Beef Stew Recipe

Our beef stew recipe is sure to give you a pleasurable eating experience.

If you’re seeking a healthy one-pot meal loaded with rich flavors, you’ve come to the right place. This stew features tender beef morsels and hearty veg cooked to perfection in a savory, velvety sauce – a true comfort food.

The stew’s nutritional profile also complies with our guidelines, making your journey to a healthy lifestyle both easy and enjoyable.

What Is Beef Stew Meat?

Beef stew meat is the best beef cut to use in a stew, like the round or chuck. They have lots of connective tissues, which, once cooked for hours, turn into collagen, enrich the sauce and give it a velvety consistency.

Besides stews, these tough cuts are not much use, especially when cut into chunks. However, they can be sliced thinly for stir-frying or hot pots, and sometimes ground or minced for casseroles, meat pies, meat sauces, soups, or chillies.

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Is Beef Stew Good for You?

The stew is loaded with red meat and vegetables, two vital food groups. They provide you with necessary nutrients such as proteins, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and micronutrients.

Nevertheless, some beef stews have high levels of saturated fats and sodium – substances present in some of our foods like dairy and salt. Their excessive intake is linked to several diseases, including those related to the heart (details in the links).

Our beef stew recipe, by contrast, contains lower, healthy amounts of saturated fats and sodium, at 5 g and 607 mg respectively. This is a result of moderate ingredient use.

Calories

Each serving yields 476 calories, translating to roughly 17.6 – 23.8% of your daily quota. To find out what percentage applies to you, have a look at our guidelines.

Main Ingredients

First, let’s talk about beef cuts.

1. Beef Cuts for Stew

As mentioned, any beef stew meat will work well here. We’re using beef chuck, cut into chunks about the size of your spoon — one and a half inch cubed.

These chunks are usually seared as-is, but to speed up the caramelizing process, we coated them in all-purpose flour. We find the seared meat looks more appealing this way, and as it cooks, the flour naturally disintegrates into the broth, giving it a sauce-like consistency.

2. Veggies for Beef Stew

Like just about any savory dish, you want to cook this stew with aromatics, garlic, and onion. They give layers of flavor and aroma that these dishes can’t do without.

For root veg, beef stew is typically cooked with potatoes and carrots, sometimes shallots. They’re safe choices, but not necessarily the only ones. Swap the potatoes for yam or sweet potatoes, and include a few chunks of beetroot for a different vibe.

3. Marinade for Beef Stew Meat

You can marinate the meat, but you don’t have to. Being a stew, the beef has plenty of time to absorb the flavors.

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Speaking of flavors, here’s what goes into the pot beside the beef and veg:

• Butter, adding fragrance to the stew.
• Tomato paste, giving the sauce a tangy nature. It’s often cooked in a bit of grease to release more flavor, so we left it to cook in the butter for about 1 minute.
• Broth: beef broth is the most suitable option for any beef stew, but as we couldn’t find an unsalted product, we went with Swanson’s unsalted chicken broth. We also added a teaspoon of gravy mix for extra savoriness and adjusted the taste with a pinch of salt.
• Paprika, for a tantalizing kick.

Also going into the pot is wine, but since it’s a crucial ingredient, we dedicated a whole section to it.

4. Wine

Most people agree with red wine when it comes to a beef stew, and cabernet sauvignon is the usual option. The brand, though, is nothing more than a preference — you can choose your favorite or another and still turn out the same delicious meal.

Replace red wine with white wine and you’ll have a very different experience. Red wine has a soft, rich, nutty flavor inherited from the grape’s skin, while white wine tastes rather zesty and acidic.

Some beef stew recipes call for white wine, but the complementary seasonings are not the same as red wine. As such, it would be better saved for another recipe.

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Can I Make Beef Stew in the Instant Pot?

Not only is it possible, but it’s also a more convenient, time-saving method. We’re talking about an hour or more saved, thanks to the machine’s innovative pressure-cooking mechanism.

A few things to keep in mind:

• The tomato paste needs to be cooked in butter, so spend about a minute or two on it before moving on to step 3.
• Once you deglaze the pot with red wine, scrape the pot to release the flavorful bits sticking to the bottom. Our pot is non-stick so we used a wooden spoon to avoid damaging the coating.
• The broth should be added when the wine reduces to about half its original volume.
• The pot doesn’t need to be covered.
• You can use fresh peas or frozen peas.
• To meet the nutritional goals we mentioned earlier, precise measurement of ingredients is necessary. We encourage you to stick to our beef stew recipe card at the bottom.

You can have a look at the Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe or Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe. Besides a few differences in operation, the cooking steps are the same.

How to Store and Reheat the Leftovers

Portion the beef stew into separate airtight containers or Ziploc bags and store them away. Your stew will keep in the fridge for only 4 days, so to store it for up to 3 months, you should store it in the freezer.

We highly recommend using Ziploc bags to save fridge space.

If your fridge is large and there’s just one serving left, keep it in a saucepan. You can put it on the stove straight from the fridge, which will save you from dirtying another container.

To reheat, simmer the stew over low heat for 5 – 10, depending on whether it’s refrigerated or frozen. A microwave will help to speed things up.

Side Dishes

This rich, saucy dish should be complemented by something fresh, like our beet and feta cheese salad. Besides the main ingredients, it also has plenty of arugula and juicy orange segments, which taste even more refreshing when chilled.

To round off all of these exciting flavors, we’ve chosen our cucumber and lemon juice. Its flavor is mild, but the citrusy, floral aroma is what ties it all together.

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Warm Up Your Winter with These Hearty and Delicious Beef Soups

This article introduces a delicious and easy-to-make meatball soup recipe that is perfect for cold weather or any time you crave a comforting meal. The recipe includes flavorful ingredients such as ground beef, vegetables, and spices, and can be customized to your liking. The article also provides tips for making the perfect meatballs and storing leftovers.

This easy and delicious hamburger soup recipe is a great way to use up any leftover ground beef you have on hand. Loaded with veggies like carrots, celery, and tomatoes, it's a healthy and satisfying meal that the whole family will love.

Can't get enough of beef soup? Our roundup features even more delectable recipes for you to try!

Beef Stew Recipe

5 from 1 vote

This beef stew recipe packs hearty, rich flavors and wholesome chunks of meat and veg. It may take 2 hours, but most of it is hands-free.

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• cook TIME 1 hr 50 mins
• prep TIME 10 mins
• total TIME 2 hr

• COURSE Main Course
• CUISINE Global
• SERVINGS
  4

  servings
• CALORIES 476 kcal

INGREDIENTS

1x2x3x

• 24 oz beef chuck
• 12 oz potatoes (about 1 medium or 1.5 small russet, cut into chunks)
• 8 oz carrots (about 3-4 medium, cut into chunks)
• 6 oz green peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 6 cups unsalted chicken broth
• 6 tbsp red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp garlic (about 3 cloves, minced)
• 2 oz onions (about half a medium, finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp Hunt's tomato paste
• 1 tsp brown gravy mix
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp parsley (finely chopped)

INSTRUCTIONS

Image instructions

1

Coat 24 oz beef chuck in 1 tbsp all-purpose flour. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a (non-stick) pot, drop a piece of garlic in. When it sizzles, sear all sides of the meat until golden, for about 3 minutes.

2

Put the beef away in a bowl, then add 1 tbsp minced garlic and 2 oz chopped onions to sauté for about 1 minute or until the onions become translucent. Add 1 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 tsp tomato paste, 1 tsp gravy mix, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper, and stir everything for about 2 minutes.

3

Add the beef back, stir, and cook for 2 minutes, then deglaze the pot with 6 tbsp red wine.

4

When the wine reduces to about half its volume, add 6 cups unsalted chicken broth and simmer everything on low heat for 60 minutes, uncovered.

5

Add 6 oz green peas, 8 oz carrots, and 12 oz potatoes in. Continue to simmer on low heat for another 40 minutes.

6

Turn the heat off and garnish with 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley on top. Serve with side dishes.

NUTRITION

Nutrition Facts

Beef Stew Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 476Calories from Fat 171

% Daily Value*

Fat 19g

29%

Saturated Fat 5g

31%

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 9g

Cholesterol 108mg

36%

Sodium 607mg

26%

Potassium 1397mg

40%

Carbohydrate 31g

10%

Fiber 6g

25%

Sugar 7g

8%

Protein 41g

82%

Vitamin A 10772IU

215%

Vitamin C 23mg

28%

Calcium 76mg

8%

Iron 6mg

33%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keywords: beef stew, beef stew recipe