The Best White Bean Stew With Shrimp and Chicken Sausage

A delicious white bean stew with shrimp and chicken sausage that's bursting with flavor. Perfect for a healthy weeknight dinner.

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• Why You'll Love This White Bean Stew
• For Your Shopping List
• Let's Make It
• Top Tips and FAQs
• More Recipes You Might Like
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

I grew up eating a lot of beans...and I mean a lot. We used beans in soups, stews, and appetizers. And since dried beans were cheap and widely available, they were an integral part of Romanian cooking.

Growing up, I often ate a white bean stew called Iahnie, served with smoked sausages. For this recipe, I was inspired by the original but took some twists and turns and made this white bean stew into more of a Mediterranean bean recipe.

This Cannellini bean stew is made with warm spices, carrots, chicken sausage, shrimp, and fennel—a delicious combination of ingredients that produces a mouthwatering stew.

And if you're looking for more bean recipes, check out this delicious and hearty southern baked beans recipe!

Why You'll Love This White Bean Stew

• It's gluten and dairy-free
• Makes a perfect weeknight dinner
• Is healthy and delicious
• Can be made vegan with some adjustments
• It's ready in 30 minutes

For Your Shopping List

Shrimp - Ideally large shrimp works best in this recipe but whatever you can find is fine.

Chicken Sausage - I prefer chicken sausage in this recipe, but you can use regular sausage, chorizo, chicken apple sausage, or precooked sausage too, and just warm it through.

Orange and Lemon - They both add flavor and acidity.

Shallots and Garlic - Serving as the base of the stew.

Carrots - They add a nice sweetness and balance out all the flavors

Cannellini Beans - They're creamy and soft and are the main ingredient. Can be homemade or canned.

Fennel - Also known as Sweet Anise, adds a lovely, subtle licorice flavor.

Spices - Cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika give the dish a rich taste.

Dry white wine - Dry is important as sweet wine will change the flavor. Alternatively, skip it and use extra broth.

Chicken Broth - A low-sodium chicken broth works well so you can control the amount of salt.

Dill and Tarragon - These herbs tie the stew together and give it a fresh flavor.

Vegan Butter - I like adding vegan butter at the end as it adds creaminess to the dish. If you're not dairy-free feel free to use regular butter.

Red Pepper Flakes - This is optional for a spicy kick.

Let's Make It

Step 1. Combine spices, orange, and lemon zest along with ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Coat the shrimp with half the spice mixture —Reserve the rest.

Step 2. Preheat a large skillet on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, and chicken sausage and cook until it's browned and cooked through - about 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove chicken sausage and shrimp and set them aside.

Step 3. Add additional 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, shallot, shredded carrots, sliced fennel, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Deglaze with wine.

Step 4. Add the beans, broth, orange juice, spices, orange zest, salt, and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes until everything is incorporated and soft. With a potato masher, mash some of the beans.

Step 5. Return chicken sausage and shrimp to the pan along with 2 tablespoon vegan butter, tarragon, and dill. Adjust salt and pepper to your liking.

Step 6. Serve with extra dill and lemon zest.

Top Tips and FAQs

Is There An Alternative To Cannellini Beans?

Great Northern Beans are a good alternative to cannellini beans.

Can You Use Precooked Sausage?

Yes, you can use precooked sausage if you don't want to cook your own. You can also use regular sweet or spicy sausage, chicken apple sausage, andouille, or chorizo. Those are all good options. If you're using pre-cooked, slice the sausage and warm it through to give it some nice color then remove it before cooking the shrimp.

Can This Dish Be Made Vegan?

As a matter of fact, it can. You can swap out the sausage for vegan sausage and skip the shrimp entirely. Also, substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth.

Is This Dish Like A White Bean Chili?

There are some components of it that are similar to a white bean chili but it has its own flavor profile.

Can You Skip The Shrimp Or The Sausage?

You can definitely skip one or the other or if you wish, both and make it vegan.

Is There A Fennel Substitution?

If you can't find a fennel bulb you can use ground fennel instead. About ½ teaspoon should do it.

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