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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 all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil more as needed
- 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 ribs celery cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 sprig fresh
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or as needed
- 2 tablespoons water or as needed
- ¾ cup peas
Instructions
- Combine flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss beef in flour mixture.
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Shake off any excess flour from the beef and brown in small batches. Remove and set aside in a bowl.
- Add the onions to the pot, adding more oil as needed, and cook until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add beef broth and red wine while scraping up any brown bits in the pan.
- Stir in browned beef, potatoes, carrots, celery, tomato paste, and rosemary. 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, if you'd like a thicker stew, you can add extra).
- 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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Delicious!
Look forward to making this! Big fan of your recipes. Question: would frozen vegetables work the same? i.e. frozen sliced carrots? If not that’s perfectly fine
Hi Tommee, other readers have added frozen mixed veggies to this recipe with great results. I would love to hear how it turns out for you :)
I’m in my 80s and your recipes look appealing and simple. looking forward to trying them out. Thank you.
Great stew recipe. I do not like red wine so I added Worcestershire sauce, a little balsamic vinegar, some beef flavoured better than bouillon and a bay leaf to build more flavour. Topped with fresh parm.
Incredible!!! This is the best beef stew I’ve made. My kids usually pick out some of the veggies and they cleaned their bowls. We don’t like celery so I omitted that, and I doubled the carrots, potatoes and onion. I got a big beef chuck steak at the store and cubed it myself (only $5.99 a pound!). I cooked it in a huge Dutch oven which I always feel like adds flavor somehow too :) Thank you!
Will this recipe freeze well? My husband and I like to make large batches of soups and chili to freeze and pull out for quick meals. This recipe looks delicious and I plan on making it this weekend.
Yes, this recipe freezes well.
I’m in my 80s and your recipes look appealing and simple. looking forward to trying them out. Thank you.
The first year I tried it I made the recipe as is, it was delicious. I add corn instead of peas, and Serrano peppers for more of a kick. Recipe is easy to modify for your pallet though.
The broth and veggies were delicious. I simmered it for 2 hours and the stew meat would not get tender. it was very chewy. I browned it first so I am not sure what the problem was. I am very disappointed concerning the stew meat was 11.99 a pound.
I’m so glad you loved the flavor and the veggies Traci! Stewing beef tends to be the cuts of beef when the butcher is trimming roasts or steaks so it can be bits of different types of beef and some don’t become as tender.
I would suggest buying cubed chuck or a small chuck roast and cubing it yourself, this will ensure it’s nice and tender! I’d love to hear how it works out for you.
Best beef stew. Didn’t add peas, added mushrooms instead. Otherwise, followed the recipe exactly. It was perfect!
Beef stew is delicious with homemade cornbread!! Yummy
Making it today.
great
Nice for a base recipe and added mushrooms, Worcestershire, extra wine, Dijon mustard and some Everglades seasoning. Serving with some garlic mashed potatoes on the side instead of in the stew. Also put it all in the crockpot
Stew isn’t usually our go-to. A chuck roast is what we do often. And we don’t like our veggies in all together. BUT….I broke all my “rules” because this looked so good and the recipe looked like it had good flavor. Perfect for tonight before we go to a pumpkin walk at a local nature preserve. My initial taste test says yum. I added more of all veggies and my stew meat was a bit more than 2lbs. Thanks for what seems like it will be a great classic tasty meal….well multiple for us. I’ll freeze some and also share with some of my single, older (my age, lol) co-workers. <3
Thank you for giving this recipe a try CindeeLou, I am so glad you enjoyed it!
Super tasty! The only changes I made were subbing cooking wine instead of the actual stuff; also I added maybe 2TB Worcestershire sauce during the simmer step. I also added 2TB cold butter right at the end per a recommendation I read somewhere. The broth was DELICIOUS. If I had more time I’m sure the meat would have been even more tender.
My grandmother amused to make hamburger soup and I couldn’t remember all that she used but this sounds like a fantastic recipe. TY~
Delish! Made some tweaks for a deeper flavour profile. Doubled the red wine and tomato paste, next time would cook the tomato paste with the onions. Added garlic, fresh thyme, Worcestershire sauce and 2 Parmesan rinds. Doubled the slurry for thickening.
This is my third time making this recipe and its a keeper for our family. I cant stress how important it is to get a good sear on the meat, and I also cook the onions a little longer to extract their natural sweetness. Definitely do not be afraid to season with salt and pepper! We like out stew on the thicker side so use a little more slurry, but its come out perfect every time, and its even better reheated the next day. I make salted brown butter Parker house rolls to accompany the stew and it’s the perfect meal. Thanks for the recipe!
I am so happy to hear this is a family favorite Becky. Thank you for sharing.
I cooked this recipe for my husband and our two roommates. They all loved it! I forgot to put the peas in there, but we did not miss it at all! I altered it a little bit. I added some Creole seasoning to amp up the flavor! My husband says he hopes that this recipe is a keeper! I assured him that it is! Thanks a lot!
Yum! I am so glad to hear this recipe was a hit Cathy!