Hearty Red Kidney Bean Stew with Herby Tofu and Chia Seed Dumplings
‘The sauce is really rich and the dumplings satisfying. Tofu often doesn’t freeze well, but it does in this recipe. Whilst stews are often a winter dish, this is fine all year round as it’s satiating without being heavy.’
Kerry B, Cumbria; Black Labrador Member
Table of Contents
- ✨ Before We Begin…
- The Cook’s Mind
- Ingredient Focus: Dumplings
- My Favourite Way To Eat
- Multi-Purpose Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- What Will You Learn Whilst Making This Recipe?
- Handpicked to Go With This One
- Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
- Hearty Red Kidney Bean Stew with Herby Tofy and Chia Seed Dumplings Recipe
✨ Before We Begin…
This is the kind of dish that makes you feel looked after. It’s earthy, rich, and quietly robust – full of red kidney beans, warming tomato, and just the right balance of herbs and depth. The dumplings are soft but structured, gently steamed on top of the stew – made with tofu and chia instead of suet, but every bit as satisfying.
It’s not a complicated meal, but it has presence. It fills the kitchen with a comforting smell, and it feeds people well – whether it’s just you at the table or more. Like many good things, it reheats beautifully.
This is plant-based cooking at its most grounding – nourishing without overthinking, simple without being plain.
‘Must be best food offer, of any genre, in Kendal. Hugely accomplished cooking and very much recommended.’
Tony P, Kendal; Food Customer
The Cook’s Mind
This dish is all about nourishment that doesn’t cut corners. It teaches you to build a flavourful stew base using store cupboard ingredients, while also showing how to make plant-based dumplings that are light, herby and full of integrity. You’ll practise texture contrast too – soft beans against the fluffy dumplings which might have a little bit of a chew on them depending on how far you take the cooking! The kind of one-pot that knows how to warm, fill, and impress all at once.
Make-Ahead
This stew only gets better with time. Cook it a day in advance and let the flavours deepen overnight. Reheat gently and stir in any fresh herbs or citrus just before serving.
Freezer-Friendly
Freeze in individual portions or larger batches.
Label clearly and defrost in the fridge overnight.
Reheat slowly with a splash of water or stock.
Key Substitution Ideas
- Use kidney or borlotti beans if red beans aren’t available.
- Add sweet potato, squash, or carrots for bulk and sweetness.
- Smoked paprika or liquid smoke brings a deeper note if you’re skipping tomatoes.
Ingredient Focus: Dumplings
Dumplings – the hearty, floury pillows of British stews – are cooking at its most honest and comforting. Traditionally made from suet, flour, and a splash of water, they puff up as they simmer, soaking in the broth and becoming soft, doughy clouds tucked into the pot. Even with a plant-based twist, the spirit stays the same: dumplings are there to comfort, to fill, to steady the soul when the days turn grey and the kitchen windows fog with steam.
In a good stew, dumplings are both the prize and the promise – tender but toothsome, yielding to the spoon, soaking up the deep flavours of whatever they’ve nestled into. A quiet kind of kitchen magic that turns humble ingredients into something to gather round.
✨ Soft anchors in a sea of sauce.
My Favourite Way To Eat
It’s a dark February afternoon, the kind where the light fades early and everything feels a bit damp around the edges. I’ve just come in from a long walk with Georgia – she’s drying off by the fire, and I’m warming up with a bowl of this stew. She watches me eat with those soulful, expectant eyes Labradors do so well… and of course, I tear off a bit of dumpling for her. She’s my best friend – how could I not?a good way.
Multi-Purpose Recipe
This stew stands strong on its own, but it’s easy to stretch. Serve leftovers over rice, spoon it into a baked potato, or stir it through pasta for a quick next-day meal. The dumplings can also be repurposed as savoury bake toppers – they freeze well and hold their own wherever you drop them.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s deeply satisfying – thick, rich stew and soft dumplings – comforting without compromise.
- It’s one-pot and practical – minimal washing up, maximum reward.
- It’s made with wholefoods – no processed ingredients – just beans, tofu, veg and herbs doing what they do best.
- It’s quietly impressive – simple to make, but feels special – especially with those soft dumplings on top.
- It’s food for slow evenings – the kind of dish that gives back what you put in – warmth, depth, and that feeling of being properly fed.
What Will You Learn Whilst Making This Recipe?
- How to create a rich, flavourful base with simple ingredients – you’ll learn how to deepen flavour using tomato, herbs, and a few smart extras – no stock cubes needed.
- How to make light, plant-based dumplings with confidence – chia and tofu come together to create a dumpling that holds its shape, steams gently, and feels properly comforting.
- How to layer texture into one-pot meals – you’ll see how to balance the stew with soft, structured dumplings and herbs that lift the whole dish.
- How to make meals that reheat beautifully – this dish tastes even better the next day – perfect for batch cooking or quiet meal planning.
- How to cook with confidence and instinct – this is a forgiving recipe – one that teaches you how to read the pot, taste as you go, and trust yourself.
Handpicked to Go With This One
A few recipes that play well together — flavour friends, not just neighbours.
Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
Got something spare – a handful, a spoonful, or the end of a packet? These tags help you find other ways to use it. It’s a small step toward cooking intuitively and wasting less❣️
broccoli, brown onion, chia seeds, chilli flakes, firm tofu, fresh coriander, fresh garlic, fresh herbs, ground black pepper, lime juice, paprika, red chilli, red kidney beans, self-raising flour, smoked paprika, soft light brown sugar, stock cube, tomato, tomato purée, tomatoes, vegetable suet
Hearty Red Kidney Bean Stew with Herby Tofy and Chia Seed Dumplings Recipe
Hearty Red Kidney Bean Stew with Herby Tofu and Chia Seed Dumplings
This is the kind of stew that feeds more than just hunger – rich, warming, and full of depth. Herby tofu and chia seed dumplings sit proudly on top, soft and nourishing with just enough bite. It starts on the stove, finishes in the oven, and reheats like a dream.
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
Ingredients
- 300 g brown onion | unpeeled weight, small dice
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 3 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp soft light brown sugar
- 20 g stock cube
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 4 units garlic cloves | peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 units red chilli | big fat mild ones
- 800 g tomatoes | tinned; 2 standard British cans; chopped
- 240 g red kidney beans | cooked weight
Ingredients for dumplings
- 110 g self raising flour
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 200 g firm tofu | pressed weight
- 45 g vegetable suet
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 20 g fresh coriander | chopped up into small pieces
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
Extra ingredients you'll need
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 200 g broccoli | or other green veg. to serve
Instructions
Make the Red Kidney Bean Stew
- Peel the onions, cut into halves lengthways, and dice into pieces approximately 1cm diameter. Meantime heat the oil thoroughly on a low heat in the Le Creuset.300 g brown onion, 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- When the oil is warm (slightly shimmering), add the onions and salt and stir around in the oil. Continue to cook the onions until soft and translucent, 10-12 minutes. Prepare the red chillies and garlic: cut the red chillies lengthways and remove the seeds; then cut into thin strips; peel and cut the garlic into thin slices.300 g brown onion, 1 pinch salt
- When the onion is nearly cooked, add the garlic slices and the sliced red chilli and stir continually for 3 mins, keeping the garlic and chilli slices moving and taking care not to burn the garlic.4 units garlic cloves, 2 units red chilli
- When the onions are nearly cooked, add the tomato purée and stir to coat the onion in the tomato paste. Cook the tomato paste. It darkens as it cooks. This will take 3-5 minutes.3 tbsp tomato purée
- When the tomato purée is darker and thicker, add the paprika, smoked paprika and stir around. Perhaps add a touch of water to loosen.1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Crumble the stock cube into the mix and stir. Then add the sugar and stir around for a couple of minutes to caramelise the sugar.20 g stock cube, 2 tsp soft light brown sugar
- When the sugar has caramelised, turn the heat up slightly, to a medium heat. Let the pan heat up. Once the pan is hotter, add the lime juice. You've made the pan hotter so the lime juice deglazes the pan. Stir for a minute.2 tbsp lime juice
- Then add the cans of tomatoes. Stir and lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes on low. After the 10 minutes, add the drained red kidney beans. Stir again. This is now ready for the dumplings. Please ensure that you don't cook all the water out of the stew. You need some water still in the pan to help cook the dumplings.800 g tomatoes, 240 g red kidney beans
Make the dumplings
- Measure all the ingredients for the dumplings into a mixing bowl. Squeeze all the water out of the tofu (it really must be dry) and crumble it into the mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients together thoroughly. Once everything is mixed properly, add as much water as you need to bring the mix together into a ball of dough. Start with only 2 tablespoons of water, and go from there. Go steady, you won't need much and the amount required will depend on tofu dryness.110 g self raising flour, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 200 g firm tofu, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, 20 g fresh coriander , ½ tsp chilli flakes, 45 g vegetable suet
- The mix makes 8 dumplings. Shape the dough into balls, placing them on the nearby chopping board. Then place all the balls quickly onto the top of the stew, add little pinches of chilli flakes and black pepper, put the lid on and put into a preheated oven 180℃ for 35 minutes. The steam will cook the dumplings. Don't be taking this out and looking at it… just leave it in the oven to do the magic.¼ tsp chilli flakes, ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- Serve with steamed vegetables. When I ate it, I enjoyed broccoli and also cauliflower (great colour and perfect additional dryer and firmer texture). You don't need separate carbohydrate.200 g broccoli
Nutrition
Calories: 541kcalCarbohydrates: 69gProtein: 21gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 1900mgPotassium: 1366mgFiber: 14gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 1891IUVitamin C: 77mgCalcium: 235mgIron: 7mg
Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
COPYRIGHT
© The Golden Polar Bear, 2025. Recipes and photography by Julia Savory. If you share this, please pass it along with kindness and if possible share a link back to this site. #ForTheAnimals
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
Next Steps?
You’ve got the full recipe — now take it further. Inside Black Labrador, you’ll find structured video courses and an ever-growing cookbook designed to help you cook with understanding, not guesswork. Learn, revisit, and deepen your skills at your own pace.
‘Totally recommend the cookery course. The meals are really tasty and full of flavour (not like most of the vegan mush I make for myself).’
Kerry B, Cumbria
