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
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
What temp do you start cooking the meat at? And do you bring to a boil before reducing to med/low and simmering?
I usually start at medium-high just to get it simmering, once it starts bubbling, I turn it down to a simmer.
We really loved the recipe. We skipped step 5 of the instructions. We feel like it didn’t need the cornstarch and water slurry. I think the flour added to the meat thickened it up perfectly.
Thank you :)
This was excellent – simple and delicious. I used beef better than bouillon and added a bay leaf. Excluded the flour so browning wasn’t as complex but needed it to be gf. ::chef’s kiss::
See below! Forgot to add the stars. :)
Love this stew! I didn’t have rosemary so I used thyme. Worked well. I didn’t use celery (just wasn’t in my stew growing up). I like thicker stew so used twice the amount of slurry. Thanks for the recipe!
good solid recipe
Sooo good and so easy to prepare and tastes even better the next day!
Made this for dinner today. Turned out thick and delicious. Will make again.
Sooooo good! Even better the next day. I will probably try to just make this ahead in the future because though we thought it was great the first day it was even better the next few days!
We made this with round steak, no celery (not a fan) and no peas (because I didn’t have any). Only change I would make is a little more potatoes and carrots.
Perfectly reminiscent of the stew my grandma makes! I cut the potatoes into 1” cubes and they disintegrated into the stew as it cooked, but the flavor and consistently is still there. Subbed rosemary for thyme and omitted the celery and peas (didn’t have). Will definitely make again, thank you for this recipe!
Classic, simple, timeless beef stew! Well done. The only changes I made were:
* Use two bay leaves instead of Rosemary (not a big Rosemary fan)
* Use 4 cups stock instead of 6
* No cornstarch slurry to thicken. Using less liquid, the starch from the potatoes gave it the desired consistency
* Added quartered baby bella mushrooms w/ the veggies
* I use onions two ways, the first is minced and sauteed after the meat is removed, the second is cut in ‘wedges’ along the vertical axis, and added with the veggies. I find this gives it the sweetness from the carnalized minced onions, but also gives you the big pieces of onion to go w/ the other veggies.
* No peas. They are great if you’re eating the whole batch, but they don’t store / freeze well
* Rather than add any salt, I use various Better Than Bouillon bases (beef, roasted veggie, roasted garlic, and Sofrito). I find they add great umami flavor to the dish.
Wonderful dish as the weather turns cooler. Had it for dinner outside by the fire pit. Perfect!
Holly, you are beautiful, and I have thoroughly enjoyed all your recipes I have tried so far. This is my first attempt at beef stew and I hit it out of the park. Your hamburger soup is craveworthy, as well. Keep on keeping on!
I have struggled in making a good beef stew. Well no more– not only was this delicious made per recipe– but first time I was successful in getting it thickened enough- the slurry did the job!
Just added to pinterest board– I’ll be making this again and again….
This was delicious. I have made many stews over the years, but this will be my go to from now on! So good!
Excellent! We made this for a family member’s birthday party and it was a huge hit! Highly recommend!
Used corn instead of peas. Wonderful, we will make recipe again
This recipe was delicious!!! My husband ❤️ it. Great dinner for company. I added mushrooms
Making this again soon!!!
This was so good family of 8. Added mushrooms and tomatoe paste and green bean’s instead of peas. The teens and everyoneate it up. Thank you
Measured out the proportions correctly, but ended up with more of a soup like consistency. There was too much wine in my opinion as well. I’d take out 1/2 the wine and remove 1/3rd of the broth.
I’ll try a crock pot version next time for a more tender meat.
Hi Robsss, I am sorry to hear that. We have never had that problem with this recipe, but you can definitely adjust it to your preferences :)
I followed the recipe completely! My meat is way to cooked and my stew is really thin! I added the slurry but it didn’t thicken!