Vegan Ghormeh Sabzi: a most-asked-for recipe.

Have you ever participated in a meal train before? When my friend Ross recently welcomed a baby, he requested a Persian dish.

A meal train is when friends and family prepare meals to help friends and family welcome home a new baby, help someone who is caretaking, or support a life event. Usually, the meal train will include large portions of dishes that can be eaten over many nights. Think lasagnes, casseroles, and stews - anything that can be reheated easily.

Ross used to be a chef and his family is vegetarian, so I decided to make a vegan version of Ghormeh Sabzi, possibly my favorite Persian stew. It’s packed with herbs, warming spices, and kidney beans. It freezes and reheats well, as does the basmati rice I made for them to serve alongside it.

Although this image is not the vegan version, it’s a throwback to the original ghormeh sabzi photo on the blog.

While Ghormeh Sabzi traditionally has beef stew meat, it is actually one of the most popular Persian dishes to adapt for vegan diets. It’s also a recipe that I’ve been asked by both readers and friends to make for the blog time and time again. Something about it just never quite hit the mark on being ready to publish on the blog.

Growing up, my mom would make a version of this with mushrooms for my vegetarian relatives, and I often tried vegan versions of it in other Persian homes, with mushrooms typically substituted for beef. However, these versions usually fell short in taste—they were usually watery and lacked the rich, vibrant flavor of the original dish I loved.

For years, I thought this was simply due to the absence of the beef. I’ve recipe-tested many vegan versions of this dish over the years, and it never quite got to where I wanted it to be. This meal train pushed me to try a few more ideas that may set it over the edge, and that’s the recipe I’m sharing today.

The key to that amazing Ghormeh Sabzi flavor is in the technique. These are the four things you’ll need to do:

1. Use multiple types of mushrooms. Different mushrooms bring different textures and flavors, and this recipe benefits from both. Use at least three different kinds of mushrooms.

2. Browning or caramelizing the mushrooms. When you cook mushrooms, browning them over time releases the savory, umami flavor that makes mushrooms such an excellent meat substitute. Skip this step, and the mushrooms will be bland at best, adding very little to the stew in terms of flavor.

3. Take the time to brown the onions. Just as with the mushrooms, browning onions release the flavor and aromatic element. When onions are cooked over a long period, they caramelize, which means the heat from the pan breaks down their natural sugars and transforms them into a rich, golden-brown, sweet, and savory ingredient.

4. Use a flavorful vegetable broth. Using veggie broth (homemade or storebought) instead of water makes a major change in the dish, imparting an even more complex flavor. It’s important to use a broth that actually has flavor in this recipe, so I recommend homemade

Vegan Ghormeh Sabzi Recipe

Ingredients