Beef Stew Recipe

A More Tender and Flavourful Beef Stew

Not to throw shade at most classic beef stews, but the first time I followed a popular recipe to make one, I was hugely disappointed. Pretty bland and unappetizingly thick and cloying – the result of too much flour used for thickening. The beef? Also disappointingly tough and dry. Many beef stews later, those unpleasant results are a thing of the past.

This beef stew takes less than half an hour to prepare. From there, the slow cooking does all the work of breaking the meat down until it is impossibly tender and all the flavours round out and develop beautifully. If you’re planning on a cozy weekend at home, quick go and get the ingredients now. You’re going to love it.

Ingredients For Beef Stew

The ingredients in this stew remain pretty classic – all harmonizing together in every delicious mouthful:

• Beef – Chuck, blade, or cross-rib roast (see details on best beef for stew below).
• Onion, garlic, celery – these are the basic ingredients that will add the most depth and flavour to the stew.
• Chicken or Beef stock – see details below.
• Red wine – excellent for deglazing the pan and to add a fantastic depth of flavour. You don’t have to break the bank with an expensive bottle, but something you enjoy drinking is always best. If you are avoiding alcohol, use chicken broth mixed with a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
• Red wine vinegar
• Tomato paste
• Worcestershire sauce – adds incredible flavour to this beef stew.
• Bay leaves
• Fresh thyme 
• Potatoes – I highly recommend using Yukon Gold (yellow) potatoes. They hold their shape beautifully, even when reheated. If I use tender baby potatoes (photographed in this post) I leave the peel on.
• Carrots

Tip: make it a little more lush by adding caramelized pearl onions. It’s so tedious to peel pearl onions so I almost never add them. However, ’tis the season for going a little extra. Once peeled, sauté them in a little butter until soft and golden, then stir into the stew just before serving. Divine.

What is the Best Beef To Make Stew?

Perhaps the most important tip of all to making a great beef stew is to avoid the pre-cut stew beef you find at most supermarkets. Do this and you’ll be three-quarters of the way there to tender meat. The pre-cut stew meat is never labelled with a specific cut of beef, so you don’t know what you’re getting and not all beef is great for stewing. In addition, the pieces of pre-cut stew meat are generally too small and run the risk of drying out when cooked for a long period of time. I know it takes a bit more time to have to cut your own meat but you will be 100% rewarded with the bit of extra effort it takes.

As for the best cut of meat, I buy only chuck, blade, or cross-rib roasts. These cuts have the perfect amount of fat marbled through them which is what you need for a slow cooked stew. Slicing the meat into larger 2 – 3-inch pieces gives all the muscles and the fat in the meat time to break down properly, without drying out and becoming tough.

To Brown Or Not To Brown The Meat

There is predictably a high level of debate on whether to brown or not to brown the meat for a beef stew. Some chefs deem it completely unnecessary, while others claim it essential to achieve the perfect stew. Browning meat is unquestionably the most, if not the only, tedious task of making stew. Searing large batches of meat can seem so interminable and makes cooking the stew much more time consuming and difficult. That said, I do like the flavours left behind in the pan from browning meat. So after trying many different methods, here is my approach; I brown only a small portion of the meat. This is a great compromise as it gives me plenty of browned bits to flavour my stew, but I’m not having to sear an endless amount of meat. So much easier, and less messy, than browning a whole batch and I guarantee, the end result is just as tasty.

The Broth

In a perfect world, we all would have containers of homemade beef broth in our freezers, always ready for when we need it. Alas, as much as I love a homemade broth, that is not a reality for most of us and sometimes it’s important to prioritize convenience over perfection. But here is the thing, most store-bought beef broth is really crappy. I way prefer using a good chicken broth if I can’t find a good-quality beef one. This one is not perfect, but it is the only store-bought beef broth I will use. It has a nearly-authentic beef flavour without being overpowering or super fake.

We use quite a bit of broth for this recipe, but the trick is to add it in stages. The beef should be barely covered in liquid for the initial few hours of cooking, then the rest of the liquid is added to cook the vegetables.

The Thickener

Unfortunately, we can’t get away without a bit of cornstarch or flour to thicken a beef stew. I prefer to use flour because I find cornstarch leaves a visually unpleasant shine to the broth. But please, put away the 1/4 cup of flour most recipes call for to thicken a beef stew. 2 tablespoons of flour is all you need.

When the potatoes and carrots are added to the stew, I leave the pot slightly uncovered which helps thicken the broth. When you remove the finished stew from the oven, you may find that the liquid is still on the thinner side. But as it sits uncovered, and slightly cools, it will thicken considerably so resist the temptation to try and thicken it more.

Cook In The Oven

Allowing the oven to do all the work is clever cooking and will free you up for a couple of leisurely hours. In addition, cooking the stew in the oven ensures you can maintain an even low temperature throughout the whole cooking process.

slow cooked and fragrant, with a depth and complexity of flavour that involves much less effort than most other recipes you will find.

How To Make Homemade Beef Stew

This beef stew recipe will reward you with spoon-tender meat and a sauce so flavourful you will want to drink it with a straw. With just a few simple tweaks, your stew will never again be boring, bland, or end up with the dreaded dry chewy meat.

I would strongly suggest making the stew the day before you plan on serving it – the longer all of those flavours can hang out together the better. My advice – though not exactly what I follow 😉

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Cut the beef roast into 2-inch pieces, trimming any large pieces of fat. Season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Place a large, heavy-bottomed pot over high heat and brown about 1/3 of the meat, without overcrowding the pan. Remove to a plate.
3. Sauté the onions and celery, and then garlic until just starting to soften. Add the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. It will seem very dry and lumpy, this is fine.
4. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Cook for 3-4 minutes until wine has reduced and the sauce is smooth and quite thick.
5. Stir in the tomato paste then add all of the beef, tossing well to coat in the sauce. Pour in the chicken/beef broth and add the bay leaves, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with a 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper.
6. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, then transfer to the oven for 2 hours.
7. Stir in the potatoes and carrots and leave the pot uncovered just a crack. Cook for 45 – 60 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender.
8. Remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve in bowls as is with crusty bread, over rice, or with a green salad.

Variations

Feel free to make this stew more about vegetables than beef. In addition to the carrots and potatoes, I love adding huge amounts of mushrooms, pearl onions, green beans, and/or peas.

To Serve

This stew is so hearty and satisfying all on its own, you will need nothing more than perhaps some crusty bread or a green salad. However, and I know this may seem a little odd unless you know me, I love this stew served over white rice.

If going for an all-out decadent feast (why not?) serve the stew over buttered egg noodles. Yum.

How To Store, Freeze and Reheat Leftovers

Like most stews, this stew improves in flavour if made 1 day ahead. It also freezes well.

• To store: Allow the stew to come to room temperature and then store covered in the refrigerator overnight, or until ready to serve.
• To freeze: Transfer the room temperature stew to a freezer-safe container with a tight lid. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
• Reheat: Heat the stew covered, over medium heat or place in a 350°F oven until warmed through.

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