Beef Stew Recipe

Making extra Beef Stew for the freezer? Click and slide the number next to “servings” on the recipe card below to adjust the ingredients to match how many you’re feeding—the recipe does the math for you, it’s that easy.

Beef Stew Ingredients:

• Beef roast. Preferably chuck-eye roast (also called boneless chuck roll or boneless chuck fillet). Look for beef that is well-marbled with white veins of fat.
• Onions and celery. Omit the celery if you want. It's less traditional but I love it.
• Garlic.
• Flour. For thickening.
• Tomato paste.
• Chicken broth.
• Red wine. I love a Côtes du Rhône or Pinot Noir here. You can also use more chicken broth if you are avoiding wine.
• Thyme and bay leaves.
• Potatoes, carrots, and peas. 

How to make Beef Stew:

Adding the ingredients in steps keeps the meat tender and the vegetables perfectly cooked.

1. First, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. Season each piece with salt and pepper.
2. Then, heat some olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the meat in a single layer, being careful not to overcrowd, and cook until browned on one side. Resist the temptation to move the meat; it will brown better if it’s not jostled.
3. Flip each piece of beef and continue to brown the other side. Transfer the browned meat to a bowl, and brown the rest of the beef in batches, using more oil with each batch.
   
4. Then heat some more olive oil in the pot and sauté the onions and celery until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute.
   
5. Next, stir in the flour and cook until lightly browned—about two minutes. Add the tomato paste, wine, broth, bay leaves, thyme, and browned beef with any accumulated juices. Scrape up any of the browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
   
6. Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer the pot to the oven. Cook for 1 hour.
7. Stir in the potatoes and carrots. Cover and continue to cook until the beef is tender and falling apart, 1 hour longer.
8. Remove the pot from the oven. Discard the bay leaves and any thyme stems. Stir in the peas and let stand off heat about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Instant Pot Beef Stew:

For best results, brown the beef! You'll want that crust.

1. Turn the Instant Pot to the SAUTÉ setting. Then, pat the beef dry with a paper towel. Season each piece with salt and pepper.
2. Add a bit of olive oil. Once the oil is hot and shimmering, add half of the beef. The cubes should be in a single layer and not too crowded so that they brown nicely.
3. Let the cubes of beef cook undisturbed for 4 to 5 minutes (resist the urge to move the meat), until the bottom of the cubes develop a dark-brown crust and come away from the pan easily. Flip each piece of beef and continue to brown the other side.
4. Transfer the browned meat to a bowl, and brown the rest of the beef in batches, using more oil with each batch.
5. Remove the final batch of browned beef to the bowl with the first batch. Add the remaining olive oil and the onions to the Instant Pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 6 minutes.
6. Add the garlic to the Instant Pot and stir for a minute until fragrant.
7. Next, stir in the flour and cook until lightly browned—about two minutes. Add the tomato paste, wine, broth, bay leaves, thyme, and beef, along with any juices from the meat in the bowl.
8. Add the chicken broth and use a spoon to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
9. Make sure you remove every last bit of stuck-on food so that you don’t get a “burn” warning from the pressure cooker.
10. Stir in the carrots and potatoes.  Do not stir the stew again.
11. Close and seal the Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes, then allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes. Vent to release any remaining pressure, then carefully open the lid. Remove and discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
12. Add the peas and let sit for about 5 minutes to heat through. Serve hot.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew:

Dredging the meat in flour, salt, and pepper before browning makes sure this slow cooker beef stew is thick and delicious.

1. Add bay leaves, thyme, tomato paste, potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic to the crock pot.
2. Combine flour, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge the cubes of beef in flour mixture and set aside.
3. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add beef. Cook 4 to 5 minutes on one side, then turn the meat over and continue to brown the sides, working in batches. Transfer browned beef to a bowl as you work.
4. When all the meat is browned, add the beef to slow cooker. Pour the wine and broth over the meat. Cover and cook on LOW 7 to 8 hours or until meat is tender. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
5. Add peas and cook for another 5 minutes until hot. Serve immediately.

Beef Stew Recipe

An easy Beef Stew Recipe is delicious and cozy, right when you need it most. You'll love the tender chunks of beef, potatoes, and vegetables in a delicious brown gravy.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword beef, stew, vegetables

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 3 hours

Servings 8 servings

Calories 408kcal

• 1 (3 pound) beef roast cut into 1½ -inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
• 2 onions diced
• 2 stalks celery finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine see notes
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes scrubbed and quartered
• 4 carrots peeled and sliced
• 1 cup frozen peas

US Customary - Metric

• Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat oven to 300 degrees. Pat beef pieces dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half the meat in a single layer and cook, without moving, until browned on one side, about 5 minutes.
• Flip each piece of beef and continue cooking until browned on the other side. Transfer to a bowl. Heat another tablespoon of oil and repeat with remaining beef until browned. Transfer to bowl.
• Heat last tablespoon of oil until shimmering. Add onion and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Stir in flour and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add tomato paste, wine, and chicken broth, thyme, bay leaves, and browned beef, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
• Bring to a simmer. Cover, transfer to the oven, and cook for 1 hour.
• Remove pot from oven. Stir in potatoes and carrots. Return to a simmer, cover, and return to the oven for 1 hour longer, until beef is tender.
• Remove pot from oven. Remove bay leaves and any thyme stems. Stir in peas and cover for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe Notes

• For the red wine, I like Côtes du Rhône or Pinot Noir.
• One additional cup of chicken broth may be substituted for the wine.

Nutrition

Calories: 408kcal