Creamy vegan mushroom stew with farro is a super hearty meal. Roughly 10 ingredients and it comes together simply with pre-cooked farro.
Feel-good comfort food that’s easy to prepare and makes excellent leftovers? Yep, that’s the ticket. This creamy vegan mushroom stew ticks all the boxes for me these days: 10-ish ingredients, minimal time investment (if the farro is pre-cooked), has a creamy and comforting carb component, and it reheats like a dream for a lunch that I do not have to think about or do much work for the next day.
The pre-cooked farro is the key to making this relatively quick. Farro is one of my favourite grains, but it takes a long time to cook. I usually make a big batch, drain it, and then freeze 2-cup portions in Stasher bags. I follow the instructions for cooking farro from the Flourist website. If you live in the US, I think Trader Joe’s even sells fully cooked farro in their freezer section? Please feel free to correct me if this is not the case!
MORE HEARTY MUSHROOM RECIPES:
- Mushroom Gravy Pie with Garlicky Kale Mashed Potatoes
- Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto
- Mushroom and Beet Bolognese
- Mushroom Brown Rice Bake with Caramelized Shallots & Gremolata
- Creamy French Lentils with Mushrooms & Kale
Like the farro pre-cook step, preparation is key. I have been learning this very hard over the past year. Not sure if we’re just trying to support local restaurants with more intention or it’s just a persistent not knowing how to emotionally grapple with *gestures widely* ALL of this, but takeout has been our friend in a consistent way. I don’t mind! But I generally feel a bit better when I take the time to cook.
If you’re in a similar rut and needing something cozy, I hope that this recipe can be there for you. Stay safe and keep looking after your people.
Creamy Vegan Mushroom Stew with Farro and Kale
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours & drained
- 1 tablespoon light miso
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 4 cups vegetable stock , divided
- 2 cups cooked farro , see note
- 2 cups chopped kale, packed
Instructions
- Heat a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the pot is hot, pour in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add the onions and stir. Sauté the onions until translucent and very soft, about 5 minutes. If the onions start to brown on the edges, lower the heat.
- Add the rosemary and garlic to the pot and stir until very fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add all of the sliced mushrooms to the pot. Give them a quick stir and then let them sit for a full minute. Once the minute is up, stir them up and then let them sit again for another full minute. Stir them up after that and season them with pepper. Let them sit for another full minute. Once they start glistening, season the mushrooms with salt. Keep stirring and sautéing the mushrooms until they are tender, about 3 additional minutes.
- Add the balsamic vinegar to the pot and stir. Let some of the strong vinegar aroma evaporate a bit. The mushrooms should be pretty juicy at this point!
- Remove ⅓ of the sautéed mushroom mixture and place it in an upright blender. Also in the blender, add the drained cashews, miso, nutritional yeast, and 2 cups of the vegetable stock. Blend this mixture on high until completely smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds.
- Pour the remaining vegetable stock into the pot. Add the cooked farro to the pot as well.
- Pour the blended mushroom and cashew cream into the pot and stir. bring the stew to a boil and let it simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes—just to let the stew thicken slightly and to let the flavours meld. Then, add the kale to the pot and stir. Keep simmering the stew until the kale is wilted, about 3-4 minutes.
- Check the stew for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more salt, balsamic vinegar, pepper etc). Serve the stew hot!
Notes
- I love farro, but it takes a really long time to cook. I usually cook a bunch in one go and freeze it in 2-cup portions for my convenience. For this recipe, you’ll need 3/4 cup dry farro. Bring it to a boil with 4 cups of water and simmer until tender, about 35-40 minutes. Drain it and you’re good to go.
- You can use any cooked grain you like. I find the farro extra lovely because it’s chewy and satiating. Cooked long grain brown rice, wild rice, or wheat berries would all be great.
- I used a very flavourful homemade stock that I had boosted with a handful of dried mushrooms for this stew. There’s a minimal amount of ingredients in this recipe, so you really want to make sure that the stock is flavourful and rich.
- For a soy-free version, seek out a chickpea or rice-based miso.
Do you think I I subbed the grain for riced cauliflower that the soup would hold up?
Hi Heather,
I think you could substitute riced cauliflower, knowing that the end result will be quite different. The farro is starchy and chewy and helps to thicken the broth a bit. Cauliflower rice will not do this, but it will bump up the satiation factor a bit for a grain-free version. You may want to pull back the amount of vegetable stock to start, and then add more if necessary!
-L
This looks amazing! Super excited to try it! In the states Trader Joe’s has a 10 minute pre-cooked but shelf stable dried farro which I use all the time. I haven’t seen a frozen option but they may have one!
Thanks for this clarification, Sarah! It’s been a long time since I visited a TJ’s ;)
-L
Sounds delicious.
I’m concerned that non vegan adverts appear on your blog eg KFC and milk chocolate
Is there anything I could sub for the nutritional yeast? Thanks!
Delicious! Love the chewy farro. I added an extra teaspoon of balsamic vinegar at the end.
Tried making this tonight. WOW was it delicious! What are those red chilli flakes in the photo?
Hi Magda! They are the ground Guntur Sannam Chillies from Diaspora Co. Just love that little pop of red and the fruity heat. More info here: https://www.diasporaco.com/products/chillies?variant=30982564610130
-L
Really enjoyed this comforting, hearty meal tonight! I made a couple of substitutions – most notably subbing buckwheat for the farro. I thought it worked well! Thanks for another great recipe, and simple too which is nice! Happy new year Laura!
Yet another success! Made a whole pot and three of us polished it off. I did not have cashews, but subbed in a block of tofu for the creamy sauce. Worked great! Thanks for another winner.
Thanks for this note on your tofu substitution, Joanell! I know it will be very helpful to others looking at the recipe in the future.
-L
This is by far one of my favorite mushroom soup/stew recipes I’ve made. It’s creamy without feeling heavy and the fresh rosemary provides incredible flavor!
Delicious! I added some cannelloni beans too. Another favorite along with the Deep Green Stew.
This was wonderful. I will make it again and again.
Wonderful. I will make this again and again. I had only one cup of frozen farro so I added a cup of frozen black rice.
This was really easy to make and it was super delicious. Never had farro, now I know! So good. Thank you for this great recipe.