This Vegan Cassoulet uses beans, mushrooms, and vegan sausages to create a comfort food that is full of deep flavors. Plus, using the Instant Pot makes it quicker and more convenient!
Cassoulet is named for the ceramic vessel that it was cooked in. It has a long history since it began as a simple farmhouse meal made of easy to store beans and preserved meats. Each area added it’s own touch and ingredients until it became a much fancier dish.
My version takes the meat out of the mix, but adds in vegan sausages and mushrooms to add that dark rich flavor to this vegan cassoulet. That plus the herbs and beans create the perfect filling comfort food.
What Are Flageolet Beans?
They are a French bean that’s small, white with a green hue, and shaped like a mini kidney bean. It’s often lumped in with other white beans but you can’t miss it’s stylish green color.
Flageolet beans have a firm skin that gives it a little bit of bite, but a creamy inside. It’s also the traditional bean used in cassoulet.
What Is A Substitute For Flageolet Beans?
Don’t worry if you can’t find flageolet beans near you. They are a specialty bean in the US, and can often be found at Rancho Gordo if your timing is right and you can get them on Amazon.
But you can make this vegan cassoulet with other beans that you can find at any local grocery. Any white bean will work like cannellini, navy, or great northern beans so use your favorite.
How Can I Make Vegan Food Taste Smoky?
There are two easy and inexpensive ways to add a smoky flavor to foods through marinades or in sauces, soups, or stews and that’s liquid smoke or smoked paprika.
Liquid smoke is made by burning wood and catching the condensation and can come in different flavors depending on the wood that’s being burned.
Smoked paprika is smoked over a fire to give the mild peppers a smoky taste, then dried and ground. You can also smoke other things yourself like tofu and potatoes using an inexpensive stove top smoker if you want to get adventurous.
What Can I Use In Place Of Beyond Sausage?
Regular cassoulet does use meat, so for our vegan version we are using Beyond Sausage to give it that meaty texture and feel.
If you can’t get your hands on the vegan sausage called for, you can use chopped up vegan breakfast sausages, or other vegan sausages like Field Roast.
But for the good or the bad, Beyond Sausage has more oil in it which really helps this dish feel rich. That means if you use a less fatty vegan sausage you will need to add an extra 2 tablespoons of olive oil to create the same mouthfeel.
Is There A Veggie I Can Use Instead Of Vegan Sausage?
I know some people just don’t like to use meat substitutes or don’t use some of the ingredients that they contain. A great option would be to double the mushrooms and add 1/2 teaspoon of rubbed sage or a sausage spice blend that doesn’t have salt.
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Instant Pot Vegan Cassoulet
This Vegan Cassoulet uses beans, mushrooms, and vegan sausages to create a comfort food that is full of deep flavors. Plus, using the Instant Pot makes it quicker and more convenient!
Use a 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Soaking Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 8 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry flageolet beans (or sub cannellini or great northern beans)
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup minced onions
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 2 Beyond Meat Brat Sausages, cut into quarters lengthwise, then sliced into chunks*
- 1 (1 lb.) package of sliced mushrooms
- 2 cups water
- 1 and 1/2 cups diced carrots
- 2 no-salt vegetable bouillon cubes
- 4 (3 in.) sprigs fresh thyme or 2 tsp. dried
- 1 (3 in.) sprig fresh rosemary or 2 tsp. dried
- 6 drops liquid smoke or ½ tsp. smoked paprika
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 and ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the dry beans in a large bowl that’s at least twice the size of the dried beans, and fill about 3/4 full with water. Let the beans soak for at least 8 hours. Or you can quick-soak the beans if you want to make this recipe now.
- Heat the olive oil in your Instant Pot on high Sauté until warm, then add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté a minute or two more.
- Add the Beyond Sausage and mushrooms and cook until the fat is rendered. Add the water, beans, and carrots.
- If you are using no salt bouillon add now, but if it has salt in it add with the salt and pepper before serving instead!
- Add the thyme, rosemary, and liquid smoke or smoked paprika. Stir well.
- Pressure cook on high for 11 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for at least 15 minutes, also known as do nothing, then you can finish releasing the pressure manually until the pin drops and you can open the lid of your Instant Pot.
- Stir in the nutritional yeast, salt, and black pepper, then serve.
Notes
*can substitute another vegan sausage plus an additional two tablespoons of oil, or double the mushrooms and add ½ teaspoon of rubbed sage.
Doesn’t make sense. At what stage do I add the beans ?
I’m so sorry, John, I edited the instructions to clarify some steps.
Don’t forget to add 1.5 tsp French Tarragon to make a good Cassoulet a great Cassoulet!
Ooo… thanks for the tip, Marc!