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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Found this recipe about a year ago and it quickly has become a staple in our home. Not difficult but requires some nice prep work but it is so flavorful and fits into low carb/calorie diets so our whole family loves it. I substitute lima beans for the green peas sometimes for a change but it is always so good. Thank you for sharing!!
Dee-licious! Especially impressive for a stew that doesn’t require 4 hours of simmering. I added pearl onions and found that I needed more water/broth as the stew simmered, but that’s what an experienced chef does. One could also start the simmer with chopped bacon and/or quartered mushrooms, but holy cow, this tastes great as is. Thank you!
Red wine is definitely not optional. I followed every step to exaction and skipped the wine. Beef was so tough. That acid was much needed in the dish. Recommend sitting the food in the pot long before serving. Thanks for the recipe
While the red wine does help tenderize the meat you can replace it with beef broth. I wouldn’t just skip it, as you won’t have enough liquid to properly cook the stew.
Great recipe with great flavor. My seven year old son had seconds and would have had thirds if he hadn’t remembered dessert. This is getting filed under winter staples.
Terrible recipe bc the beef took a lot longer to cook than the recipe stated, like twice as long! So by the time it was done all the potatoes and carrots like disintegrated completely into mush
Thank you for trying our recipe, Danielle! So sorry it didn’t turn out as expected for you!
Would I be able to use a metal pot instead of a Dutch oven for this recipe? Thank you in advance! Excited to try.
Hi Leah, yes you can use a pot in this recipe for sure. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
The best t receipe delicious
Canned peas? Dry peas? Frozen peas? What kind do we use?
Frozen peas or canned peas will work just fine in this recipe.
Thank you!!!
Can I use my crockpot to make this? If so at what temperature and for how long? Thanks
Hi Bonnie, we recommend following our crockpot beef stew recipe for the best results!
Great flavor!
easy to follow
instructions with lots of little tips.
Delicious and really filling.
my gf said its a 4.
Very easy to prep and cook stew recipe with lots of classic flavor. Wonderful as is or a great launching pad for whatever variation suits you. It came our perfectly in just about an hour. I was worried it may not be very flavorful with only rosemary but it was great! Hearty but healthy homemade stew with plenty to freeze for later.
This is the best beef stew recipe ever and it’s so incredibly easy! I’ve made it weekly for over a month now and my husband and I just simply can’t get enough. It’s the perfect transitional recipe as we go into colder weather!
I agree with the census, not a good idea to brown the beef with the onions. the onion sweat prevents the beef from making a great fond on the bottom of the pot. I will make again and do beef, then onions. I doctored the recipe replacing carrots with parsnips.
The end product was pretty good, but the meat and onions didn’t get a nice brown; they were more gray:( What did I do wrong?
I would suggest browning them in smaller batches. If the pan is overcrowded, the beef will steam instead of brown.
This was really good and even my picky son liked it.
Unless you have a huge pot, consider using only 4 cups of broth.
Our dutch oven was so full I could not add as many veg as I wanted to. I did use the red wine because it adds complexity.
I sauteed mushrooms with garlic after serving and added to the leftovers, looking forward to lunch today!
Easy quick spare moment what to do with ends. Tasty sampling! Check in an hour.
First time making beef stew for my boyfriend and was researching the best and easiest recipe. Came across your recipe and let me tell you…Not only it was simple to follow along and it was so delicious!!! My boyfriend was very impressed and loved every last drop of the stew! Thank you very much for sharing your recipes.