This Moroccan Instant Pot Vegetable Stew recipe is so good that you won’t miss the meat! The stew has the perfect combination of ingredients that gives it a rich, complex flavor that you’re going to love. Serve with a lemon and herb couscous, or quinoa.
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This Moroccan vegetable stew Instant Pot version is delicious, flavorful and so beautiful. The colors you see in the photos are real! The only thing you need to do to make this a vegan stew recipe is to omit the cream.
You’ll find that the mmmmm’s and ahhhhh’s will keep on coming when you serve this to your family or guests. And it’s so healthy that there’s no guilt in going back for seconds.
Dana says ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just wanted you to know that since I first made this last December, I’ve made it soooo many times! It’s my go-to for a healthy dinner. This and the Misir Wot. I’m going to try some more of your recipes. This food feels like warmth and love in a bowl!
My family likes meat – chicken, beef, pork – and they can be pretty picky about vegetarian recipes. So when I say they love this veggie stew recipe, that means this truly is an extra-special recipe!
This Instant Pot vegetable stew recipe has authentic ingredients, except for cream. I’ve taken the liberty of adding cream because I love the flavor it adds to this recipe.
➡ If you’re looking for more vegetarian Instant Pot recipes, try Instant Pot Ratatouille, Instant Pot Aloo Gobi (Indian Spiced Cauliflower) or Instant Pot Rigatoni Bolognese! And for some international flavor, try Instant Pot Middle Eastern Style Green Beans, Chickpea Tikka Masala, and Misir Wat (Ethiopian Lentils). Here’s my complete collection of vegetarian recipes.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients for Vegetable Stew Instant Pot
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips
🥛 Cream: Authentic Moroccan stew doesn’t contain cream, but I add it for extra richness and flavor. It’s delicious without it, too – omit for a vegan, healthier version.
🫘 Chickpeas: I prefer Instant Pot chickpeas over canned. Cook them in the morning, drain them, and leave them in the Instant Pot until ready to use. Canned chickpeas work great, too!
🍋 Preserved Lemons: These add an incredible concentrated citrus flavor, but add them to taste! Some readers find the preserved lemons to be overpowering. Make your own or buy a jar of preserved lemons at Middle Eastern grocers or Amazon. Substitute 2 tablespoons lemon juice if you can’t find them.
🥣 Saffron: Saffron adds beautiful depth and flavor to the stew. It’s pricey, but a little goes a long way. Feel free to omit if you don’t have it.
🌶️ Harissa: Love spicy food? Try harissa in this recipe! Add 1 teaspoon at a time after cooking and taste as you go – it’s potent. Find it in the ethnic foods section of most grocery stores.
🍗 Add Meat: Make the stew heartier by sautéing 1 cup sliced spicy sausage before the onions. Chicken pieces (cut 2 inches wide) also work great. Keep the same pressure cooking time.
🍲 Broth: Substitute chicken broth for vegetable broth if desired.
❓ FAQs
Yes, you can add other veggies, but try and pick ones with similar cooking times, or add quick-cooking ones after the pressure cooking is done.
Sauté onions, etc, in a large saucepan first. Transfer to a slow cooker and add remaining ingredients. Stir together, cover, and cook on high for 3 hours (or 6 hours on low).
How to Make Instant Pot Moroccan Stew
⏲️ Instant Pot Instructions
- Heat the Instant Pot in Sauté mode and once heated, heat the oil. Stir in onions, and sauté until soft, about 1 minute. Stir in garlic and ginger.
- Add in salt, black pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Stir until spices are fragrant, about 15 to 30 seconds. See note below about spices.
- Deglaze with a couple of tablespoons of broth. Stir to remove any brown bits. There should be nothing stuck to the bottom of the inner pot. Once deglazed, stir in the remaining broth.
- Add butternut squash, carrots, and preserved lemons or lemon juice. Stir to combine. Add tomatoes, but don’t stir. Push down with a spatula to immerse tomatoes in the broth.
✏️ SAUTÉ SPICES
If the Instant Pot becomes too hot and the ingredients are burning, turn it off to cool it down and turn back on once cooled. You don’t want to burn the spices! If you need to, add a tablespoon of broth to deglaze the inner pot if you find that the ingredients are browning too quickly.
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 6:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a quick release of pressure. Once the float valve goes down, the lid can be opened.
- Stir in chickpeas, saffron, and cream (omit for vegan version). Cook on Sauté mode until heated through.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve the Moroccan vegetarian stew with couscous, quinoa, or crusty French bread.
♨️ Stovetop Instructions
- Sauté onion, garlic, and ginger.
- Add spices and sauté briefly.
- Stir in broth, vegetables, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Stir in heavy cream and heat briefly.
- Garnish with cilantro.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Vegetarian Instant Pot Moroccan Stew
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1 tablespoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 4 cups butternut squash cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
- 1 cup carrots cut into 1-inch thick rounds
- 1 preserved lemon chopped
- 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes (1 can) – 411 grams
- 2 cups chickpeas (garbanzo beans) cooked, or 1 can (16 oz or 454 grams)
- pinch saffron
- ¼ cup heavy cream (omit for vegan)
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
Instant Pot
- Select the Sauté function and pre-heat the Instant Pot.
- Add 2 tablespoon olive oil to the pre-heated inner pot of Instant Pot and allow it to heat up.
- Stir in 1 cup onion and sauté until soft, about 1 minute.
- Stir in 1 tablespoon garlic and 1 tablespoon ginger. Press Cancel. The spices in the next step will cook in residual heat.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, stirring until fragrant about 15 to 30 seconds. [See Note 1]
- Deglaze with a couple of tablespoons of broth. Stir to remove any brown bits. There should be nothing stuck to the bottom of the inner pot.
- Once deglazed, stir in remaining broth.
- Add 4 cups butternut squash, 1 cup carrots, and 1 preserved lemon. Stir to combine.
- Add 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes, but don’t stir; push down with a spatula to immerse in the broth.
- Close the lid and pressure cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes.
- Do a Quick Release (QR) of pressure. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot lid.
- Stir in 2 cups chickpeas, pinch saffron, and ¼ cup heavy cream (if using); heat through on Sauté mode.
- Garnish with ½ cup cilantro.
- Serve with couscous or crunchy bread.
Stovetop
- Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Stir in onions, and sauté until soft, about 1 minute.
- Stir in garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add salt, black pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper, stirring until fragrant, about 15 to 30 seconds.
- Add the broth and stir to scrape up any brown bits.
- Stir in butternut squash, carrots, tomatoes, chickpeas, and preserved lemons.
- Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat, and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Stir in saffron and cream and heat through.[See Note 2]
- Garnish with cilantro.
Notes
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Amy says
Soooo good!
Michelle says
I made this for my weekly meal prep and it was amazing! I added spinach and omitted the dairy and saffron. I just used an ordinary lemon- de-seeded and chopped and you can really taste the citrus which is a nice balance to the heat from the cayenne and cumin. I will definitely make this again and again!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your modifications. I love this soup especially at this time of year!
Marielli says
I doubled the recipe, and because I made it for the kids, I added dates and raisins to give it a sweeter taste and to neutralize a little bit of the spiciness. They loved it.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I love dates! I bet that added a great kid-friendly flavor. Thanks for commenting, Marielli!
Tobasco7 says
I substituted yogurt for the cream, and it turned out great! Fab recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
That’s a great idea to reduce calories – thanks for sharing that!
Tracy says
Easy to make! Enjoyed by the entire family.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, Tracy! Thanks for your comment.
@pikolint says
Thank you for sharing this delicious and easy recipe! The adults in our household enjoyed it very much, although it didn’t appeal to our children. That meant more servings for the adults! Definitely a repeat for the future.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m so glad to hear it – thanks so much for your comment. Now we need to work on the kids, lol!
Gwen says
Absolutely delicious!!! I added the heavy cream.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m so glad you liked it, Gwen! I love this recipe too 🙂
Leslie says
This recipe was recommended by my friend Albert, who posted a comment above. I have made it multiple times now – it’s our favorite Instantpot recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Leslie, that’s the kind of comment I love to get – when a recipe gets passed on word-of-mouth! Thank you so much 🙂
Christopher says
These instructions are amazing, The layout, pictures are great. Not only do you have recipe but detailed instructions for the Instant Pot. Thank you for putting the time in to this
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Christoper, thank you for the comment and I’m always happy to hear that people appreciate my level of detail!
Saaz says
This was awesome. I am not a vegetarian but I loved the dish. Cut down on the cayenne if you don’t want it spicy.
Saaz says
Just finished making it. Tast awesome, just a tad hot. I will add more creams
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks, Saaz! Did you use harissa – it can be pretty spicy 🙂 If you didn’t, the heat must have come from the cayenne. Just reduce it next time.
Jen says
Delicious and simple! I added sliced chicken thighs for my family, but would have been just as happy with a vegetarian dish. Skipped the cream. Love the bright flavors – thanks for a great recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Jen, thank you for your comment and rating! I love this recipe and am so happy that you loved it too! Yup, you definitely don’t have to do the cream – it’s super even without it.
Melisa says
Would coconut milk work in place of the cream?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Melisa – I think that would taste great. Probably not traditional (neither is the cream), but it’s the taste that matters, right? Let me know if you try it. I love love this recipe.
Albert Chin says
Received an Instant Pot for Christmas and this was the first recipe I made. Amazing flavor! Made it again the following day.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Albert, I feel this recipe is a hidden gem, thus far! For whatever reason it’s not been tried by a lot of people – I hope your comment helps that situation 🙂 I love this recipe so much – you made my day!
Joan sicherman says
Excellent! Easy and so good!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I glad to hear you liked it, Joan. I love this recipe and am hoping more people try it out because I know they’re going to love it!
Billy says
This stew looks delicious! I’m definitely making this the next time I head to the store! Thank you so much for sharing.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you – hope you love it!
Hitee says
I made this last night and absolutely loved it. One of the easiest recipes ever and so delicious.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you Hitee! I love this recipe so much – especially because it’s so unexpectedly good!
Heather Willard says
Silly Question. I’ve never cooked with preserved lemons. After the dish is through cooking, do you remove the lemons? Or cut them up or just eat them as is?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Heather, I remove the seeds and chop the lemons into tiny bits. I’m sure you could cut the lemon in half and remove it after cooking too. And it’s not a silly question 🙂
Michelle says
My familty really enjoyed the flavors, never missed the meat. Thanks
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m so glad to hear that – same with mine, which is very unusual, lol!
Michelle says
I fed an international group this evening – only one of six a vegetarian. It was a TOTAL success. Don’t hesitate- make this dish. It is amazing.