Beef Stew- chunks of beef are simmered with stewed tomatoes, steak sauce, potatoes, carrots, onion, celery and peas plus plenty of seasonings. It’s a cold weather classic. So flavorful and hearty.
Beef Stew is a great way to turn inexpensive cuts of beef into a delicious meal. The beef cooks for such a long time, it gets wonderfully tender. For best flavor, the beef cubes get coated in flour and seared in oil to get the exterior caramelized.
For this recipe, I buy the cubed beef labeled “stew meat”, but you can use a higher quality cut of meat. This stew slow simmers on the stove for 2 1/2 hours. So it’s great for making on a lazy Sunday afternoon to eat later in the week.
Tips For Making Beef Stew
- You’ll want a large Dutch oven for this recipe. I love to use my enamel-coated Le Creseut Dutch Oven.
- If you don’t want to use stew meat, buy a chuck roast and cut it into 1 1/2-inch chunks.
- Not all beef stew recipes have tomatoes, but I like tomatoes in mine, especially stewed tomatoes which have a slightly sweet flavor to them. You could substitute diced tomatoes instead.
- Can be made a day or two ahead of time. The flavor only improves with time.
How To Store
This stew will keep in an airtight conatainer in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave.
How To Freeze
This recipe freeezes well. Large ziptop bags are perfect for freezing it. When you are ready to cook it, defrost in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in the microwave or in a pot.
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Beef Stew
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups water
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup steak sauce
- 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 cup mini carrots
- 1 cup peas
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Season beef with salt and pepper and coat with flour.
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef in 2 batches and cook until browned on all sides. Remove beef from Dutch oven and set aside.
- Add the butter to the Dutch oven. Once melted, add onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the water and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom. Add stewed tomatoes, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, hot sauce, thyme, basil and pepper. Return beef to the Dutch oven and bring everything to a simmer.Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring every now and then.
- Add potatoes and carrots and cook for 30 minutes.
- Add peas and parsley and cook for 5 minutes. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Hi I’m from Australia and wondering what is steak sauce?
Steak sauce would be like HP sauce or A1 sauce. Think of it like spiced ketchup but for steak.
Carrots? You mentioned them in the description, but not in the recipe or ingredients?!
Canned or frozen peas?
Whichever you prefer.
I read in the first part of the recipe that one of the ingredients is carrots. How many?
How many carrots?
For someone who doesn’t know how to cook, and solely relies on cooking instructions, it would be wise to state to add olive oil to Dutch oven prior to adding meat. I’m fearful my stew will now taste burnt.
WHERE IS THE PARSLEY MENTIONED IN THE INGREDIENTS? SAYS TO ADD WITH PEAS.
Flavor was great but I had to keep adding water or else it would burn. The heat was on low. Not sure why this happened but I will try again. I do recommend this recipe. I didn’t have steak sauce and it still came out great tasting.
I’m glad it don’t have carrots I didn’t put them and it was so delish
Can you do this in a crockpot?
When do you add the 2 cups of water before or after