Beef Stew calls for simple ingredients, but it’s a stunner! Hearty and economical with meltingly tender beef, you’ll love the deep, rich flavour of the sauce that develops from hours of slow cooking. Serve over mash and mop your bowl clean with crusty Artisan bread or Irish Soda Bread.
For the set-and-forget Slow Cooker version of this Beef Stew, see here.
Beef Stew
The Queen of Brown Food strikes again. Back to back brown foods, possibly the two MOST brown foods in the world – a curry on Friday, and now a Beef Stew recipe today.
*Head smack* I will never be a magazine editor. Can you imagine? Page after page after page of brown, saucy goodness….. (*she cheers at the vision, you groan at the thought! 😂)
A well made beef stew is a thing of beauty. While it’s easy to make, it takes a little more than just “chucking it all in a pot” (or instant pot) then leaving it to simmer until the beef is tender.
Best beef for beef stew
The best beef for beef stew is chuck beef because it’s reliably juicy and succulent. It is a tough cut of meat that needs to be slow cooked to make it tender enough to eat, and it’s nicely marbled with fat which keeps the beef succulent. See FAQ for thoughts on other beef cuts and why they aren’t my preference for beef stews – brisket, ribs, cheek, gravy beef, bolar blade and oyster blade.
Cut BIG pieces yourself – I really urge you to buy a large piece of beef chuck and cut it yourself into large 3.5 cm / 1.5″ pieces so they don’t cook too quickly and fall apart during the long slow-cooking time. Pre-cut stew beef is usually cut too small for this recipe, though the thick cut beef chuck steaks that are carried at some grocery stores and butchers here in Australia will work, as long as they are cut thick enough!
Key tip: brown the beef well
The better the browning, the more brown stuff you have stuck on the bottom of the pot* = better sauce flavour with a deeper, richer colour. You’ll see in the recipe video how the base of my pot is basically entirely dark brown when I finish browning the beef.
* The brown stuff is called fond and whenever you sear meat, fish or prawns/shrimp in the pan, you should do everything in your power to use it in a sauce or similar because it’s flavour, flavour, flavour!
How to make Beef Stew
Beef stew is really straight forward to make, it just takes patience to give the meat time to become meltingly tender and the sauce to develop rich flavour.
Season the beef with salt and pepper.
Sear the beef well on all sides – in batches, because if you cram them all in at the same time, they will steam and won’t brown well.
Sauté onion and garlic in the beef drippings so they soak up all that amazing flavour. Then stir in the carrots and celery to coat it in the flavours too.
Add beef stew sauce ingredients – beef broth, red wine (great for extra flavour, but can be skipped), Worcestershire sauce (savouriness and depth), flour (to thicken) and tomato paste (to thicken + a touch of sour to balance richness).
Add potatoes, bay leaves and thyme. The liquid will be covering the ingredients at this stage.
Slow cook for 1 hour 45 minutes with the lid on until the beef is almost fall apart tender.
Simmer for a further 30 minutes without the lid to allow the sauce to reduce and thicken.
Serve – Then it’s ready to serve!
Slow cooker and pressure cooker options
To make this in a slow cooker or pressure cooker, see the separate recipe here – Slow Cooker Beef Stew. If you use this Beef Stew verbatim and cook it in the slow cooker instead of the stove or oven, you don’t get quite the same rich flavour in the sauce. So I’ve altered the recipe slightly to make it suitable for slow cookers and pressure cookers so you won’t sacrifice flavour for convenience!
What to serve with Beef Stew
I personally don’t serve stew with anything other than mashed potato. I know, I know, I’m sooo boring! 😂 Here are some other options for those of you who aren’t as straight as me:
Cauliflower Mash – for a low carb alternative
Mashed Sweet Potato or other mashed veggies (parsnip, pumpkin or other root vegetables)
Polenta, rice or bread – mop your plate clean with this quick No Yeast Irish Soda Bread or no-knead Crusty Artisan Bread!
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Beef Stew FAQ
See my Slow Cooker Beef Stew recipe. It is the same stew as this recipe, but it’s designed slow cookers, pressure cookers and Instant Pots.
To make this gluten-free, use cornflour / cornstarch instead of flour to thicken the sauce which should be added in as a cornflour slurry at the end rather than beginning (because cornflour doesn’t like prolonged boiling, it loses its thickening power).
I recommend this over using gluten-free flour because some gluten free blends containing lots of rice flour can occasionally taste a little grainy. Cornflour is a more reliable way to thicken the sauce.
Also, make sure the Worcestershire sauce and beef stock cube are all gluten-free, not all brands are.
I’ve popped these directions in the recipe card!
Yes, this would work beautifully with pork shoulder, lamb shoulder or goat, though I would starting checking a little earlier to see if the meat is tender enough.
Beef chuck is reliably juicy and tender in stews, so it’s my first choice. Here are my thoughts on other slow-cooking cuts of beef and why I don’t use them in this stew:
Brisket – too lean (better to slow cook it whole and slice, recipe here)
Gravy beef – Cut from the shin / shank area and tends to be sold in steak slice form which are too thin to cut into large stew-size-pieces. If you can find large pieces though, it can work, it is a nice gelatinous cut that becomes tender with slow cooking though bear in mind it may take a little longer to become fork-tender.
Generic “beef casserole” cubes of beef – I steer clear of these as I don’t know what cut they are, the pieces are typically far too small to use in stews, and more often than not they are not marbled with fat.
Beef rib (boneless) – Too fatty. And very hard to scoop the fat off the surface.
Beef cheeks – They would work beautifully if kept whole but Id’ need to figure out how many and how much sauce to make (because you’d keep them whole, if you cut into pieces, they twist and buckle when slow cooked so they don’t look very nice). See here for a lovely slow cooked beef cheeks recipe.
Bolar blade and oyster blade – These can be slow cooked but don’t have as much beef flavour and are leaner, so I’m not the hugest fan of these cuts for slow cooking.
4 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer. And though some argue otherwise, I truly believe all stews taste even better the day after you make it!
Watch how to make it
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Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg / 2.4lb chuck beef , cut into 3.5 cm / 1.5″ cubes (Note 1)
- 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil , divided
- 1 large onion , halved then cut into 1 cm / 2/5″ slices
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 carrots , cut into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces on the diagonal
- 2 celery stalks , cut into 2.5 cm / 1″ pieces
- 1/3 cup plain flour / all-purpose flour
- 3 cups beef broth / stock , salt reduced
- 2 cups red wine , bold and dry (Cab Sauv, Burgundy, Merlot) (Note 2)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves , fresh or dried
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 400 g / 14 oz baby potatoes , halved
- More salt and pepper , if required
For serving
- Mashed potato
- 1 tsp finely chopped parsley , optional garnish
- Crusty bread , for bowl mopping and dunking
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE
- Season then brown beef, remove from pot. Sauté onion and garlic, then stir in carrot and celery. Stir in flour, then broth, wine, tomato paste and Worcestershire. Stir. Add beef, herbs and potato, stir. Slow cook 1 hour 45 min with lid on then 30 min lid off. Serve over mash.
FULL RECIPE
- Season beef – Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper.
- Brown beef – Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a large, heavy based casserole pot over high heat until just starting to smoke. Add 1/3 of the beef and brown aggressively all over – about 4 minutes. Remove to bowl, repeat with remaining beef, adding more oil if required (if you don't use enough oil, the beef will just burn rather than brown).
- Sauté – Turn down heat to medium high. Add 1 tbsp oil if required. Add onion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes until onion is softened slightly and golden on the edge. Add carrot and celery, stir for 1 minute to coat in flavours.
- Make sauce – Sprinkle flour evenly across surface, then stir to coat (the flour will thicken the sauce). Add broth, red wine, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to dissolve tomato paste and flour into liquid.
- Add browned beef (including any juices), thyme, bay leaf and potato. Stir. Liquid level should almost fully cover everything (see video), if not, add a touch of water.
- Slow cook 1 hr 45 min covered – Bring to simmer, then adjust heat to low / medium low so it's simmering very gently. (Note 3 for other cooking methods) Cover and cook for 1 hour 45 minutes or until beef is pretty tender (check with 2 forks at 1.5 hrs).
- Simmer uncovered 30 minutes – Remove lid and simmer for further 30 minutes or until sauce reduces slightly. It should be like a thin gravy (see video) and beef should now be very tender.
- Check seasoning – Taste the sauce and add more salt if required.
- Serve over creamy mashed potato with a sprig of fresh thyme for decoration or a sprinkle of parsley (Note 4).
Recipe Notes:
– SLOW COOKER and pressure cooker: See separate recipe here. Same stew, but recipe altered to suit slow cookers and pressure cookers. Also use that recipe for Instant Pot, but do the stove steps in the Instant Pot using the sauté function. 4. To make this gluten free, use cornflour/cornstarch instead, as follows: Mix 3 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch with 3 tbsp of water and stir that into the stew at the very end once the meat is fall-apart tender. Simmer for a few minutes and the sauce will thicken. I recommend cornflour over using gluten-free flour because some gluten free blends containing lots of rice flour can occasionally taste a little grainy. Also make sure your Worcestershire sauce and beef stock cubes are also GF, not all brands are. 5. Other serving suggestions: with warm crusty bread for dunking (try this easy rustic no-yeast Irish Bread or Crusty No-Knead Artisan Bread), polenta, rice, cauliflower mash (low carb option), or other mashed root vegetables (carrot, parsnip, pumpkin, sweet potato). 5. STORAGE / LEFTOVERS – Refrigerate or freeze, then thaw before reheating on the stove or microwave. Tastes even better the next day because the flavours develop even more. 6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 6 servings. I like to trim excess fat from the beef but this is not factored into the nutrition. Stew only – not mashed potato.
Nutrition Information:
This Beef Stew recipe has originally published April 2018. Updated for housekeeping matters in January 2019 – no change to recipe!
More cosy Stews
Slow Cooked Chicken Stew and Faster Chicken Stew – when you need a rich stew on the table in under an hour!
Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff Stew – fall apart beef in a creamy Stroganoff sauce!
Browse Winter Warmers recipe collection
More slow cooked fall-apart meat
I’m a big fan of slow cooked meats!!
Browse the Winter Comfort Food collection!
Life of Dozer
THIS is Life Of Dozer! ↓↓↓
Is there anyway to stop the meat shrinking to nothing.
Did you incinerate the meat beforehand, rather than browning it quickly for 4 minutes at high heat?
No I didn’t. Just normal browning.
I have made this twice now, second time was last night. My husband is a pain to feed, but he absolutely loves this. So do I. I left out the potatoes, just had more mash to soak up that delicious sauce. Love it.
Tried this recipe for the 2nd time. I keep on having burnt bits in my cast iron french oven. Are you sure I’m not supposed to stir every now and then while cooking? I had my hot plates at a pretty low setting (max 200 degrees and at 160 degrees C most of the time). Help T_T
Hi Trey – if it’s catching on the bottom you can stir occasionally throughout the cook time! N x
Made this delicious stew last night and served it with polenta. I added some speck to it plus used gluten free flour (I’m coeliac). Not only full of flavour but a very economical meal and perfect for a cold rainy night!!!
Those are great ideas to make it gluten free Maddie! We made this one today in the RecipeTin Meals kitchen and used cornflour to thicken so our g/f patrons could enjoy it too! N x
I have cooked this one a number of times, but tonight I cooked for 7.
Praise all around with nothing left!
Love your recipes.
Thank you Bob! It’s always nice to see a comment from you! N x
First recipetineats meal cooked and we loved it. Cooked this for me and my partner last night as it was delicious. Plenty for lunch leftover too. Thank you
That’s amazing Rachel! I’m so glad that you liked it!! N x
Made this in the slow cooker last weekend. Froze the leftovers & had tonight. The beef froze really well. So tender. Superb
Look forward to trying another recepie
I made this last night and it is so delicious. I only had about half the required amount of beef (I used blade not chuck) so I threw in some bacon to try bulk it up and it turned out so tasty. Thank you, this recipe is definitely bookmarked and added to my favorites!
I am happy you enjoyed it Erin! N x
Made this tonight, absolutely beautiful! Thumbs up from me and my husband, amazing!
That’s great Liese! I am happy you both enjoyed it! N x
Cooked this fabulous recipe for St Patrick’s night dinner. It was just beautiful and thumbs up all round the table. Served with mashed potatoes and pan fried beans with almonds….Absolutely 5 stars. I just love your site, so many variations offered for cooking methods to achieve a wonderful meal for visitors, friends or family.
I am glad that you enjoyed it Mary! N x
Um…SO GOOD!! And straight forward. Thank for the recipe! I just told someone the other day…when in doubt, use a Recipe Tin Eats recipe…it will always turn out!
I’m so glad you liked it Jen!! N x
The absolute best beef stew! Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I can’t believe the depth and layers of flavor. Truly enjoyed making this.
Hearty and delicious! Great for the cold Canadian winter.
Hi Nagi,
I really enjoyed this recipe – I dont know how I ever made stew without red wine before! Lots of flavour and extremely tender beef. I paired this with your Irish soda bread.
Thanks for another great recipe and I hope the cookbook is coming along nicely 🙂
It is coming along Holly – thanks for asking! Glad you enjoyed the stew!! N x
Hi, this looks great! Can I do this without using red wine – substitute it with more beef broth? Thanks
Best beef stew I’ve ever made! Made it on stove top with beef tenderloin and turned out beautiful. Had the right wine too.
I made this on the weekend in a slow cooker and it was fantastic. I deviated from the recipe by using gravy beef instead of chuck and I used a Shiraz instead of the recommended wine. Was still excellent.
Another winner. I love the tips you give on why you do things, such as cooking the meat in small batches to avoid steaming etc. It has really helped elevate my cooking in general. This stew was perfect on a stormy wet season evening in north Aus.
This recipe is spectacular! I’ve never made beef stew but will make it again…delicious. I’ve tried quite a few of recipes and they never disappoint. Keep the deliciousness coming! Thank you Nagi!
I’ve made this a few times now. I’m making this for friends this week. Since I decided this is the meal I’m serving, I’ve been craving it. I love this meal! Thanks for sharing the recipe