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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How would I make this gluten free? Should I just shake the beef and seasoning in a little bit of corn starch or use a gluten free flour or what? Don’t know what either of those would do as far as helping fry the beef. Having a gf person in the mix when serving this….thanks!
The beef can be cooked with just seasoning and oil (and just double check your other ingredients are GF, I think they should be ok). You may need a little extra cornstarch to thicken it at the end.
My whole family loved it! My husband called it one of his top 5 meals from the past year…I’m a great cook and we have ate at more than 5 Michelin star restaurants in the past year so that speaks volumes! I served it with your 30 minute dinner rolls. I’m making it again at his request in the same month, when we don’t usually repeat a meal so soon.
Well that’s a great compliment! I’m so happy to hear that you and your husband love the stew, Miranda. Thank you for letting me know!
Best beef stew recipe out there!
Thank you Nancy!
I think this was the best beef stew recipe I’ve ever made! But I did make some changes. I like it chunky so I used 2 3/4 pound stew meat and 1.5 lb potatoes. Also I don’t like using part of a can or bag so I added a whole small bag of peas and a whole small can of tomato paste. I accidentally used thyme, so I added 1 tsp each thyme and rosemary. The rest was per the recipe and It was soooo yummy!!
This beef stew was the best I have ever made! The meat was so tender. Mine thickened without using the slurry and I left the wine out. So good on this cold day! Thank you for sharing this recipe! I will be making it from now on. Love it! ❤️❤️❤️
The best beef stew I have ever made! I did not have to make a slurr it thickened up perfect. It was so good on this cold day! ❤️❤️❤️
old fashion cooked meal
Good old-fashioned stew! I add the entire 6 oz can of tomato paste, instead of just 3 tablespoons, as I prefer it thicker.
Average taste.
Recommending microwaving food in a plastic bag? No bueno. The carcinogens that act releases into the food far outweigh the convenience. I wouldn’t eat anything microwaved in any plastic. “Microwaveable safe” or otherwise.
You can certainly microwave it in any container you’d like.
This recipe was a great starting point for my version. I’m here to say SUBSTITUTIONS are okay young new cooks! I don’t usually alter the recipes with “instead of this I did that” but I needed a stew in a pinch for a sick friend so I rallied: Chicken broth was all I had and with a spoonful of worchestire sauce it was transformed into beef broth-sorta. I used Italian seasoning since I gave up looking for my rosemary. Who doesn’t have tomato paste on hand at all times??? Me apparently. I splashed in some tomato soup. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of slurry though I understand the goal but no cornstarch in the cupboard either. I used instant mashed potatoes sparingly to desired consistency-voila. No peas-no biggie. Stew was delicious but I’m looking forward to making it again when I have all the ingredients on hand!
WOW….I have made every beef stew recipe from Molly O’Neill’s Old Fashioned recipe to Ina Garten and everyone in between….I tweaked and tweaked them and got them “good” but I was never 100% satisfied. Today I Googled again and ran across your site and recipe. Can I just say WINNER…hands down the best!!! I read the comments and although I followed the recipe EXACTLY…I did: Purchase Chuck ROAST for the meat; put flour, garlic powder and salt in a zip lock bag and shook the meat in that; added 1 1/2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce and 1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar in step 4. In addition to the “frozen” peas (I added 1 cup) I also added 3/4 of a bag of pearl onions. Mistake I made was adding pearl onions same time as peas….onions take longer so next time I’ll add those about 15 minutes before doing the slurry (I used all of it) and adding the peas. Served w/ warm buttered bread and the oohs and ahhs were the best…but nothing better than my 94 year old mother saying…”WOW, this reminds me of my mother’s….so so good” Thank YOU so much. Can’t wait for the leftovers!
Ahh Martha, your comment made my weekend! I’m so glad you (and your mother) loved this recipe as much as my family does. Thank you for sharing all of your tips!
Great recipe, maybe another half or 1 pound of potatoes.
Holly I love your recipes. Can I use red ice wine in this recipe as that is what I have a started bottle?
Thank you! That should work Susan. Enjoy!
I think this is the easiest and most delicious recipe of beef stew.
My very first stew, we all loved it!
Love it = )
Amazing!! My first ever stew and I used this recipe – mmmm did not disappoint. I’m actually making it again as I wrote this only I’ve switched the beef and beef brother for chicken and chicken broth! All else remained the same! Hopefully it turns out just as good!!!
Very hearty stew will definitely make this stew again!
This recipe was very good! I added some a1 and red pepper flakes to add some extra flavor. The red wine adds a lot of depth. Everyone loved this dish!
My wife doesn’t eat pork nor beef. So I miss a lot of comfort foods I used to have before we met. Can this be made with turkey loin (cubed) instead of beef, and chicken stock instead of beef stock, with all other ingredients remaining the same? I’m not sure if turkey loin, chicken stock, and red wine will achieve the “beef stew” gravy/broth beef stew is famous for.
I haven’t tried it with turkey loin but I do think it would work. You will need to adjust the cook time so the turkey cooks without becoming dry or overcooked. I do have a chicken stew that might work well for you.