This Beef Stew Recipe is perfect for the colder weather! Tender beef is simmered in beef broth with potatoes, onions, celery, peas, and carrots until melt in your mouth tender. It’s comfort food heaven!
I serve beef stew with 30 minute dinner rolls or Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits to sop up any gravy in the bottom of the bowl!
Beef stew is a classic dinner staple in so many households around the world. There are soup and stew adaptations of beef stew like my favorite Easy Hamburger Soup and cultural variations like Hungarian Goulash, but this classic beef stew recipe is a favorite for me!
How To Make Beef Stew
Searing the beef pieces before you add the stock makes such a difference in the flavor you get from the soup. It’s really the only chance you have to get that delicious caramelization on the meat!
As the veggies and broth simmer, you will really start to notice the flavors in the stew intensify. Peas cook quickly so I add them in the last few minutes!
This stew recipe is also the perfect way to use up any vegetables you might need to use up. If you’ve got leftover roasted potatoes, glazed carrots or fried mushrooms, just chop ‘em up up and throw them in!
How To Thicken Beef Stew
Beef stew will thicken a bit naturally thanks to the starches in the potatoes and the dredging of the beef, but I always like to thicken it a little bit more.
Stew can be thickened by giving the vegetables a quick mash or you can use either flour or cornstarch. My preferred method for thickening beef stew (and the method used in this beef stew recipe) is to use a cornstarch slurry.
How to Make a Slurry
A slurry is super easy to make! Combine equal parts cornstarch and water and stir. I told you it was easy!!
Pour this mixture a little bit at a time into bubbling soup or stew to thicken until you reach desired consistency. Once your stew is thickened, allow it to boil at least 1-2 minutes to ensure you cook out any starchy flavor.
If left to sit before adding to the soup or stew, a slurry will settle within a couple of minutes so be sure to give it a stir before adding it. I sometimes mix the cornstarch with low sodium (or no sodium) broth instead of water.
Can You Freeze Beef Stew?
Yes, you can absolutely freeze beef stew! I like to freeze it in freezer bags in single servings portions so I can take one portion out for lunches (or four out for dinner)! Defrost overnight in the refrigerator or you can defrost in the microwave (time will vary based on portion size) stirring occasionally.
What To Serve With Beef Stew
Beef stew is super perfect on it’s own; it is a complete meal!
We usually serve it with a bread, biscuit or even Garlic Crescent Rolls to sop up any broth! I also love serving it with mashed potatoes in the bottom of the bowl! Even just some crushed crackers or saltines are all you really need.
More Belly Warming Soups You’ll Love
- Easy Hamburger Soup– Reader favorite!
- Beef Barley Soup
- Hungarian Goulash
- Minestrone Soup – Classic Italian!
- Pasta Fagioli Soup Recipe
- Stuffed Pepper Soup – Easy and delicious!
- Beef Bourguignon Recipe
Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds stewing beef trimmed and cubed
- 3 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 6 cups beef broth
- ½ cup red wine optional
- 1 pound potatoes peeled and cubed
- 4 carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4 stalks celery cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 sprig fresh
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¾ cup peas
Instructions
- Combine flour, garlic powder and salt & pepper. Toss beef in flour mixture.
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot. Cook the beef and onions until browned.
- Add beef broth and red wine while scraping up any brown bits in the pan.
- Stir in all remaining ingredients except for peas, cornstarch and water. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer 1 hour or until beef is tender (up to 90 minutes).
- Mix equal parts cornstarch and water to create a slurry. Slowly add the slurry to the boiling stew to reach desired consistency (you may not need all of the slurry).
- Stir in peas and simmer 5-10 minutes before serving . Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Soup
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I’m sorry I usually love your recipes but this needs adjustment, my head told me, no don’t throw everything in at once, but I did. big mistake, I now have a pot of disintegrated potato stew, stew the meat at least 40 minutes then add in potatoes.
Oh no! We have made this many times and not had this issue. Thank you for trying it.
I made this yummy recipe last week. It made such a huge pot of it, I was able to share it with my parents twice, and I was able to feed myself on it for over a week. The only thing that I changed was to cut the carrot bites down from what you had said. Instead of 1″ pieces, I cut them down to ½” pieces. They were just too big at 1″. Even then, in each finished serving, I was still cutting down some of the larger pieces in ½. Otherwise, this Beef Stew was a big hit for me and my parents, and my cousin in England just asked for the recipe after I posted the picture of my completed stew. The stew was easy to make. It was just a little time consuming, what with the chopping and cooking of everything. But, it’s so worth it!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Kim!
Great recipe. I used frozen mixed veggies and I didn’t use the slurry and it was great for my family. Took about two hours for my cut of meat to tenderize. Will definitely be making again.
Made this. Tastes amazingly good. Highly recommend using the red wine and adding another pound of chuck, two more carrots another celery stalk and a full cup of peas. As written had too much gravy and too little chunky but delish none the less. Making it tonight a second time for my parents with more chunks. Looking forward to it.
Great recipe. I would change it just a little. Include the celery and rosemary while cooking the beef and onions. the celery needs a little heat in advance of boiling to get the texture right. The rosemary’s flavor will activate more with preheating. Also, I did have to add some salt to taste at the end.
This smells amazing! Curious if I were to do this in the Instant Pot, how long would you do it, 20 minutes? Thanks for the great recipe!
Made this recently, and loved it! One thing i will say is make sure to salt/season the stew after it’s done boiling, or add more salt to the beef flour mixture. It was a little flat on the salt until I added some.
Excellent recipe. A household favorite. I make it just as the recipe states.
like trying new things for my kids and me so far so good
This beef stew recipe is so tasty my mom asked me to make it for her, again, for mothers day! Definitely recommend! :)
Amazing!!!! This will be a family favorite of ours for generations, better than the New York Times recipe.
If I want to add 5 pound of beef stew, how long should I cook it and are the amount of ingredients still the same?
Hi Abeer, if you are using 5 pounds of beef stew you may want to 2.5x times the rest of the recipe if you want the same results. You will want to make sure your Dutch oven is big enough and it may take on the longer side so make sure to cook until the beef is tender. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
If I cook it in a crock pot. What amount of time do I use
I would follow the times in this Crock Pot Beef Stew recipe. Enjoy!
Delicious! We loved it. I added some canned corn when I added the peas. So good.
Easy to follow recipe…came out pretty good on my first try!!!!!
I made theBeef Stew Amaazing will cook it more than this time I added more items~ instead of tomatoe paste I put 2 Roma tomatoes and xtra fresh garlic(2) and shrooms , now I have to ck the gravy/put in cornstarsh Don’t think I need it ut all in all It is AMAZING Thank you
reminds me of my grandmothers! We loved it with slaw and corn bread muffins. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful recipes!
Absolutely delicious. This stew was as good as my Mom use to make. I have never found a recipe that was as good hers.
This is my family’s favorite however we leave out the peas.
Can I use baby potatoes for this recipe or red potatoes?
Either would work well in this recipe.
This beef stew recipe is a keeper! I made it just as written and used Pinot Grigio wine. It was absolutely scrumptious!! Thank you so much for a fabulous dinner and very easy to make!!