- Prep-time: / Ready In:
- Makes 10 cups
- Serving size: 2½ cups
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This hearty vegan cassoulet requires just 20 minutes of active prep time; then it simmers all day in the slow cooker. Three different varieties of canned beans make for a stew as richly flavored as it is convenient. Serve with a whole wheat baguette to sop up every bit of juice.
Editor’s Note: Do not use dried kidney beans in this recipe. A slow cooker doesn’t get hot enough to destroy the toxic lectins found in raw kidney beans.
Ingredients
- 2 14.5-oz. cans no-salt-added fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 15-oz. can no-salt-added kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15-oz. can no-salt-added cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15-oz. can no-salt-added red beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 onion, chopped (1 cup)
- 1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped parsnips
- ⅔ cup red wine or low-sodium vegetable broth
- 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 cups thinly sliced stemmed kale (optional)
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a 5- to 6-qt. slow cooker combine the first 13 ingredients (through rosemary).
- Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours (or high 4 to 4½ hours). Stir in kale (if using) the last 30 minutes of cooking. Before serving, stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with additional fresh thyme or rosemary.
Nutritional Information:
Per serving (2½ cups): 538 calories, 95 g carbohydrates, 25 g protein, 3 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 698 mg sodium, 24 g fiber, 15 g sugar
Note: Nutritional information is provided as an estimate only.
Comments (33)
(5 from 15 votes)Can this be cooked in an instant pot pressure cooker?
Hi Marlene, Thanks for your interest in this recipe. We suggest using the slow-cook setting on you Instant Pot, that way you can follow the directions as written. If you decide to try it, let us know how it goes!
Would this be okay to cook in an Instant Pot?
My instant pot has settings for slow cooking. Check the directions for your pot.
Since I don't have a sous chef, chopping everything would at least double the prep time.
Living in France 🇫🇷 and am humored by the Cassoulet name. I am certain the citizens of Toulouse would disagree when no canard confit is present. I always use dry beans for better as canned are mushy. I agree with the salt and only add as necessary at the end. All the shopping is done in our Paris neighborhood which has an abundance of organic produce. I think this makes a big taste difference.
For Joel who uses dried beans instead. Did you precook them or add them dry at the beginning of the day with the other ingredients? Thanks for the idea!
Hi Jennifer. You should never cook dried kidney beans in a slow cooker. A slow cooker doesn't get hot enough to destroy the toxic lectin found in the skin of kidney beans and can cause severe vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain. If you want to cook kidney beans from scratch use a stove top method (following directions) or an Instant Pot, which is a pressure cooker.
This was delish! Only change were to add 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika and didn’t put in the balsamic vinegar. We also replaced the red beans with black beans. This reminded me of an Italian bean soup but very thick.
Loved it. Substituted black beans for red. Added more diced celery and carrots. Didn’t have garlic, used 1 tsp garlic powder instead. Added 1 cup chopped broccoli and used dry herbs instead of fresh. Didn’t care for the vinegar at the end. Glad I added a 1/2 tsp to the bowl not the whole pot. I also used the suggestion from another tester and spun it a few times with the immersion blender. Made it like a “beefy” stew. When I reheat I’ll add pasta and mushrooms to the mix.
For red beans, do you mean red kidney beans? Kidney beans are also listed before.
Most grocery stores offer a variety of canned beans. I’ve seen red beans, small red beans, light red beans and kidney beans all in the same store. Sadly, the only low sodium beans I can get consistently are black beans. For this recipe, just use what you like or have on hand.
These are pretty tasteless recipes. Most lack enough seasonings and oil for flavor.
You can always add more seasonings to any of these recipes if desired. If you are new to eating a whole food plant-based diet, things will taste bland without all of the salt that comes with the standard American diet that’s based around processed foods. But a few weeks in, something magical happens and you will begin to taste the actual food—the vegetables.
I agree that MOST vegan recipes are tasteless, and I have no choice but to doctor them up. Actually, THIS was my first impression with making vegan recipes and was really disappointed. I found VEGAN Bouillon Cubes on Amazon, did a BUY NOW & they arrived the next day. Made a huge difference in flavor.
We enjoyed this. Adding the vinegar at the end really made a difference in the flavor. We used just 1 tablespoon. We did use the red wine in the recipe , and I feel it really added to the taste of this dish. We sprinkled a bit of nutritional yeast on our servings. It is nice to have a Fall type dish. I had to wait until September in my area to find parsnips .
Made this today but used dry Thyme and Rosemary. Very nice and doesn't take long to prepare. Similar in taste to Minestrone soup but far better. I had to freeze two portions or it would have been gone in one evening (just me eating it).
I made it as is and it was delicious. I did use red wine.
What is the nutritional info
I wanted this dish to be delicious but it wasn't. So disappointed cuz it looked so yummy. From the comments of others, I question whether I did something wrong.
This recipe is super easy and delicious. I forgot to add the vinegar at the end and it tasted great without it. I also used black beans instead of red. Will be making it again!
This is so good! So much flavor for such a simple recipe. My husband commented, "Yeah, it was really good especially for not having any meat in it." So, need I say more? I didn't have any greens so skipped those. I will be eating this all week and making again soon!
Can this be cooked in a conventional way as I don’t have room for a slow cooker in my kitchen.
You could sautee/water stir fry the veggies first until tender then add other ingredients and simmer everything together on low until the beans are tender. I'd let it cook for an hour. The slow cooker just gives all the flavors time to meld together. Good luck!
It snowed here today in Port Sydney, ON CANADA on Oct 19th, 2022 so we made this recipe! We doubled the spices and added white pepper but otherwise SUPER good on a chilly, early winter day!
Quite yummy! I used an immersion blender and pulsated it a couple times right before serving just have a thicker texture (then my family thinks it’s more “filling” as a stew or chilli than soup, lol!). Perfect on a rainy damp day!
This is excellent! One of our favorites!
Incredibly delicious! I made the recipe exactly as written, but could not get red beans and substituted black. Used the wine. Served over couscous.
Any adjustments for using dried vs canned beans?
Slow cookers don’t cook at high enough temperature to deactivate the lectins in the beans. You need to precook the beans before adding to the slow cooker. That how to avoid getting sick.
A pretty good dish! I unfortunately didn't have fire roasted tomatoes or parsnip; substituted with regular tinned tomatoes and some yukon tomatoes. Overall a comforting dish!
I used the fire roasted tomatoes with garlic. This is one of my FAVORITE dishes so far!!!
Great soup!