Roasted Tomato and White Bean Stew

Roasted Tomato and White Bean Stew
Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(11,667)
Notes
Read community notes

This hearty, flexible stew comes together with pantry ingredients and delivers layers of flavors. Cherry tomatoes, roasted in a generous glug of olive oil to amplify their sweetness, lend a welcome brightness to this otherwise rich dish. Onion, garlic and red-pepper flakes form the backbone of this dish, to which white beans and broth are added, then simmered until thick. While this stew is lovely on its own, you could also add wilt-able greens such as kale, escarole or Swiss chard at the end, and toasted bread crumbs on top. The dish is vegan as written, but should you choose to top your bowl with a showering of grated pecorino or Parmesan, it would most likely work well in your favor.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • ½cup roughly chopped Italian parsley leaves and tender stems
  • 2teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
  • 2(10-ounce) containers cherry or grape tomatoes
  • ¼cup olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons and more for drizzling (optional)
  • 1tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 3large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes
  • 2(15-ounce) cans white beans (such as butter or cannellini), rinsed
  • cups vegetable or chicken broth, or water
  • Flaky salt, for serving (optional)
  • Toasted bread, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

358 calories; 15 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 722 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, gently toss together the parsley and lemon zest with your hands until well combined; set aside.

  2. Step 2

    In a large baking dish or on a sheet pan, toss the tomatoes with ¼ cup oil and thyme; season well with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes until they have collapsed and begin to turn golden around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    When the tomatoes are almost done roasting, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large (12-inch), deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium. Add the onion, garlic and red-pepper flakes and cook until the onion is softened and the garlic is fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the rinsed beans and broth and bring to a simmer. With the back of a spoon or spatula, gently smash about ½ cup of the beans so they slightly thicken the broth. If you want a thicker stew, crush some more of the beans. Season with salt and pepper.

  4. Step 4

    When the tomatoes are finished roasting, add them directly to the stew along with any juices that have been released. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more so the flavors become friendly; season to taste with salt.

  5. Step 5

    Ladle into shallow bowls. Top each serving with some of the lemon-parsley mixture and drizzle with more olive oil, and season with flaky salt, if you like. Serve with toasted bread.

Ratings

5 out of 5
11,667 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

I added a head of Swiss chard and about 5 fresh sage leaves (which I highly recommend because ), uh,white beans and sage...). Really wonderful.

This is really good and fast to make. Only thing I will say is the soup base is not red like the picture. I think maybe if I do this recipe again I’ll add some sun dried tomatoes or a little tomato paste.

When is a parmesan rind ever a bad idea? With good wishes to everyone to stay home and stay healthy.

AMAZING. I adapted the recipe after reading many of the comments. My husband & I rate our recipes & this one was 10/10! With the changes made, we have enough for 2 nights for two of us, w/perhaps a little leftover for a snack. I appreciated all the comments, as i do think the changes mattered: 1) CHOP the onions 2) Used 6 large garlic cloves 3) Used 3 Cans of Beans 4) Used 2 Cups of veggie broth 5) Added 2 T of Tomato Paste & a generous handful of Spinach in Step 4 GREAT. esp in cold weather

Very good. I added a little more stock and some chopped kale. The lemon zest and parsley really brighten the flavors.

skipped parsley lemon since i didn't have any tomatoes were really done in 15 minutes used 1 cup chicken both WAS FANTASTIC AND WILL SERVE AGAIN AND AGAIN

Used a red onion instead of yellow. Decided to add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to give some more color and boost the tomato flavor. Also added a few handfuls of kale and another can of beans to increase the serving size since a few people commented that the original recipe did not feed four. Happily fed five people with enough left over for some seconds!

Two 10 ounce containers of cherry tomatoes not only means a trip to the store, but will cost about as much as a nice little steak (and this time of year even cherry tomatoes are so-so). Any suggestions for substituting some sort of canned tomatoes? How much? what type?

I used whole canned tomatoes and I roasted them with the oil, thyme and some oregano. Works fine - when you add them to the beans, add in some liquid chicken or vege stock to loosen on the stove.

4-6 servings? Are you kidding? More like half that, unless you add a lot more broth and turn it into a soup or dish out very small servings. Having read the comments beforehand, I halved the larger cherry tomatoes, so all would cook at about the same speed; upped the garlic; cooked the onions and garlic a bit longer until softened; added fresh sage. Also added roughly 1/2 c more broth. Sprinkled parmesan and squeezed lemon on top. But what about that lemon zest? Should it be grated?

As written was good but a little too subtle for my taste. I added two chopped anchovies and a little red wine vinegar. Great day two.

Add balsamic and 2TB of tomato paste to it at the end. I had to use sage as I did not have thyme. No red flake peppers, used siracha. Excellent and forgiving recipe. If you use extra olive oil to roast the tomatoes you can use it as dip/dizzle for the toast and it is really good.

We used one can of butter beans and one can of kidney beans because that's what we had (#quarantinelife), and no parsley or thyme. Still quite tasty! Good effort to taste ratio. Especially good with my boyfriend's sourdough (which now he makes all the time because, again, #quarantinelife)

I thought this recipe was just okay. It lacked an umami element. The instruction to “slice” the onion rather than chop it confuses me. I ended up with a stringy onion texture in the final dish that was unpleasant. It would be much better to start with chopped onions. Following one of the suggestions here, I added a generous helping of spinach at the end, which helped the dish. The lemon zest is a critical component; don’t skip it.

Suggestions for using soaked dried beans?

Second time I’ve made this. It comes together in a flash, if you cook your beans ahead (or used canned ones, I suppose). I roast cherry tomatoes in the summer with eggplant, peppers, onions - whatever’s ripe in the garden - freeze them in 12 oz packages. That’s a huge timesaver for a recipe like this. Very satisfying

ridiculously good and so so simple. I doubled the garlic and had already grated half when I realized it called for it sliced so I added both and I don’t know if it made a huge difference but it was delicious. the only other change I made was doing a little fresh parmesan on top, definitely will be a regular weeknight dish.

Super delicious. I cooked this for dinner tonight and feel like the only improvements I would make for next time is to roast more tomatoes than the recipe calls for. I also added silver beet and more stock than the recipe calls for but would certainly make it again. Very hearty and cheap.

Great recipe. I added two pounds of shrimp in the last five minutes. That plus a green salad fed five with leftovers.

This was delicious. So simple, easy, and tasty! I ended up freezing about half and eating it on days I didn't feel like cooking, and I can definitely say that it froze well and tasted just as good. I don't love parsely so I used basil instead. Also added in a bag of chopped tuscan kale for some extra texture and greens--delicious!

Fast and easy. Very tasty. Can’t wait to make again as we shift to meat replacement with veggys.

The New York Times has excellent vegetarian meals. I'm not a vegetarian but I've tried many and I've been amazed at how good healthy eating can be. But this meal was the best of all of them. I should say that I used brown rice and it took four times as long to cook the rice as in the recipe, and I took the broccoli out halfway through so that it didn't get overcooked. And our new discovery is the hot crispy oil. Serving with that on top with sesame oil... It was just exquisite!

Yes - twice. Once with spaghetti squash instead of bread. The second time I added broccolini cut in 3/4” pieces and roasted it with the tomatoes. Both were really delicious. My husband loves it

Love this. I double the broth and add some pasta.

Delicious! A nice easy vegetarian meal! Added some vermouth with the onions. Will be part of our supper favorites

Echoing the crowd. This is an easy, quick, delish vegetarian meal. I used a cup of cooked flageolets left over from a dinner party. Added a handful of tubbeti pasta and a handful of spinach. Mmmm.

Trying to add a little more fiber to our diet so tried this using several suggestions from notes including parm rind, sundried tomatoes and a bit of tomato paste. Also the additional garlic and spinach. Subbed Vidalia onions.Hubby not quite ready for meatless so we added a wee bit of turkey kielbasa. I browned it and added it to individual bowls then stew on top. It was a hit!

Next time - careful not to add too many beans if doing dried (turned into beans with a hint of tomato), add a tablespoon of tomato paste, and cook those onions til blonde and sweet.

The recipe is delicious and simple! Love love love this!

Double broth 1.5-2x tomatoes 3 cans beans Squeeze half a lemon in at the end

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