This hearty vegan cassoulet with roasted vegetables is a festive and affordable way to feed a crowd.
A traditional French cassoulet is a legendary, almost mythical creature. Duck confit and pork sausages are nestled into creamy white beans, topped with seasoned breadcrumbs, and baked into an enormous casserole fit to feed someone who’s been hunting all day in a cold, wet, French forest.
I had the pleasure of eating the real thing in Paris last winter. It was an unusually windy, freezing, rainy night, and thanks to the benevolence of the gods, we got a table at Chez Denise without a reservation. (Maybe the gods sensed a global pandemic was coming and were like, “Fine, here you go. You probably won’t be back for a while.”)
Admittedly, my girlfriends did not share my enthusiasm for ordering a bean dish. But man, did their eyes light up when our stoic waiter set that steaming, bubbly casserole on our table. By the end of the meal, there wasn’t a single bean left behind.
Here’s my vegan, home cook-friendly version of cassoulet (pronounced kae-soo-lay) with roasted vegetables. It’s a festive yet low-key way to feed any crowd.
What’s In This Vegan Cassoulet
This hearty vegetarian dish consists of tomato-braised white beans; the traditional duck and pork bits make way for earthy roasted vegetables (mushrooms, carrots, and fennel). The crunchy breadcrumb topping is made of nutritional yeast- and parsley-laced panko. Everything gets combined in a casserole dish and baked until golden.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Mushrooms: Feel free to sub the cremini with shiitake, oyster, or maitake mushrooms.
- Carrots: Parsnips would work just as well.
- Fennel: If you don’t like fennel, just leave it out and compensate with extra mushrooms and carrots.
- Beans: Although home-cooked beans are always best, you can make vegan cassoulet with canned or from-scratch beans.
- Panko: Japanese-style panko breadcrumbs are crunchier and fluffier than American-style. They’re available in most supermarkets these days, but if you can’t find them, regular ones will do.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Roast the Vegetables: Start this vegan cassoulet by preheating the oven and prepping the carrots, fennel, and mushrooms. I like to cut them into large-ish chunks so they stand apart from the beans.
Pro tip: Unless your mushrooms are literally covered in soil, don’t wash them under the tap (mushrooms absorb water, which can make them rubbery); wipe them with a damp paper towel instead. Toss the veg with oil, salt, and pepper, and roast until lightly golden, about 25 minutes.
Simmer the Beans: While the veg are roasting, prep the beans. In a large skillet, sweat diced onion, garlic, and spices until the onion is translucent. Then add the beans, tomato sauce, and veg broth, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Make the Topping: Meanwhile, combine breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, minced parsley, a bit of oil, and a pinch of salt in bowl. Rub the mixture with your fingers to distribute the oil.
Assemble and Bake: To finish the cassoulet, stir the roasted veg into the beans and transfer the mixture to a casserole dish. Sprinkle with the panko mixture and bake until golden, about 20 minutes.
Make-Ahead Tips
If you want to cook this in advance, finish it through step 6: put the vegetable-bean mixture in the baking dish and cover with foil. It will keep well in the fridge for several days. When you’re ready to serve it, sprinkle it with the panko mixture and bake.
More holiday goodness…
- Fall Farro Salad with Carrots
- The Best Thanksgiving Salad
- Balsamic Caramelized Onion Crostini
- Muhammara (Red Pepper Walnut Dip)
Let me know if you try this recipe! Give it a rating below and leave a comment, and don’t forget to tag your creation with @thenewbaguette on Instagram.
PrintVegan Cassoulet Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This hearty vegan cassoulet with roasted vegetables is a festive way to feed a crowd.
Ingredients
For the Cassoulet
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved
- 2 medium carrots (about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 small fennel bulb, cored and sliced
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 5 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence (dried rosemary or thyme also OK)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 cups cooked white beans (or 3 cans, drained and rinsed)
- One 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup mushroom or vegetable broth
For the Topping
- 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Place the mushrooms, carrots, and fennel on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Toss to coat and roast until golden brown, about 25 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking.
- Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of oil in a large high-sided skillet oven medium-low heat. Add the onion, garlic, herbes de Provence, paprika, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook until the onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the beans, tomato sauce, and broth. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the topping. In a bowl, toss together the Panko, parsley, and nutritional yeast. Add the oil and salt and rub the mixture together with your fingers to incorporate the oil.
- Stir the roasted vegetables into the beans and transfer the mixture to a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish.
- Sprinkle with the Panko mixture. Reduce the oven temperature to 400ºF and bake until the topping is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 of the recipe
- Calories: 387
- Carbohydrates: 61.1 g
- Fiber: 15.2 g
- Protein: 21.2 g
Keywords: french, cassoulet, vegetarian, fennel, white beans
Angel says
Is the 8 oz. mushrooms by weight or volume? I’m in a country that uses metric, so I’m not sure what the convention is and it’s slightly confusing to me that ounces can refer to either 🙂
Alexandra says
Hi Angel! I can see that being a problem. This refers to 8 oz. by weight, which is about 250 grams. Hope this helps!
frenchy says
Looks great, will have to try. But – traditional cassoulet does not have a breadcrumb topping.
Alexandra says
Hi there! The cassoulet I’m familiar with does have breadcrumbs, although I’m sure different restaurants and cooks all make it differently.
Bett says
Lovely. I’mm trying this for a Christmas Eve gathering.
I have one request, though, please include all the nutrients, including fat, sugars and sodium, for those of us who must restrict certain things in our diets.
This would make it easier to tweak if needed.
Thanks!
Alexandra says
Thanks for the feedback, Bett! I include as much info as possible on all newly-published recipes – this one’s a bit older. Merry Christmas!