As the colder weather kicks in, soup season starts to become more comforting. One recipe you’ll have to try this season is this sweet potato and chickpea stew. It’s packed with nutrition and wholesome ingredients that will help keep you sustained and satisfied.
Watch how to make the full recipe from beginning to end
Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew Ingredient Spotlight
Sweet Potatoes:
Just like it’s potato counter part, Sweet potatoes are a type of tuber that grow underground. These bright orange tubers are packed with nutrition like beta-carotene, giving them their recognizable brought orange color. Compared to other types of potatoes, sweet potatoes have a sweeter taste profile and a slightly different nutritional profile. Loaded with fiber, sweet potatoes enhance any dish with color and flavor.
Frozen Spinach:
Frozen spinach, like many other vegetables, is picked fresh from the source, washed, prepared/sliced if necessary and then processed through a blast freezer. This type of freezing is much more efficient than freezing at home since the technology helps it maintain the color, texture, and nutrients more than home freezing.
We’re using frozen spinach in this recipe for convenience, but you can always opt for fresh and chop it yourself.
Chickpeas:
Chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans, are a great way to incorporate protein and healthy fats into this meal. These beans are very easy to find canned or dried, however we’re using canned to save some cooking time. Be sure to save your chickpea broth, also known as aquafaba, for our vegan pumpkin bread recipe!
About the sweet potato & chickpea stew recipe
This sweet potato and chickpea stew was inspired by West African soups and stews, which leverage vegetable heavy dishes and tons of flavor from spices. One of the great things about stews in general is the ability to generate a large number of portions with little additional effort. This recipe yields up to ten portions alone, and if served over rice or with bread, it can stretch up to twelve servings.
If you’re like me and you don’t like to eat the same thing over and over again, this recipe freezes well and can be a great addition to your meal prep. Plus it’s packed with veggies that deliver loads of nutrients. It’s worthwhile to note that some of these nutritional values may change, depending on what ingredients you use. For example, we make our vegetable stock from scratch, so our sodium content is not as high. However, we quantified this sodium content based on a low sodium brand available at most grocery stores. We also have a good amount of fat in this recipe at 12g, and we have 12 g of protein in this recipe, both help with satiety.
Finally, there is about 10g of dietary fiber in this recipe, along with some great micronutrients like calcium, iron, and potassium all coming in at double digit daily values. For a recipe ready in about an hour, this sweet potato and chickpea stew delivers on many factors.
Sustainable Tips & Tricks
If you watch the video, you’ll notice that we’re using vegetable oil here. As a sustainable practice, we reserved some of our oil leftover from frying shallots to use in this recipe. While not required, this practice often helps infuse more flavors into your recipes.
Using canned ingredients in the colder months is a better option than searching for fresh ingredients in the winter time. Canned and frozen foods are picked at peak season and then processed for the food to be preserved. These preservation techniques have been used for many years, and we should continue to leverage these processes to aid in food insecurity and ensuring a safe food supply chain. Recycling of aluminum cans is more efficient than recycling of plastics, so choose canned ingredients over plastic packaging if you can.
Finally, this recipe yields a large amount. In the essence of not being wasteful, try to freeze your uneaten leftovers, portion it out for lunches, or serve a large group of people. I’ve provided a few options for my favorite containers for storing below.
- Snapware Pyrex Dishes are my go-to containers for every day use. They are great to heat and reheat and are dishwasher safe. I love the glass pyrex containers for their durability.
- Hinged Storage Containers might be a better option for some, as the snaps on the snapware can break off over time. I would strongly consider these for my next purchase.
Classic Deli Containers are a more affordable option, and incredibly versatile. You can also save these leftover from takeout.
Good for you and the planet
This recipe is vegan by design, but in its final state, dairy and animal products are not missed. The coconut milk imparts a creamy and indulgent texture, sweet potatoes and chickpeas will ensure satiety by providing protein and fiber, and spinach and eggplant will ensure you get adequate nutrition like iron and manganese. Many of these ingredients come into season at the same time and have a lengthy shelf life.
Sweet Potato & Chickpea Stew Recipe
- Preparation Time
30 minutes - Cooking Time
30 minutes - Serves
10 adults - Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant, diced
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 sweet potatoes, diced
- 1/2 bag frozen spinach
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes
- 2 cups chickpeas
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 can coconut milk, unsweetened
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 paprika
- 1 tsp cumin/coriander
- 1 tsp oregano
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat
- Add diced onions
- Mix until translucent, then add garlic
- Add tomato paste and mix until blended
- Add eggplant
- Mix together until eggplant becomes tender
- Add cubed sweet potatoes followed by vegetable stock
- Add coconut milk – make sure you rinse the can with water and pour the rest of the rinse water into the pot
- Let sit for 20 minutes to cook through
- Add spices Season
- Add frozen spinach
- Serve and enjoy
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