Tender carrots, meltingly soft butter beans, and fragrant herbs and spices make this warming vegan tagine into a delicious, comforting main dish for all the family.
Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. Autumn’s here all right. Soggy leaves, grey sky, the house under siege by MASSIVE spiders, and all the ‘seasonal’ germs rearing their ugly heads again. Ugh.
Having spent the entire day trapped indoors with a very snotty small person (At what age do they learn to blow their own noses? Tell me it’s soon…) I needed something easy, warming, and very, very comforting.
Old family recipe
This yummy vegan tagine was based on my Mum’s carrot and butter-bean soup recipe, which has been a fixture on family menus for as long as I can remember. I took the basic flavours, tinkered a bit, and left it lovely and chunky to spoon over hot buttery couscous.
Mum usually blends her soup version into a thick, smooth and comforting liquid.
Ingredients in vegan tagine with carrot and butterbeans
To make this delicious tagine, you will need the following ingredients:
- Onions for a rich depth of flavour
- Carrots – since this is a carrot tagine!
- Olive oil for sautéing the vegetables
- Herbs and spices – dried thyme, ground allspice (sometimes called Jamaica pepper or pimento) and black pepper
- Vegetable stock – from a cube/powder is fine
- Tomato puree to enrich the sauce
- Tinned butter-beans, drained and rinsed
- Salt to taste
Tagine or not tagine?
It’s debatable whether or not this dish can really call itself a tagine. I didn’t use a special North African cooking pot, and it doesn’t have any fruit in it, or even the traditional spices.
But, it was allowed to cook on a very low simmer for a longish amount of time, and we did eat it with couscous. There are many delicious vegetable (and meat) based stews made by Sephardic Jews that bear the title ‘tagine’. So you be the judge. Is it a tagine? Or merely a tasty vegetable dish with delusions of North African grandeur?
Vegan tagine – Tasty and tender
Whatever it’s called, it hit the spot on a grim and grotty day. The carrots were tender and fragrant. The beans were melting deliciously into the broth. The soupy liquid was sweet with slow-cooked onions, rich with tomato, and zingy with pepper and allspice.
My daughter Kipper scoffed down her couscous but had to be induced to try the tagine. “Are the butter-beans more buttery, or more beany?” I asked. She tried one, then had to try the rest to be certain.
Keep ’em guessing…
Encouraging her to work out what herbs and spices had flavoured the carrots got her to see those off too. Gratifyingly, she correctly identified the presence of thyme (Proud Mum Moment).
Even DH yummed down a big bowl of this vegan tagine, and commented appreciatively about it. And he generally moans about vegan dishes with beans in. Maybe I’m winning him round, at last…
Don’t wait for grim weather to make this – you can enjoy it any time!
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📖 Recipe
Carrot and butter-bean tagine
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions
- 3-4 tablespoon olive oil
- 500 g carrots
- 2 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½-1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- 1½ tablespoon tomato puree
- 400 g tin/carton butter-beans, drained
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 300-400 g cooked couscous, to serve
Instructions
- 2 medium onions, 3-4 tbsp olive oilPeel and slice the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the sliced onions over a low-medium heat for 8-10 minutes until very soft and just starting to brown.
- 500 g (18 oz) carrots, 2 tsp dried thyme, ½-1 tsp ground allspicePeel the carrots and cut into 8-9mm (approx. ⅓ inch) slices. Add the carrots, thyme, and allspice to the onions in the pan and mix well. Continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cups) vegetable stock, 1½ tbsp tomato pureeAdd the stock and tomato puree to the pan, stir well, then cover and simmer over a low heat for 15-20 minutes until the carrots are very tender.
- 400 g (14 oz) tin/carton butter-beans, drained, Salt and pepperAdd the drained butter-beans to the carrot mixture in the pan. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes to allow the flavours to mingle. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.
- 300-400 g (2-3 cups) cooked couscous, to serveServe at once, with hot cooked couscous.
Notes
Nutrition
More tasty dishes to serve with couscous
Other dishes which are delicious with couscous include:
Vegan tagine FAQs
This delicious carrot and butterbean tagine is totally vegan, so is suitable for vegans and vegetarians. It is also gluten-free, however couscous is made from wheat and is not suitable for celiacs or those with a gluten intolerance. I suggest substituting quinoa, short grain rice or millet as an alternative.
Yes! This delicious vegan dish reheats well. It can be prepared in advance, then stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Reheat in a pan over a medium heat, adding a little more water or stock if necessary to restore the consistency. Ensure the tagine is piping hot before serving. (The couscous is best made fresh but only takes a few minutes!)
It is! This tasty dinner contains plenty of plant-based protein, dietary fibre and healthy fats. The carrots provide a good dose of vitamin A, and it also contains other vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, iron and calcium. Pairing the tagine with couscous will bring a serving of carbohydrates to balance the meal – use a wholewheat variety for maximum benefit.
Aliyah Israel
Can this dish be frozen…Im going out of town and wanted to prep some meals for the hubby?
Helen
Hi Aliyah. I don’t think I would recommend freezing this, as frozen and thawed carrots tend to take on an odd spongy texture when reheated. However if you don’t mind the texture, then there’s no reason why this can’t be frozen! As with all frozen dishes, ensure it’s completely thawed and piping hot throughout before consuming. Hope this helps! All the best, Helen x.
Angela
Hi, I will definitely make this again.
I tweaked it as I’m not crazy about dried thyme. I added several chopped garlic cloves with about 3 mins of onion-cooking time, and added 2.5 tsps cumin seeds, 1 tsp ground coriander and 1 tsp paprika with the thyme and ground allspice. I found I needed to simmer the carrots for around 30 mins to get them really tender. Thank you for the basis of a very good dish !
Helen
Your spices sound delicious Angela! I can never follow a recipe exactly so it’s good to know that other people use my recipes as a springboard for their own culinary adventures too. I’m glad it was a success 🙂