Beef Stew calls for simple ingredients, but it’s a stunner! With meltingly tender beef, you’ll love the deep flavour of the sauce in this beef stew recipe
Economical and hearty, there’s no better way to see out the colder months. Let it simmer away slowly on the stove or oven, speed things up using your pressure cooker, or set and forget with your slow cooker. Mop your bowl clean with Irish Soda Bread, a quick rustic no-yeast bread, or this incredible easy crusty Artisan bread!
Beef Stew
The Queen of Brown Food strikes again. Back to back brown foods, possibly the two MOST brown foods in the world – a curry on Friday, and now a Beef Stew recipe today.
*Head smack* I will never be a magazine editor. Can you imagine? Page after page after page of brown, saucy goodness….. (*she cheers at the vision, you groan at the thought! 😂)
A well made beef stew is a thing of beauty. While it’s easy to make, it takes a little more than just “chucking it all in a pot” (or instant pot) then leaving it to simmer until the beef is tender.
How to make Beef Stew
Best beef for beef stew is chuck beef. Because it’s nicely marbled with fat, it’s the best beef for braising for hours – it’s got terrific flavour, is juicy and beautifully tender. Boneless beef rib also works very well. Whatever beef you use, use big pieces so they don’t cook too quickly – Beef Stew needs time for the flavour to develop.
Sear the beef well on all sides – in batches, because if you cram them all in at the same time, they will steam and won’t brown well.
Sauté onion, garlic, carrots and celery in the beef drippings so they soak up extra flavour.
Add beef stew sauce ingredients – beef broth, red wine (great for extra flavour, but can be skipped), Worcestershire sauce (savouriness and depth), flour (to thicken) and tomato paste (to thicken + a touch of sour to balance richness).
Add potatoes, bay leaves and thyme. The liquid will be covering the ingredients at this stage.
Simmer for 1.5 – 2 hours covered, until the beef is almost fall apart tender.
Simmer for a further 30 minutes without the lid to allow the sauce to reduce and thicken.
Make this Beef Stew on the stove – oven, pressure cooker OR slow cooker!
I usually make Beef Stew on the stove, but I’ve been known to rush it using a pressure cooker. Using the slow cooker is also really convenient, and sometimes I will use the oven, especially if I’m doing a bunch of other stuff on the stove. Directions provided for all!
Key tip: Brown the beef well
The better the browning, the more brown stuff you have stuck on the bottom of the pot* = better sauce flavour with a deeper, richer colour. You’ll see in the recipe video how the base of my pot is basically entirely dark brown when I finish browning the beef.
* The brown stuff is called fond and whenever you sear meat, fish or prawns/shrimp in the pan, you should do everything in your power to use it in a sauce or similar because it’s flavour, flavour, flavour!
What to serve with Beef Stew
I personally don’t serve stew with anything other than mashed potato. I know, I know, I’m sooo boring! 😂 Here are some other options for those of you who aren’t as straight as me:
Cauliflower Mash – for a low carb alternative
Mashed Sweet Potato or other mashed veggies (sweet potato, parsnip, pumpkin or other root vegetables)
Polenta, rice or bread – mop your plate clean with this quick No Yeast Irish Soda Bread!
Enjoy! – Nagi x
More cosy Stews
Slow Cooked Chicken Stew and Faster Chicken Stew – when you need a rich stew on the table in under an hour!
Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff Stew – fall apart beef in a creamy Stroganoff sauce!
Browse Winter Warmers recipe collection
More slow cooked fall-apart meat
I’m a big fan of slow cooked meats!!
Browse the Winter Comfort Food collection!
Beef Stew recipe
Watch how to make it
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Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg / 2.4lb chuck beef , cut into 3.5 cm / 1.5″ cubes (Note 1)
- 1 tsp each salt and pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil , divided
- 1 large onion , halved then cut into 1 cm / 2/5″ slices
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 carrots , cut into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces on the diagonal
- 2 celery stalks , cut into 2.5 cm / 1″ pieces
- 1/3 cup / 50g flour
- 3 cups / 750ml beef broth / stock , salt reduced
- 2 cups / 500 ml red wine , bold and dry (Cab Sauv, Burgundy, Merlot) (Note 2)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves , fresh or dried
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 400 g / 14 oz baby potatoes , halved
- More salt and pepper , to taste.
Instructions
- Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a large, heavy based casserole pot over high heat until just starting to smoke.
- Add 1/3 of the beef and brown aggressively all over – about 4 minutes. Remove to bowl, repeat with remaining beef, adding more oil if required.
- Turn down heat to medium high. Add 1 tbsp oil if required. Add onion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes until onion is softened slightly and golden on the edge.
- Add carrot and celery, stir for 1 minute to coat in flavours.
- Sprinkle flour evenly across surface, then stir to coat.
- Add broth, red wine, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to dissolve tomato paste and flour into liquid.
- Add cooked beef (including any juices), thyme, bay leaf and potato. Stir. Water level should almost fully cover everything (see video), if not, add a touch of water.
- Bring to simmer, then adjust heat to low / medium low so it’s simmering gently. (Note 3 for other cooking methods)
- Cover and cook for 1 hour 45 minutes or until beef is pretty tender (check with 2 forks at 1.5 hrs).
- Remove lid and simmer for further 30 minutes or until sauce reduces slightly. It should be like a thin gravy (see video) and beef should now be very tender.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve over creamy mashed potato with a sprig of fresh thyme for decoration or a sprinkle of parsley (Note 4).
Recipe Notes:
– SLOW COOKER: Reduce beef broth by 1 cup. After you finish step 7, transfer everything into the slow cooker. Add splash of water into pot, bring to simmer, scraping the bottom of the pot, then tip it all into the slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients, per recipe. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove lid and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving, stirring every now and then (the sauce will thicken slightly).
– PRESSURE COOKER: Follow slow cooker instructions, except cook on HIGH for 40 minutes.
– INSTANT POT*: Follow steps 1 to 7 of the recipe using the sauté function, then proceed with either the Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker function. Simmer with the lid off at the end if you want to thicken the sauce slightly. 4. Other serving suggestions: with warm crusty bread for dunking (try this easy rustic no-yeast Irish Bread), polenta, rice, cauliflower mash (low carb option), or other mashed root vegetables (carrot, parsnip, pumpkin, sweet potato). 5. STORAGE / LEFTOVERS – Refrigerate or freeze, then thaw before reheating on the stove or microwave. Tastes even better the next day because the flavours develop even more. 6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 6 servings. I like to trim excess fat from the beef but this is not factored into the nutrition. Stew only – not mashed potato.
Nutrition Information:
This Beef Stew recipe has originally published April 2018. Updated for housekeeping matters in January 2019 – no change to recipe!
LIFE OF DOZER
Life Of Dozer ↓↓↓
Yes, yes, THATS WHAT AM WAITING FOR. LOVE, LOVE COMFORT FOOD. YES WE ALSO SERVE WITH BREAD. TRY INSTAD MASH, BARLY OR PALENTA, CORN MEAL, YUM! Yes still hot, today 29C, country side 38C the sun just DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE. Am heading down beach again. Hope you have good week and Dozer is nice to You.
Enjoy the heat Vera, we’re going to be whining about the cold in a couple of months!!! 😂
In Hawaii I served beef stew with rice. The rice does a great job of soaking up the gravy.
I love that!! I must confess I’ve never tried any stew with rice and I can’t figure out why not! N xx
Wow, wow, wow, Nagi. You make brown food look sexy! I could practically taste that gravy from the screen. 🙂
Thank goodness, it’s going to be a bit cooler today, but it’s worth turning on the AC for this meal if one needs jumper weather to truly enjoy your stew.
We usually eat stew with mashed potatoes AND bread. If we throw potatoes into a stew, most times I choose to turn them into smashed potatoes on my plate to soak up the gravy while my husband enjoys chunked potatoes.
Have you tried the Woolworths Pane di Casa? The last time we shopped we found a Potato and Rosemary version for the first time, and I can’t believe how tasty it was. To find another loaf to serve with this stew would be so satisfying but even the plain flavour is wonderful. Perhaps I’ve been in Australia too long, but it’s the closest texture to NYC bagels I’ve found here. (Bagels sold here used to make me weep with disappointment, lol. Have you ever teared up when you’ve looked forward to eating something prepared by others but it didn’t meet your expectations?)
Thank you so much for including instructions for the different cooking methods; we picked up a Breville All in One pressure cooker/slow cooker last year and everything just tastes richer when we cook in it.
YES I HAVE!!! You know what?? I think it might be the recipe from Sonoma – did you know they sold their bread recipes to Woolies??? I hear you on the bagels – don’t get me started on them. I have tried so many and now I’ve officially given up. Even the so called famous Bagel Boys. Meh! Dry! Tasteless! It kills me. A great bagel with cream cheese and lox….. and the other thing is PASTRAMI. 😩
It must be the Sonoma recipe, then, because I’ve enjoyed the Pane di Casa better than any artisan bread I’ve found or baked myself. It sells out fast in my local store so I dance a little jig whenever I find a loaf. 🙂
Thanks to Wynn, I’m going to give homemade bagels a try with the King Arthur Flour recipe. Did you know Woolies sell smoked pastrami in the deli? It might be worth a try for an Aussie version of NYC bagel love. My favourite, though, is Don Latvian Liverwurst and Polish sausage (kielbasa) although Aldi Knackwurst is good enough if I haven’t been out to the Polish deli.
Eva, Zabar’s Deli in NYC, will ship bagels abroad. The shipping will be astronomical, because it’s pretty hefty for just the approx. 130 miles to where I live, but it can be done. There used to be 2 or 3 places here that made good bagels too, but those days are long gone, sadly, and even more unfortunately have been dwindling a bit in the city too as many famous old deli’s have retired and closed their doors. King Arthur Flour provides real bagel recipes and easy instructions and ingredients online. I’ve heard it’s the water in NYC that makes the big difference, but don’t quite believe it since bagels used to taste the same when made here locally as well, so it might be worth making them at least once anywhere to see how they turn out.
Thanks for the info, Wynn. I heard the same thing about the water (attributed to Larry King?) but in Brooklyn, specifically. I used to buy them in Houston from a bakery started by 3 brothers from New York and they set the standard for me. My poor Aussie husband (who is content with grocery store bread bagels) has been dragged anywhere I have even heard a whisper about bagels for the last 2 decades. Just this weekend we drove out to Richmond, NSW. I was considering taking the plunge in making my own but have been hesitant because we have a tiny kitchen but I’ll give the King Arthur Flour recipe a try.
OH YES!!!!! This sounds wonderful today…there is 3 ” of snow on the ground here in IL !!!! I have not heard of beef stew over mashed potatoes but I think that would be delicious!!!!! Great tip on browning meat well….that is a step I am guilty of not always doing…but certainly will with this recipe…..I LOVE Dozer….what a special creature!!!!!
Whhhaaat??!!! SNOW still?? Is that normal at this time of the year???
No Nagi snow is not normal in IL in April!!! Should be in 70’s today though…snow is gone!!!!
Well, that is completely new to me, that stew is served with mashed potatoes or polenta! I have never come across that, personally, nor in a cookbook or food magazine, either. That is very interesting. The fresh bread straight from one of the local bread baking companies, and with luck still warm and slices slathered with butter, is definitely a must with beef stew. I do like stews as savory as your recipe, but also like a very stripped-down version, too. No Worcestershire, no tomato, no garlic–just lots of beef and cubed potatoes with a diced onion, celery, carrots, bouillon, pepper, and water, thickened at the end with flour, and a touch of Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet. Stew is one of the things it is difficult to stop eating and easy to overdose on! As you say, browning beef extra well (in butter) is key for making the best stew! I’d once used a recipe tip and browned the cubed potatoes in butter also, prior to deglazing the pan and putting all into a slow cooker, and that had worked very well for slow-cooked stew! But, mostly make stew in a big stockpot, and just pop the carrots and potatoes into the pot near the end in time for them to be tender for serving. Gotta love stew!
Oh, in the savory (pot roast-flavored) stews, peas are usually to be found as a feature in that stew type in this part of the world, also, and in most stews containing a tomato product of any sort. The stripped-down stew type is a bit different also, in that it has a considerably higher ratio of stew broth (sans wine), similar to the ratio of a soup, only more thickened and somewhat opaque and lighter in color, although the Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet can darken it, of course, but the big trick is entirely concealing any taste of flour. Only the onion and celery are simmered the entire time with the beef, some people saute them first, some don’t so the onion becomes completely translucent in the broth, with the carrots and cubed potatoes being added later. Actually, savory stews are quite heavy on the stew broth aspect here also, which is very likely the reason why bread-dipping is such a big feature, and also why neither are served with mashed potatoes or polenta, since those would be swamped by a veritable tsunami of thickened stew broths, which are often considered the best part of the stews, and somewhat tragic if on the skimpy side. However, (Yankee) pot roasts and brisket pot roasts, which are very similar to savory stews including vegetables, are quite often made with a dark, slightly thickened gravy, and often served with mashed potatoes, polenta, and even in some places with grits. If it’s got plenty of carbs and gravy, count me in, because I’m bound to love it!
Ohhh I love reading all that Wynn! Thank you so much for sharing that information 🙂 It always interests me to hear how recipes are made and served around the world! PS Plenty of carbs and gravy? You and me, always. BRING IT ON! N xx
Never apologize for promoting rich, brown, luscious gravied meats!! I could die happy in such a puddle. (I studied your photos for butts…Ha ha…but couldn’t see anything remotely like the remnants of a cig! Maybe a sideways shot of celery could have been mistaken for such:))
“I could die happy in such a puddle.” <-- Message of the DAY!! 😂
You have me drooling! I’d probably be competing with Dozer. Can you believe it is spring in Indiana and there is snow on the ground? Where are the flowers? Where’s the warm weather? Your stew looks so doggone good! I, of course, would serve it with polenta. And a light salad would be ideal along with it plus a nice glass of pinot noir. *sigh* We have some chuck in the freezer — I hear it calling me. It wants to be transformed into a tasty beef stew. Have a wonderful day. Sending hugs to the both of you!! 🤗🤗
I heard that spring is late!!!! Which totally makes sense given our Endless Summer here 🙂 As for polenta – THANK YOU for the idea! I am totally trying that next time I make stew! 😘 N xx
Nagi: Love the recipes. I must confess that the beef stew pictures I got today had one that looked to have a cigarette butt in it. I’m just curious as to what it was. Recipe saver from 3 or 4 years. Ed Conwath Truro Nova Scotia Canada
PS It’s celery!!! At least, I think that’s what you’re seeing…??
CIGARETTE BUTT??? 😩 😂
Looks like a delicious one inch piece of celery to me!
You must have been reading my late mother’s recipe box card. Just the way she would make it, especially the Worcestershire touch.
Two comments for when you are fiddling around in the kitchen: try replacing some of the celery with diced fennel bulb.
As for bread or mashed potatoes, another option is polenta. You can cook it in a microwave using a four to one ratio of water to maize meal by volume. Cook on high for four minutes, stir it, and repeat for a total of four times. Then I usually add grated fontina or cheddar and cook it a bit longer–perhaps finishing it in the oven if I want a crust. Still, since you already have the spuds in the stew pot, I won’t think I would use anything but a bit of sourdough bread to sop up the final goodness in the bows.
I absolutely love hearing that it reminds you of your mother’s David! As for the microwave polenta – YOU GENIUS, YOU!!! N xx
And I loved hearing of the suggestion of using orange peel. I think I saw that in a Patricia Wells beef daube recipe, and maybe also in a Jamie Oliver book. In any case, orange peel is a classic with beef. I also love the way this recipe has stimulated so much discussion.
Thanks for the idea about how to cook Polenta. Never would have thought to use it nor how to make it in the microwave. Kathi
Oh, I’ll second that thank you! That sounds loads easier than the way I’ve made it! The microwave is excellent for cooked puddings too, especially boxed mixes of chocolate, vanilla, and other cooked puddings….soooo much easier and virtually fool-proof. I prefer making puddings from scratch, and don’t really mind commercial boxed mixes of certain puddings, but cannot abide any of the uncooked, instant pudding mixes. Microwaving pudding is just as easy as making instant pudding, so there is really no reason to settle for instant at all.
Ohhhhh! That’s such a great idea, I MUST TRY IT!!!! Thank you so much for sharing that tip 🙂 N xx
I learned the polenta microwave trick about thirty years ago. When I don’t add cheese, I may stir in some olive oil. I imagine you could also do it in a slow cooker on low for six to eight hours. I cook steel cut oats that way.