What makes a beef stew unforgettable? Is it the melt-in-your-mouth tender beef, the rich, savoury broth, or the way the hearty vegetables soak up every ounce of flavour? For centuries, beef stew has been the go-to comfort food for chilly days, and this recipe is here to take your stew game to the next level.
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With perfectly browned beef, slow-simmered to perfection, and a depth of flavour that will have your kitchen smelling like home, this isn't just any stew-it's the best beef stew recipe you'll ever make. In this post, I'll walk you through each step, sharing pro tips to ensure your stew is as comforting as it is delicious.
Ready to craft a dish so good your family will be begging for seconds? Let's dive in and bring this timeless classic to life!
Best Beef For Stew
It seems pretty obvious that you can't have beef stew without beef. But, what cut of beef should you use to make your stew? That's a great question, and there are a lot of options. Before I answer these questions, let's think about what stew is. Essentially, stew is a thick, slow-cooked soup. The whole point of a stew is to make something filling and hearty with very little. The beauty of this is that because of how it is cooked, you can take tough, cheap cuts of meat and make them very tender. Another bonus is that these cheaper, tougher meat cuts have way more flavour than their more expensive, more tender counterparts. That's a long way to say that you want to use cheap, tough cuts of meat to make stew.
For my money, I like inside round the best. It is lean but not too lean, very flavourful, and relatively cheap compared to other cuts of beef. Some other cuts you can use are sirloin tip, pictured below, beef shank (sold as osso bucco), brisket, or even short rib. The last three options used to be very cheap but are now at a higher cost. So really, you are looking at inside round or sirloin tip as your best options. If you're interested in learning more about selecting and preparing different cuts, check out my guide on cooking meat.
Buying the Beef
I suggest never buying "Stewing Beef" from the grocery store. This will be beef that is already cut up into cubes. You shouldn't buy this because it is leftover roasts that they couldn't sell and are trying to save. It's old meat. Buy a roast. It will be cheaper anyway, and cut it up yourself. It will only add about five minutes to your prep time but will save you money and give you better-quality meat.
Now, if you have a regular neighbourhood butcher that you go to and trust, you can buy stewing beef from them or even ask them to cut a roast up for you. Otherwise, buy a roast and cut it up.
Cleaning The Beef
You've bought a roast, you got it home, and you're ready to cut it up. What now? There are really only two things that you need to think about at this point:
- Size: I prefer to cut my chunks fairly large, up to an inch and a half cubed, but the size is completely up to you.
- Cleaning: Cut away any gristle, sinew, or any other unwanted bits. Essentially, if it isn't meat and it isn't fat, get rid of it.
Cooking The Beef
Because a stew is made up of only a handful of ingredients, it is important to get the most flavour out of those ingredients as possible. The key to getting the most flavour out of your ingredients is colour. You need to brown your meat. I suggest spreading the beef out on a lightly oiled baking sheet and roasting it in the oven at 400°f for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on how big you cut your beef. Once it is browned, it can be added to the rest of the stew ingredients. This is the same principle I talk about in my post on preheating your pan-getting that heat right makes all the difference.
Beef Stew Ingredients
The stews that I grew up with and mostly make now all have pretty much the same ingredients in them. The base vegetables are onion, garlic, and celery. On top of those are carrots, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, and cabbage. I also like to add some mushrooms to the mix to bulk up that meaty flavour. The only vegetable on that list I didn't use in the example below is parsnip, but only because I forgot to pick some up.
As with the meat, I like large chunks of vegetables in my stew. You can't really tell from the pictures, but the vegetables are diced to about one-inch cubes. If you cut your vegetables smaller than I do, you will have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Spices For Beef Stew
Fresh herbs are a great way to add lots of flavour to beef stew. I like using a variety of herbs, including rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley. The rosemary, thyme, and sage go into the stew about two-thirds of the way through cooking, while the parsley gets mixed in at the end. You can use rosemary or just use thyme, but adding various herbs will give the stew more flavour and balance.
Fresh Herbs vs. Dried Herbs
I will pretty much always choose fresh herbs over dried herbs. I prefer the flavour, and I always have fresh herbs around. If you prefer dried herbs, that's fine too, but you should add them much earlier in the cooking process. Dried herbs should be added along with the meat instead of the vegetables.
Beef Stew Liquids
A stew needs some liquid. I like to use red wine and beef stock. For the example stew I made, I didn't have any beef stock handy, so I used water instead. You can use beer instead of wine, or no alcohol at all if you'd prefer. Beef stock will provide more flavour than water, but if you are using store-bought stock, you should watch the salt content because it tends to be high.
When to Add the Liquids
I like to braise the meat in the alcohol along with the onions and mushroom mix. Then, when I add in the other vegetables, I also add in the water or stock. You can do it that way or add the alcohol to deglaze the pan after cooking the onions and mushrooms, boil it to burn off the alcohol, and then add the meat, vegetables, and stock. I find that you get more flavour by using the first technique, but I'll leave that up to you.
Thickening the Stew
Truth be told, I generally prefer a relatively thin stew. But that's just me. I know that most people like it to be thick. That requires a thickener. There are a few different ways that you can thicken your stew:
- Flour method: Add some flour to the onions and mushrooms before adding wine or beer. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of flour on the vegetables, cook it for a minute or two, then add the liquid.
- Roux method: Mix equal parts flour and melted butter together, cook it for a few minutes, then whisk that into the liquid.
- Cornstarch slurry (my preference): Mix about ¼ cup of cornstarch with ¼ cup of water. I prefer this mostly because it is gluten-free, but I also prefer the texture it gives the stew gravy.
More unconventional thickeners are dried bread or breadcrumbs, arrowroot flour, mashed potato, potato starch, or even rice flour. None of these are really going to give you the smooth, thick gravy that you are used to, but they will thicken it. The dried bread or breadcrumbs is an ancient way to thicken things-it dates back all the way to the ancient Romans and probably earlier. So, if you want to taste a bit of history, maybe give that a try; otherwise, stick to a more conventional thickener.
Starting The Beef Stew
After the beef has been browned, heat an oven-safe dutch oven over medium heat. Add in 2 tablespoon of olive oil along with the onion, garlic, celery, and bay leaves. Cook until browned, then add in the mushrooms and cook for another two minutes. Add in the beef and red wine, put a lid on the pot, and put it in the oven at 325°f for 45 minutes.
How to Cook Beef Stew In The Oven
Take the pot out of the oven and add all the vegetables and herbs except the parsley. Add enough liquid to come up to the top of the vegetables, then add in the cornstarch and water. Season the stew with salt and pepper, put the lid back on the pot and put it back in the oven at 325°f for an hour and a half or until the vegetables and meat are tender.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg Sirloin Tip Beef, cubed
- 2 cups Onions, diced
- ½ cup Celery, sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic, peeled
- 1 cup Portabello Mushrooms, sliced
- ½ bottle Red Wine
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 sm Turnip, peeled and diced
- 1 sm Cabbage, cut into chunks
- 2 lg Carrots, peeled and diced
- 4 Yellow Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 cups Water or Beef Stock
- 1 tablespoon Rosemary, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Thyme, chopped
- 2 tablespoon Parsley, chopped
- 1 sprig Dried Sage
- Salt and Pepper
- ¼ cup Cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoon Butter
Instructions
- Season the beef with salt and pepper and place on a lightly oiled (1 tablespoon olive oil) baking sheet. Roast the beef in the oven at 400°f for 25 minutes.
- Once the beef is done, heat an oven-safe dutch oven over medium heat. Add in 2 tablespoon of olive oil along with the onion, celery, mushroom, and garlic. Cook until the vegetables are slightly browned.
- Add the roasted beef to the pot along with red wine and bay leaves. Put a lid on the pot and put it in the oven on 325°f for 45 minutes.
- Take the pot out of the oven and add in all the remaining vegetables, the water (or stock) the herbs, and the cornstarch and water mixture. Bring the contents of the pot to a boil on the stove top then put it back in the oven for an 1 ½ hours or until the meat and veggetables are tender.
- Taste the stew and adjust the seasoning as needed. Finish the stew by stirring in the butter.
Optional Ingredients
One ingredient that I didn't add to my stew but that you absolutely can is tomato paste. If you add it, it will go in when the mushrooms do, before the meat and the wine. Use about two tablespoons for a whole batch of stew. The tomato paste will give the stew a certain depth of flavour that it otherwise won't have. I love adding tomato-based elements to savoury dishes-you can see a similar approach in my tomato sauce post.
One final ingredient in the recipe above that I haven't mentioned yet is butter. I love to finish my stew with a tablespoon or two of butter. I drop it right into the pot and gently stir it in. This does three things:
- It gives the gravy a silky mouthfeel and texture.
- It makes the gravy shine.
- It makes it taste amazing.
You can do this or not, but I really suggest that you do it.
Final Thoughts
This oven-baked beef stew is one of my all-time favourite meals to make when the weather turns cold, and it's one of those recipes I never get tired of. The principles I've outlined here apply to any stew-beef, chicken, or otherwise-so once you've nailed this one, you can riff on it endlessly.
Anonymous says
This makes a large stew. Can it be frozen?
Chef Ben Kelly says
It can be
Vickie Whitford says
I must try this as soon as the weather cools off. Sounds great.
Tim Guga says
Let me know how it tourns out!