Sweet Potato Lentil Stew
Published 9/7/2023 • Updated 10/7/2024
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Warm and comforting sweet potato lentil stew is packed with veggies and amazing flavor. Ready in an hour, this vegan stew is perfect for chilly fall and winter days.
We’re big fans of vegetarian soup recipes like minestrone soup, hearty vegetable soup, and roasted butternut squash soup, and this sweet potato lentil stew is a delicious addition to the lineup!
Featuring protein-packed lentils and high fiber veggies, this stew has incredible texture and cozy flavor. It comes together quickly and easily, too – no pre-soaking required for the lentils and it takes just 40 minutes to cook on the stove. This recipe makes a big batch to enjoy all week long, freeze for later, or share with friends.
Featured Comment
“Delicious!! Smells and tastes fantastic. Plenty of leftovers. A new fall favorite. Love the crunchy veggies, the kale at the end. Mmm!!!” – Stephanie
What You Need for Sweet Potato Lentil Stew
This hearty stew is loaded with fresh, nutrient-dense veggies. Whether you are a vegetarian or not, you’ll love this stew recipe!
Here are just a few ingredients that shine in this recipe:
Lentils + Beans: Both add lots of plant-based protein to this stew. Red lentils are great for quick soup recipes because they’re split and cook faster than other types of lentils. Add the beans near the end of the cook time to prevent them from overcooking and falling apart.
Potatoes + Carrots: We love adding carrots and sweet potatoes to soup recipes because they add a welcome texture and hold their shape even after cooking.
Mushrooms: Mushrooms are a great addition to vegetarian meals. They have a meaty texture that goes well in stews and chilis.
Spices: This soup is so cozy thanks to plenty of warm spices and flavors like chili powder, cumin, curry powder, oregano, and smoked paprika.
Apple Cider Vinegar: A splash of apple cider vinegar adds a delicious tartness and brightness to our soup, stew, and chili recipes.
Kale: Fresh kale adds color and freshness.
Sweet Potato Lentil Stew Substitutions
Like so many of our soup recipes, this stew is customizable to your taste preferences and what ingredients you have on hand. Instead of:
- Red lentils: use the same amount of yellow lentils. Any other kind of lentil will take too long to cook in this specific recipe.
- Sweet potatoes: use cauliflower or any other dense root vegetable like white potatoes or parsnips.
- Chili powder, cumin, and paprika: use 3-4 tablespoons of our homemade chili seasoning.
- White northern beans: use your favorite kind of beans. Chickpeas, navy beans, or kidney beans would all be delicious swaps.
- Apple cider vinegar: use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Kale: use the same amount of freshly chopped spinach.
FAQ
You do not need to pre-soak red lentils for this lentil stew. Red lentils are already split and the cook time for this stew is perfect for this kind of lentil.
Yes! Skip sautéing the ingredients and simply add everything to your slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
Storage
This recipe makes a giant batch of stew! Store leftover sweet potato lentil stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
How to Freeze Sweet Potato Lentil Stew.
If you don’t want to have lentil stew every day for an entire week, freeze it! Let the stew cool completely before transferring it to freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months. For all of the nitty-gritty details about freezing stew, check out our post all about how to freeze soup.
gift it!
Who doesn’t love receiving a delicious meal? Whether you have a friend in need or know someone who would simply appreciate a healthy meal, share it! Make a batch of this sweet potato lentil stew, transfer it into these meal prep containers, and deliver it to your people.
What to Serve with Stew
Enjoy a big bowl of sweet potato lentil stew on it’s own, or pair it with a slice of freshly baked bread, skillet cornbread, sautéed green beans, or your favorite salad.
Sweet Potato Lentil Stew
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 large carrots, cut into coins
- 4 medium stalks celery, chopped
- 2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano, or dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup red lentils, dried
- 4 oz. green chiles
- 15 oz. tomato sauce
- 15 oz. diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 15 oz. white northern beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups chopped kale
Instructions
- Place olive oil in a large stockpot or dutch oven and heat over medium/high heat.
- When olive oil is fragrant, add sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and salt.
- Sauté for around 10 minutes. Then, add the rest of the ingredients (except the white beans and kale) and bring to a boil over medium/high heat.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Then, mix in the white beans and kale. Cover and bring to a boil again over medium/high heat.
- Once boiling, turn down to low and let simmer for another 20 minutes or until the lentils are fully cooked.
Tips & Notes
- Storage: Store leftover stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezing Instructions: Let the stew cool completely before transferring it to freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Slow Cooker Instructions: Skip sautéing the ingredients and simply add everything to your slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
- This recipe was updated on 9/23/19.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This had a lot of ingredients but was worth every second of preparation! Delicious! I substituted spinach for the kale and bought sweet potatoes already cubed. Even my kids loved it!
This was a great recipe. My grocery store was out of kale so I used spinach. I’m not a fan of cumin so I used half the amounts of cumin and chili powder. I will make this again for sure! Very tasty!
Tonight was the second time I’ve made this recipe. So so delicious!!! The only substitute was celery for celery seed. Thank you for this amazing recipe
This was awesome, I substituted spinach for the kale and white kidney beans. But it was a great recipe that I will make again!
Lentils, carrots, and sweet potato ALL belong together. Seriously. They do. My mother used to make a delicious stew with brown lentils, onions, sweet potato, carrots, red bell peppers, and garlic with vegetable broth–SO GOOD! Have to try using red lentils now since I LOVE them in curry!
Delicious!! Smells and tastes fantastic. Plenty of leftovers. A new fall favorite. Love the crunchy veggies, the kale at the end. Mmm!!!
Yay! Glad you loved this!
I’m interested in making this in the crock pot. Looks like this was once an option. How would you modify recipe for slow cooker?
Place everything into your slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8!
This sweet potato lentil soup looks amazing! So healthy and so full of flavor. My daughter is trying to eat meatless as much as possible so this vegetarian recipe will be fun to try.
I made this for on of my meal preps for the week and it was absolutely delicious! I cooked on the stove and it came out perfect.
I was confused by the comments so assuming this recipe was updated to be a stove top recipe. I’m on the last 20 minutes of cooking – excited to try it!