This satisfying stew is a breeze to make if you have canned beans and tomatoes on hand, as well as some cooked rice. It's a perfect meal for a cozy night’s dinner. And it makes a great taco filling!
Black Bean & Rice Stew
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 6-8 (makes about 12 cups) 1x
Ingredients
- 8 medium white or cremini mushrooms, sliced (about 3 cups)
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 2 ribs celery, sliced or chopped (about ⅔ cup)
- 1 tablespoon Italian herb seasoning
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated garlic
- 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 cups water
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces each; about 3 cups total), undrained
- 2 cans cooked black beans (15 ounces each; about 3 cups total), drained and rinsed
- 1 large white potato, peeled or unpeeled, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
- 2¼ cups cooked brown rice (see Notes)
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of water in a soup pot over medium-high heat. When the water starts to sputter, add the mushrooms, onions, and celery, and cook while stirring for 4 to 5 minutes, adding a little water as needed.
- Add the Italian seasoning, chili powder, coriander, granulated garlic, and cumin and cook while stirring for 1 minute, adding water as needed.
- Stir in the 3 cups water, diced tomatoes, beans, potatoes, and rice, and bring to a boil, uncovered. Reduce the heat to medium-low, then cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.
Notes
Potatoes: You could also use yams in place of the white potatoes; or half and half. You could even cube some squash instead.
Beans: Any kind of beans could be used in place of the black, such as kidney and pinto, or a mix. See below for suggestions of brands.
Rice: Similarly, any type of rice can be used here. I like short-grain brown. To make 2 ¼ cups of cooked brown rice, bring 1 ½ cups of water and ¾ cup of dry/uncooked rice to a boil uncovered in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes for long-grain rice or 50 minutes for short-grain rice. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes with the lid still on.
Tomatoes: See the photo below, as there are many types of packaged tomatoes you can use. Or you can use fresh as well. For this recipe use 2 cans of diced tomatoes, or 1 jar (of the Eden brand), or the whole box of the Pomi brand.
Sauteing alternative: If you want to skip the step of sauteing the onion and other vegetables first, you can also just put everything into your soup pot at once and cook it until the potatoes are tender. I like sauteing because it intensifies the flavors, especially with onion and mushrooms.
Spices and herbs: I don't favor overly hot and spicy flavors in my meals, but if you do, this would be a good one to add more chili powder and/or other favorite chili or Mexican food herbs/spices to. I like "ancho" chili powder since it’s mild.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅛ recipe, 1.5 cups
- Calories: 236
- Sugar: 5.7g
- Sodium: 59mg
- Fat: 1.5g
- Saturated Fat: 0.3g
- Carbohydrates: 47.4g
- Fiber: 11.7g
- Protein: 9.8g
- Cholesterol: 0
These are two brands of pre-cooked black beans that I like, both organic and salt-free. Eden doesn't use BPA in their cans of beans, a toxic substance typically used as a preservative in aluminum can linings. And the Whole Foods 365 brand has moved to using aseptic square containers for some of their beans to avoid BPA concerns.
Here are four types of tomato products that I use. My favorite is the Eden crushed tomatoes in the jar; it's organic and salt-free, and has a smooth, sweet taste (I've only found this at Whole Foods and healthy groceries). Pomi brand has a similar taste and contains only tomatoes (no salt); it is not organic. The Muir Glen and 365 brands are organic and salt-free, and I like them too, but they have a little of that "from a can" taste to them, but it's not objectionable. The Pomi and Eden packages contain about twice as much as a can of diced tomatoes. Some are crushed, some are diced, some are chopped; it doesn't matter which you use in this recipe.
Satisfying and chunky, the perfect winter combo! I'm wondering id cubed squash woul be good in this too!
Hi Abby, yes, and I added that to the notes. Thank you! 🙂
Excited to try the recipe! May I make a suggestion on the printer-friendly formatting? It automatically prints the beautiful large photos in full color- I only found the "click to delete" option after printing it out. I think I usually find that the printer-friendly option is text-only, which makes it quick & easy. Anyways, as someone who also runs my own business, I know I always appreciate feedback, so just wanted to share in case that's at all helpful to know. Really appreciate all the great recipes, and I"m off to go make this one! 🙂
Thanks for the feedback 🙂 Hmm, I'm not sure how I would change that to do text only or have the check box be more prominant. I got the plug-in from another food blogger; maybe it was geared toward printing recipes with the photos, which some may want. But yes, not interested in wasting a lot of ink. Thanks!
I like it the way it is!!! You can chose to delete the pics if you want. I save to PDF and use my tablet as a cookbook in the kitchen, so I like the pictures.
This looks great! I think I'm trying it for dinner.
Can you make this quinoa instead of brown rice?
Hi Stephanie, sure! That would be great!
Great content and fantastic format. When are you releasing the book?
Hey Jeff! Thank you! No date for the book yet, sorry. But will keep people up to date once I get further into it. 🙂
A book with all your wonderful recipes??? I want one!!
I made this tonight and it was/is fantastic! I had some additional things I needed to use and didn't have some other things so I improvised. I made a batch of the dried organic bean medley from Costco and used those and the organic brown rice and quinoa mixture for the rice. Thanks so much for the recipe(s) and the inspiration. Your site and your recipes are AWESOME!
I've made this twice now with quinoa and a sweet potato. It is delicious and looks so appealing. I'm going to make it again on Saturday to take to a family dinner. Yum! Thank you so much for sharing your fabulous recipes.
Hey Cathy, just tried this stew today and it's great! Added some sweet corn to the dish also, tasted awesome 😀 Btw, is it okay if i put a link on my blog to your site? I'm coaching people in healthy vegan eating, and want them to have acces to as many recipes as possible 🙂
Best Regards from Denmark
Morten
Hi Morten, thanks! Sure, you can link to my blog. Denmark, wow! How cool! 😉
Perfect! 🙂 Will try some of your other recipes soon 🙂 The banana blueberry bars looks soooooooo delicious! 😀
oh great! this is what I am looking for! Cathy you are great chef thanks for the recipes. I add this recipes (Black Bean & Rice Stew) to my dinner menu 🙂
goo.gl/HLDFa
Hi Cathy this looks great haven't made it yet, looking forward to make it. My question is I've been scanning all your recipes and have noticed that you don't use a lot of Corn unless it is of the cob ( NON GMO ), what may be your reason for this if any? Just curious. Love your site! Been a Vegetarian for 5 years and 2 months ago went Vegan, for the Love of animals and this planet. I'm so thankful to have come across your blog as I was getting bored with my current source. So Thank You Cathy for all your dedication on helping others find their way to good health.
Namaste
Gisela
Hi Gisela, I'm not purposely trying to avoid corn, I love it. 🙂 When I use it, I do try to get fresh organic, and if I can't get that I'll buy frozen since you can get it raw and without salt, etc. (unlike most canned corn, which has salt and is cooked). Even organic corn that is frozen is often shipped from China (listed in small print), and I know people who are uncomfortable with this, for reasons of global warming (transporting the corn all the way from China) and/or a mistrust that the food may not actually be organic/GMO-free (even though the label says so). So label reading is important. And some people only eat what's in season so they can buy it locally, thereby cutting out the transport issue and the question about if it's really organic/GMO-free. I'm also into less packaging, so buying corn on the cob is the preferred way. 😉 Thanks!
Cathy, I'm glad you don't use a lot of corn because my husband (bless his heart!) is ALLERGIC to corn! Sometimes in recipes I substitute peas for corn . . . is there something else that might be a good substitution? Thanks, Michelle
I'd say just leave it out; unless it's corn chowder or a recipe that heavily features corn. Love peas! Good sub. 🙂
Have you made this without tomatoes?
Hi Natalie, no but give it a try. You may need to add some more water?? 🙂
made this tonight and it was awesome! i used 1/2 fresh tomatoes and 1/2 organic eden canned=delicious!
So glad to hear that! Good idea RE the tomatoes! 😉
I have made this for the second time, only this time I used Italian seasonings and added some zucchini that I had on hand. Smells yummy. Who knew that it could be this tasty without salt. Thank for the website!
Thanks Rita! 😉
Thank you for this recipe. I used portobellos, sweet potatoes and veggie broth. It was better than I expected and I will definitely make this again. I used some of the leftovers to make quesadillas with brown rice tortillas, sautéed kale, guacamole and nutritional yeast and those were delicious as well.
Thanks for the comment, Stephanie! 😉
We made this recipe with sweet potatoes and it was really delicious!
I've never bought beans in the aseptic square cartons. Are they similar to canned beans, in that you have to rinse them before eating them, or are they free of liquid, making them an easy way to consume beans while traveling? Thank you!
They do have liquid, so will need to be drained and rinsed. 🙂
Thank you for another great recipe, Cathy! I just discovered this one about 3 months ago, when I was looking for something different to make with some leftover rice. Since then, I have made it 5 or 6 times. It has become one of our regulars, like so many from this site. I usually make it with yams instead of Yukons, add a red bell pepper and increase the mushrooms. Yum!
Thanks Kris! 😉
Thanks so much for this recipe Cathy! So thrilled to try it out. Just a question though? Don't particularly like the taste of celery. Do you know how's this minus the celery? If i exclude it, does it take out a lot from the taste of the meal? Thanks!
No, I'd just leave it out. 🙂
Thank you!! 🙂
Hey Cathy. Just came across your site while recipe searching. Had everything on hand to make the black bean and rice stew. Yummy. I used chili ready tomatoes, some dried oregano, a pinch of red pepper flakes and a couple of bay leaves.
Question: does this freeze well?
Yum! I believe it would. 🙂
Hi Cathy, If I were to make this on a instant pot, how should I do it?
I'm not sure. Uncooked beans and rice take a long time (around 40 minutes together), and so the potatoes would be greatly overcooked. You'd have to do it in two parts it seems. I'd look for a similar recipe online and see how they timed longer cooking things with shorter.
Just prepared your 'black bean and rice stew', fantastic, best yet.
Yay! 🙂 Thanks Tom!
Almost 10 years later and this recipe is still making a positive impact. I searched the whole food ingredients and your recipe was the first to come up. it’s all I need. Making it this evening for dinner. I already know it will be delicious.
I especially appreciate your use of the water sauté method, and you describe the process perfectly.
Thanks again Frank! Enjoy!