss chard. Next, chop everything into about ¼ in pieces.
Now add oil to a Dutch oven and heat it up on medium heat.
While the oil is warming you can start chopping the cabbage and peel the garlic.
Step 2: Sautee
Once the oil is hot, add the onions and carrots and sautee until the veggies soften.
Approximately 2– 3 minutes.
Next, add the cabbage, Swiss chard and potatoes and cook for another 3–4 minutes stirring frequently to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.
TIP: If you like a bit of spice add some chili flakes to the Dutch oven now for some heat.
Step 3: Stew
Now add the stock, turmeric, marjoram, bay leaves and salt and pepper. Cover the Dutch oven with the lid and simmer on low for 15 minutes.
Step 4: Final touches
While the stew is cooking, open the can of chickpeas and add it to a strainer over the sink. Rinse using cold water. Then open the can of diced tomatoes.
Once the timer goes off, add the chickpeas to the Dutch oven. Then add the tomatoes but without the liquid. I use a slotted spoon or tongs to get the diced tomatoes out of the can and into the Dutch oven.
Also, add the sugar, stir and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.
TIP: If you want to double the protein and almost double the fibre, add a can of lentils now too.
Substitutions
Swiss Chard: You can use and variety of chard or other dark leafy greens like kale or even bok choy.
Turmeric: You can turn this into a curry by adding curry powder instead of, or along with the turmeric.
Potatoes: If you prefer you can use sweet potatoes instead of yellow or white flesh potatoes. Note that sweet potatoes will cook about 5 minutes faster so take that into account when setting timers.
Chickpeas: You can easily use canned lentils instead of chickpeas. Or if you want more protein add both canned chickpeas and lentils to this stew.
Serving Turmeric Chickpea and Vegetable Stew
This stew has everything you need all in one bowl. If you like, you can serve the stew with some steamed naan or other bread of your choice. You can also top your bowl with fresh parsley.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Vegan Turmeric Chickpea and Vegetable Stew gluten-free?
All you have to do to make this dish gluten-free is skip the Maggi seasoning and make sure there is no gluten in the stock you are using. That’s it! Otherwise this is the perfect vegan gluten-free chickpea stew.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
Are you looking for dinner ideas? Check out our recipes:
Vegan Turmeric Chickpea and Vegetable Stew Recipe
Equipment
- Dutch oven or large soup pot
- Knife
- Kitchen scale
- Slotted spoon or tongs
- Can opener
Ingredients
- 400 ml canned chickpeas
- 2-3 cups Swiss chard 6 leaves
- 800 ml canned diced tomatoes
- 450 g potatoes
- 1 L vegetable stock
- 145 g carrot 1 large
- 70 g onion 1 small
- 2 Cloves garlic
- 200 g cabbage
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tbsp Maggi seasoning optional – skip for gluten free
- ½ tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp chilli flakes optional
- 540 ml canned lentils optional
Instructions
- Peel and dice the carrot, onions, potatoes and Swiss chard.450 g potatoes, 145 g carrot, 70 g onion, 2-3 cups Swiss chard
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, add the olive oil and heat up on medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and carrots. Sautée for 2[/timer-3 minutes, then add the garlic. Cook until fragrant.2 Tbsp olive oil
- While the first batch of veggies is cooking wash and chop the cabbage, and peel the garlic.200 g cabbage, 2 Cloves garlic
- Next, add the cabbage, Swiss chard and potatoes. Stir everything well and keep stirring occasionally to cook for another 3[/timer-4 minutes until the greens begin to soften. If you want to add some spice this is when you want to add the chili flakes.½ tsp chilli flakes
- Now add the stock, turmeric, marjoram, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes.1 L vegetable stock, 2 bay leaves, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp dried marjoram, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
- In the meantime open and strain the chickpeas rinsing them under cold water in a strainer. Open the can of diced tomatoes. If you want to increase the protein and fiber add canned lentils as well.400 ml canned chickpeas, 800 ml canned diced tomatoes, 540 ml canned lentils
- Once the 15 minutes are up, the potatoes should be cooked, soft when pierced with a fork.
- Add the chickpeas, diced tomatoes and sugar and stir once again. Cook for another 5 minutes. Finish off with Maggi seasoning, if using.400 ml canned chickpeas, 800 ml canned diced tomatoes, 1/2 tbsp Maggi seasoning, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 540 ml canned lentils
Looks delicious. Can you make this in a crock pot Thank you
Absolutely! Although I haven’t tried it I expect 4-6 hours on low should do the trick. I will test it out myself and confirm.
Finally tried it and I recommend leaving the canned goods and leafy greens out until the last 30 minutes. Enjoy!