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.
DELICIOUS
Love
Awesome recipe
Looks delicious can’t wait to make it for my family!!!!
Looks delicious!! I can’t wait to make the beef stew.
Beef Stew looks amazing
I love this Recipe , I make Beef Stew but I see it not as good as your look
Why thank you Belinda! So happy you loved it.
Perfect! Loved the seasoning. I usually feel the need to tweak recipes a bit for the next time. to enhance the flavor, but not this one. Only thing I’d do is wait 10 mins after beef simmering to add the veggies as I do like mine a bit firmer. Thanks for the keeper recipe!C
I’ve been making stew for years and this will now be my goto recipe. My friend said it was the best stew she’d ever eaten and my hubby couldn’t stop raving about it! I followed it almost exactly. Since I didn’t have corn starch, I used flour at work fine. I do think the brand of broth that’s used to makes a difference. I only use Swanson for my broth and this time for two of the cups are used a bone broth. Next time I will add more carrots just because I like extra carrots. But I will definitely use this recipe again. Thank you so much for sharing!
That is so awesome Michele! So happy to hear you love it. Definitely double up on those carrots!
Good recipe but had to add more seasoning. I also had to add 1/4C more cornstarch to thicken up. Can you check printing function. Not working. Thank you.
Thank you, Rhonda, glad you enjoyed the recipe! Would you kindly let me know what browser you are using? We’ll try to see if we can figure it out! Have you tried the print button on the recipe card?
Just made this. Fabulous. Thank you for sharing.
Yay! That is so awesome Judith. Thank you!
For years I have used tapioca beads to thicken my stew. They have no flavor and put in at the beginning they only thicken. Honest !
That is a great suggestion, thanks Kathleen!
The recipe calls for broth but the instructions says stock. So what should be used?
Hi Tejas, for this recipe we did use broth, but you could use either and still get delicious results!
WOW !! Just made this stew minus the wine and it is absolutely wonderful..
Going to eat soon with homemade bread.. thanks so much for this recipe..
That sounds so yummy Heather! Happy to hear you enjoyed it.
I made this for my husband as it looked really good, and believe you me it was really fantastic, my husband is really ill and is off his food and he had 3 bowls of it, which has made me feel really good. Followed the recipe exactly and the flavours were incredible.,
I am so glad your husband enjoyed the stew Michelle!
Please send me recipes to try
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I would like to try your recipes
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Made this beef stew tonight for dinner. Very good and lots left for another day
So happy you enjoyed it Larry!
Definitely the best beef stew! The beef was SO tender!
I didn’t use the wine, rosemary or tomato paste because i didn’t have any.
The flavor was awesome!
My whole family loved this recipe. The only thing I did differently was that I added cauliflower purée, red bell peppers, and balsamic vinegar in place of red wine since I didn’t have any.
Sounds delicious Amber. Thanks for sharing!
Looks great will try
So happy to hear that Jay! Enjoy.