18/06/2026
🫖🍅 Slow Cooker Tomato, Black Tea & Butter Bean Stew🍅🧄
Deeply comforting, rich and softly savoury
This warming slow-cooker stew uses strong black tea to deepen the flavour of tomatoes, creating a rich, rounded base that tastes slow-cooked and soulful. Butter beans make it hearty yet gentle — perfect with crusty bread or over mash.
🛒 Ingredients (serves 4)
Black Tea Infusion
2 tbsp loose black tea (or 4 teabags)
400ml boiling water
Stew
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 x 400g tin butter beans, drained & rinsed
200ml brewed black tea
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt & black pepper
Optional:
A k**b of butter stirred in at the end
Fresh parsley or basil
👩🍳 Method
Brew the tea
Brew black tea with boiling water for 5 minutes.
Strain and set aside.
Prepare the base
Heat olive oil in a pan.
Gently cook onion and carrot for 5–7 minutes until softened.
Add garlic and tomato purée, cooking for 1 minute.
(This step adds depth but can be skipped if you want everything straight into the slow cooker.)
Slow cook
Transfer everything to the slow cooker.
Add chopped tomatoes, butter beans, 200ml brewed tea, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper.
Cook
Cover and cook:
Low: 6–8 hours, or
High: 3–4 hours
Finish
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Stir in butter if using for extra richness.
Serve
🥖🍚🥔Serve hot with crusty bread, rice, or mashed potatoes.
🌿 Why Black Tea Works in Slow Cooking
Long, gentle heat softens tea’s tannins, leaving behind savoury depth that enhances tomatoes and vegetables — like a plant-based stock.
🥣 Variations
Add lentils for extra body
Swap butter beans for chickpeas
Add a splash of cream or coconut milk
Finish with grated cheese or pesto.
Enjoy! 😋
