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
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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I’ve made this recipe before and it was DELICIOUS! I plan on making a large portion for Christmas this year and was wondering if you could give advice for slowcooking it in a crockpot? Sear the meat, brown the onion and low for maybe 5 hours? any advice would be so appreciated. thank you!
Hi Angela, for a crockpot version I recommend following out Crock Pot Beef Stew recipe!
Your recipes look amazing. I’m so glad I stumbled across this site. Thank you for sharing. Julie S.
I made this wonderful beef stew recipe tonight. We loved it. I decided to add the wine & it was good. Very flavorful & the color of the different veggies made it eye appealing too. Thx for the recipe!! I did add some turmeric & a tad bit of dried seaweed like I do for other soups & it was delish.
This is amazing as is! Wondered is anyone has added mushrooms?
Mushrooms are great in this recipe!
We really enjoyed this stew. I made it as per recipe except, as I just discovered, I forgot to add the peas at the end. oops! It was still delicious. Will make again.
I made this last night. I used chuck steak and cut it up. It was very good! Made exactly like the recipe.
Chopping and the cooking took around 1 hr 45 mins. Meat tender also.
I add a little fresh chopped garlic which adds a lot of flavor (about 1 tsp)
Definately the best stew I ever made. My grown kids also said the same. I would highly recommend using a chuck roast that you trim as needed and cut into cubes. Instead of the salt & pepper listed, I used McCormics Steak seasoning plus the garlic powder listed and about 1/2 t onion powder. I mixed that combo and seasoned the cubes of chuck that I had spread out evenly on a lg plate & tossed to blend everything. Then dredge in flour that I had added just a level 1/2 t. steak seasoning to. Browned in batches & moved to a lg bowl. Deglazed the pan w/ and inexpensive Cabernet Sauvignon also in batches …about 3/4 ish cup total. I used Better Than Boulion beef for the broth, using 3/4 level t. per cup water listed for the broth, which is a bit less Better Than Boulion than listed on the lid.
The rest was fairly close to as listed. But I moved everything to a crock pot. Started it on high for 2 to 3 hrs, then turned down & cooked till potatoes ,& carrots were just done. few more hrs.
super delicious v
I followed the recipe pretty much exactly and it is sooooo good! I made some cornbread to go with it. This will be my go to beef stew recipe going forward!
Wonderful recipe!!! I used a chuck steak instead of stew meat. Sooo tender and flavorful 😋
Amazing recipe!
I make this one at least once per week. Big hit at home :)
This was so delicious!!!
this is so good. I did add Italian seasoning as I didn’t have a sprig of rosemary and the taste is amazing.
This is a family favorite. Thank you for the recipe!
Just used the recipe to understand what’s in beef stew and the general technique. I used a lot more spices, a lot more wine (deglazed with wine each time I browned meat and saved the scrapings and wine each time), added 3 small bay leaves, more carrots and celery, and italian seasoning, not rosemary. No cornstarch, no peas (I forgot). Cooked longer than she suggests. Thanks!
Amazing ! Very simple recipe but flavour is anything but simple!
Nice hearty stew with classic ingredients.
Highly recommend
Absolutely delicious recipe! It is simple to follow and a hit with the family will be my go to recipe forever!😋😊
Lacked flavor. I wanted to love this but it’s pretty plain. Needs added seasoning but unsure of what. Fun to make tho.
Thanks for trying our recipe, Sara! You could add some additional seasonings if you prefer.
Sadly I agree. Nothing hit the taste buds at the back of my tongue. I’m not sure what to add, but it looks like a sad waste of good meat. It’s just not tempting us to want it. A very very unusual result for this site.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love this recipe as much as we do AJ. Thank you for trying it.
This is a very good recipe. I have made it a few times now. In light of the cost of beef being astronomical right now, the last time I used a pork butt roast, cubed and trimmed and it was very good. Just in case anyone is trying to save some money.