Beef Stew is the ultimate comfort food, with tender chunks of beef, potatoes, carrots, and peas simmered in a rich, flavorful gravy. This classic beef stew recipe is made in one pot on the stovetop and is perfect for a cozy dinner.
Homemade beef stew is one of those recipes that makes your whole house smell wonderful as you make it. A steam-up-the-windows, make-the-house-filled-with-love kind of recipe. This is the perfect all in one dinner recipe for fall and winter.
Why You’ll Love this Beef Stew
- Searing the beef: This caramelization adds incredible flavor to the final stew.
- Deglazing the pan: Using wine after searing the beef picks up all of that amazing taste.
- Perfect ingredients: We combine fresh veggies and dried seasonings to make the best flavor profile.
- Cook it low and slow: This slow cooking process deepens the flavor and leaves you with the most tender pieces of beef.
Classic Beef Stew Ingredients
- Well Marbled Stew Meat: We are starting with marbled beef. You want to look for chuck roast. The fact that it is marbled is absolutely key to this recipe. Read more on this below.
- Seasonings: There is nothing bland about this delicious stew. There are so many ingredients that add flavor to it, but in addition to that we are using great beef stew seasoning in the form of thyme, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
- Flour: Many beef stew recipes call for lightly flouring the beef before searing it. In this recipe, we are searing the beef and then adding flour to the stew. The flour helps to thicken the stew like in the original method, while skipping the step of flouring the beef which I find a little tedious.
- Vegetables: Like any good traditional vegetable beef stew, mine has onion, carrots, potatoes, and peas. We throw in the peas at the very end, frozen, so they don’t overcook.
- Red Wine + Beef Broth: For this recipe, we are going to use a combination of red wine and beef stock. The red wine really deepens the flavors and is great for deglazing the pan and picking up all the brown bits after cooking the meat.
- Tomato Paste: A little tomato paste thrown in after the wine helps give another layer of flavor to the stew.
How to Make Beef Stew
- In a heavy-bottomed large dutch oven with a little oil, sear the beef. Searing the meat caramelizes it and adds a deep rich flavor to the stew. This step is worth the extra time it adds to the recipe. Then remove the meat from the pot.
- Remove the meat from the pot and then add in onion and garlic, sautéing them until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Whisk in the flour, then use red wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape up all the browned bits from sautéing the vegetables; they add so much flavor to the stew.
- Return the beef to the pot. Pour in the beef broth. To that we will add the tomato paste, seasonings, carrots, and potatoes.
- Bring the whole stew to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer and let it simmer for an hour and forty-five minutes. Simmering for a long time is key to making sure the beef is perfectly tender.
- Finally, taste it and add more salt and pepper to taste. Then stir in your frozen peas.
Best Beef for Beef Stew
For this stew recipe, you want a well marbled cut of chuck roast. It can be labeled a few different ways in the store, sometimes as “beef stew meat,” but chuck roast is what you are looking for. A well marbled cut of chuck will result in the most tender beef. The long simmer time in this recipe helps break down the connective tissue of the beef making it buttery and tender. I highly recommend you steer clear of any lean cuts of meat, it won’t give you the result you are looking for.
Why is My Beef Stew Meat Tough
If your beef is still tough at the end of the simmer time in this recipe, it means it needs a little more time. Continue simmering, seeing just small intermittent bubbles rather than a large boil, until the meat is fork-tender. Different pieces of chuck roast will take different amounts of time to break down and become tender.
How to Thicken Beef Stew
The flour in this stovetop beef stew thickens the broth as the stew simmers, giving you a rich gravy without having to coat each piece of beef in flour before browning. If your stew seems thinner than you would like at the end of cooking, let it continue simmering uncovered for a few minutes so some of the liquid can reduce.
Tips and Tricks
- Best Beef for Beef Stew: The meat for this classic beef stew can be labeled a few different ways, sometimes just labeled “beef stew meat.” You want chuck roast that is well marbled.
- Cooking Beef Stew with Red Wine: No need to break the bank, but since the flavor will enhance as it simmers, you should pick a wine that you love and avoid cooking wine.
- How to Make Beef Stew without Wine: The alcohol will not fully cook off during the simmering time. If you are cooking for someone sober, replace the wine with beef broth and a splash of lemon juice, about 1/2 a teaspoon.
- How to get the Most Tender Beef Stew: Low and slow is the secret to the most tender stew. It’s really not a recipe that you can rush.
Making Ahead, Storing Leftovers, & Freezing
Because this recipe is even better the next day, leftovers are amazing and it is perfect to make ahead. It can be made up to 24 hours in advance and then warmed on the stove over low heat, stirring often, before serving. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to four days. This stew freezes great, just be sure to leave about an inch of room so that the stew has room to expand as it freezes. I love to freeze this in individual portion sizes. Store in the freezer for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat over low heat, stirring often.
What to Serve with Beef Stew
As I mentioned earlier, this really is a whole meal on its own. That said, if you would like to stretch this meal out, here are a few side dishes that would complement this very well.
If you make this easy beef stew or any of my other recipes please leave me a comment letting me know what you think!
Recipe Video
Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 pounds chuck roast well marbled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 medium carrots peeled and cut into one inch pieces
- 1 pound russet potatoes unpeeled and cut into one inch chunks
- 1 cup frozen peas keep in freezer until just before stirring in
Instructions
- Season the beef with salt and pepper.1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 3 pounds chuck roast
- Heat oil in the base of a large dutch oven until it is smoking. Brown the meat in batches, cooking for a few minutes on each side. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat and set aside.2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Add in the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes.1 yellow onion, 2 garlic cloves
- Whisk in the flour. Then slowly whisk in the red wine, scraping up the browned bits.1/4 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup red wine
- Whisk in the tomato paste. Return the beef to the dutch oven with any drippings. Then add in the beef broth, bay leaves, thyme, carrots, and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered for 1 hour and 45 minutes, you should see occasional small bubbles.4 cups beef broth, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 4 medium carrots, 1 pound russet potatoes, 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- When the beef is tender, taste the stew and add more salt and pepper as needed. Stir in the frozen peas and allow them to cook through, about 1 minute.1 cup frozen peas
- Garnish with fresh parsley, serve with crusty bread, and enjoy.
Joanne Sonnenberg says
This stew has a rich flavor and I didn’t use the wine only more broth. Not having your notes handy when making the stew, I used the whole can of paste. That may have added to the flavor of my stew. Will make again.
Joy M says
Your recipe is similar to how I’ve made stew for most of my adult life only I use kitchen bouquet instead of tomato paste, seasoning salt and top off with Bisquick dumplings…my 😍 comfort food! Joy M
Marilyn Petitto says
I cannot wait to make your Beef Stew, my husband will love it. Thank you for all of your great recipes.
Marilyn Petitto
You are so welcome, Marilyn!
Clarice says
Won’t adding the potatoes and cooking them as directed turn them into mush?
Hi Clarice! I got your email, but I will respond here as well so others can see. The heat is so low on this that the veggies hold up really well. The potatoes and carrots are soft for sure, but they definitely aren’t mush. You can see in the first photo how well they hold up to me messing with them to get them in the perfect spot for the picture, haha!
Sandra says
Made this stew tonight. It is very good!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoy it!