Spanish-Style Vegan Lentil Stew

This Spanish-style vegan lentil stew is easy to make with very simple ingredients and perfect for vegans on a serious budget. Hearty and comforting, this oil-free recipe is great as a plant-based main dish for chilly evenings or as a side for a summer barbeque or picnic. It’s a freezer-friendly meal that comes in at only $0.50 a serving.

In various social media vegan and plant-based groups I see a lot of questions from newbies about how to replace the meat in their diets. Lentils should absolutely become a staple in any plant-based kitchen; not only are they so versatile, they’re cheap, cheap, cheap!

I live in Spain, and the Spanish are definitely masters at taking cheap, simple ingredients and turning them into something delicious (gazpacho, anyone?). I was inspired to make this Spanish-style vegan lentil stew after having a similar dish at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago. While it normally has various forms of meat and sausage in it, the version I had was totally vegetarian.

I ask my husband all the time to give me ideas for Spanish recipes to veganize but for some reason I don’t think he’s ever mentioned lentils. Turns out that he’s been eating lentil stew all his life and has several versions from the different members of his family. Since the dominant flavour is smoked paprika, it’s really easy to veganize and have a flavourful, filling stew. I simply took out the meat and added a bit of soy sauce for some umami.

I also simplified the procedure down to a one-pot recipe and converted it to oil-free. Normally Spanish cooking is laden with olive oil, which is fine if you’re not a fat-free vegan, but I tend to try to avoid using it in recipes where it’s totally unnecessary, like for softening onions and garlic.

This Spanish-style vegan lentil stew turned out to be wildly addictive as I couldn’t stop sneaking spoonfuls of it out of the bowl as I was taking pictures! It’s really great with some crusty bread to mop up all the goodness and a fresh green salad on the side. You could also use it to stuff a baked potato or serve it as a side to some grilled veggies at your next barbeque!