Beef Stew

This Beef Stew recipe is thick, hearty, and packed full of tender beef! It can be made from scratch in your slow cooker or on your stove top and is always the very best comforting dinner.

Beef Stew

This beef stew is a total classic. It’s the ultimate from-scratch, just like grandma used to make kind of recipe that truly can’t be beat. It’s a little time consuming but super easy to actually make. The beef comes out so tender it practically melts in your mouth. Rich, beefy, and packed with flavor, plus it can be made on the stove or in a slow cooker. Perfect for a cozy night in! 

Get in the mood for soup and sweater season with this Creamy Chicken Stew or comforting Vegetable Stew!

What kind of meat is best for stew?

You want a cut of beef that’s actually a little tough because of all the slow cooking. Beef stewing meat is generally found at any grocery store/butcher pre-cut into chunks. It can come from many different cuts of beef, but most often it’s going to be a tougher cut of meat like beef chuck. A tough cut of meat is perfect for beef stew! It has lots of connective tissue that really melts right into the meat making it amazingly moist and tender. The key to having a super tender beef stew, is really to be patient! 

How To Make Beef Stew

For Browning the Meat: 

• Heat. Use a large, heavy bottomed pot or a dutch oven. Heat the olive oil over medium heat.
• Coat. While the oil is heating up, add the beef stew meat to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle over the flour, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat.
• Sear. Working in batches, add 1/3 of the meat to the pan and sear, turning with tongs until browned on all sides for about 4-5 minutes per batch. Set all of the meat aside on a clean plate.

Stovetop Method:

• Reduce. Lower the stovetop heat to medium.
• Saute. Add the butter to the pot along with the chopped onion, cook, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add in the garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds.
• Stir. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for one more minute.
• Pour. Pour the red wine into the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour in the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, pinch of sugar, bay leaves, and thyme. Stir to incorporate.
• Return. Add the beef back into the stew and stir once more.
• Simmer. Reduce the heat to low or medium low, cover, and simmer for 60 minutes or until the beef starts to become tender. 
• Add. Stir in the carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms.
• Simmer. Cover and simmer again for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork tender.
• Thicken. This step is optional but if you’d prefer a thicker stew, whisk together the cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl. Then whisk the mixture into the stew for about 1-2 minutes.
• Serve. Serve up a big bowl with a side of buttery bread and enjoy.

Slow Cooker Method:

• Brown. Brown the meat as directed above and place in the bottom of a 6 quart or larger slow cooker.
• Follow. Follow the steps above until all the ingredients have been added, including the carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms.
• Cook. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, until the meat is tender.
• Whisk. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, turn the slow cooker up to HIGH. Whisk together the cornstarch and cold water, then whisk the mixture into the stew and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Serve. Serve it up and dig in!

Storing Beef Stew

Let the beef stew cool down before storing it in an airtight container. It will stay fresh for up to 3 days. If you see a yellowish layer over top the next day, don’t worry, that’s just some of the grease and fat from the meat. Give it a stir upon reheating and it’ll be back to normal.

You can freeze beef stew as well. Since we don’t have any dairy in the base, it won’t separate during the freezing and reheating process. Store the beef stew in zip top bags or freezer safe containers (leave space for it to expand) and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat on the stove. 

Ingredients Notes for Beef Stew

For Browning the Meat:

• Olive Oil – Olive oil has a high smoke point so you can easily sear the meat without burning it.
• Beef Stew Meat – Cut into bite sized chunks if not precut. 
• Flour – A little all purpose flour will give the meat a nice coating to get that seared outside and juicy inside!
• Salt and Pepper – Enough to season the meat a touch. You can always add more to stew later on as well.

For the Stew: 

• Garlic – While you can use garlic powder, freshly minced garlic cloves are so much more flavorful. You’ll want about 5 cloves for this stew.
• Tomato Paste – Don’t skip the tomato paste in this recipe and don’t substitute it! You need this to add flavor to the base.
• Red Wine – Use whatever wine that you like best. I used Pinot Noir. Whatever you do, don’t use the stuff labeled “cooking wine!” You can also skip the wine and just use more broth, but the wine adds some really great depth of flavor!
• Beef Stock – Low sodium or regular will work but I recommend sticking with the beef broth over using a veggie one for the flavor.
• Balsamic Vinegar – If you don’t have balsamic, red wine vinegar works too, just make sure that you add that pinch of sugar! 
• Sugar – It doesn’t make the stew sweet AT ALL but it does help to balance out the flavors.

Enjoy!

~Nichole

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4.96 from 66 votes

Beef Stew

By Nichole

This Beef Stew recipe is thick, hearty, and packed full of tender beef! It can be made from scratch in your slow cooker or on your stove top and is always the very best comforting dinner.

 

Prep 10 minutes mins

Cook 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings 6

Ingredients 

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TO BROWN THE MEAT:

• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ▢ 2.5 Pounds Beef Stew Meat
• ▢ 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon Pepper

FOR THE STEW:

• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Butter
• ▢ 1 Large Onion Chopped
• ▢ 5 Cloves Garlic Minced
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
• ▢ 1 Cup Good Quality Red Wine
• ▢ 6 Cups Beef Stock
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
• ▢ 2 Bay Leaves
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Granulated Sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• ▢ 3 Large Carrots Cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• ▢ 1 Pound Yellow or Russet Potatoes Cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• ▢ 8 Ounces Cremini Mushrooms Cut in Half
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Cold Water

Instructions 

BROWN THE MEAT:

• Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottom pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• While the oil is heating up, add the beef stew meat to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle over the flour, salt, and pepper and stir to coat.
• Working in three batches, add 1/3 of the meat to the pan and sear, turning with tongs until browned on all sides for about 4-5 minutes per batch. Set all of the meat aside on a clean plate.

FOR THE STEW STOVE TOP:

• Reduce the stovetop heat to medium
• Add the butter to the pot along with the chopped onion, cook, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes until softened.
• Add in the garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Then, stir in the tomato paste and cook for one more minute.
• Pour the red wine into the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Pour in the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, bay leaves, thyme, and return the seared beef to the pot. Stir to combine.
• Reduce the heat to low (medium-low), cover and simmer for 60 minutes until the beef ins becoming tender.
• After 60 minutes, stir in the carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms.
• Cover and simmer for 30 more minutes until vegetables are tender.
• If desired for a thicker stew, whisk together the cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl, then whisk into the stew for 1-2 minutes until thick.

FOR THE STEW SLOW COOKER:

• Brown the meat as directed above and place in the bottom of a 6 quart or larger slow cooker.
• Follow directions 1-4 from the stove top version, then add all of the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker with the meat.
• Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours until meat is tender.
• During the last 30 minutes of cooking time, turn the slow cooker up to HIGH.
• Whisk together the cornstarch and cold water, then whisk into the stew and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

Notes

NOTE ON VEGETABLES:  If you don’t like mushrooms, they can be left out of the recipe.  You can also add in 1 cup of frozen peas if desired during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

NOTE ON WINE:  Use a red wine that you like to drink in this recipe.  If you aren’t sure what kind to get, I recommend Pinot Noir.  You can also skip the wine if necessary and just use more beef stock.

NOTE ON BEEF STOCK:  Stock is best in this recipe for the best flavor.  You can use broth if necessary.

 

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1.5Cup, Calories: 340kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

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