Best Ever Beef Stew
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A cozy classic beef stew with tender beef, carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes. The best kind of comfort food especially on those chilly nights!
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Why you’ll love this beef stew
- Classic comfort food. This is the type of stew that is just wonderfully aromatic, super cozy, and filled with so many goodies – tender chunks of steak, mushrooms, potatoes, and carrots. It’s all good things here stewing in a perfectly hearty, rich, savory gravy that just sticks to your ribs.
- Avoids all-day simmering. Top sirloin is already naturally tender, allowing for a faster-cooking beef stew with juicy, tender meat, allowing you to skip that traditional 3-hour simmer.
- Budget-friendly. Beef stew takes tough, affordable cuts of meat (ex. top sirloin) and stretches the recipe with plenty of root vegetables to feed a big family, and maybe even leave leftovers to freeze for later.
What is beef stew?
Beef stew is made by slow simmering chunks of meat and root vegetables until the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender and the stew is thickened into a gravy-like consistency.
Key Ingredients
- Beef: top sirloin is ideal here for a fast-cooking stew rather than an all-day simmer
- Vegetables: classic choices include onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and russet potatoes
- Liquid: beef stock combined with red wine and tomato paste for extra depth
- Thickener: all-purpose flour for a smooth, gravy-like consistency
- Aromatics: garlic, thyme (dried or fresh), and bay leaves
How to make beef stew
- Sear the steak. Season the diced top sirloin steak with salt and pepper, then brown the steak in a single layer in a hot Dutch oven over medium high heat; set aside.
- Sauté the aromatics. Reduce the heat to medium, then stir in the onion, carrots, and celery until tender. Then stir in the garlic and mushrooms until browned.
- Add the flour. Add the flour and tomato paste, stirring constantly until lightly browned.
- Deglaze the pot. Stir in the red wine, lifting up the caramelized brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Simmer. Stir in the beef stock, thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and seared steak chunks. Lower the heat and simmer until the beef is tender, about 30 minutes. Then stir in the potatoes until softened and tender, and the stew has thickened, about 20 minutes.
- Serve. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Then stir in the parsley, salt, and pepper, and serve warm.
Freezing and storage
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheating
Gently reheat on the stovetop over low heat, adding a splash of water or stock, if needed. Stir occasionally until warmed through completely.
Freezing
Let cool completely; portion the stew into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge and gently reheat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Add a splash of water or stock, if neeeded.
what to serve with beef stew
- How to Make Perfect Mashed Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Skillet Dinner Rolls
- Honey Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
- Italian Chopped Salad
Tools For This Recipe
Best Ever Beef Stew: Frequently Asked Questions
Skip the pre-packaged stew meat as it contains a random mix of leftover scraps with uneven fat and muscle. Use top sirloin instead, dicing into uniform chunks for consistent even cooking throughout.
Mushrooms can be omitted completely, or eggplant and zucchini can be substituted instead as they can absorb all the good flavors and mimic the texture of mushrooms.
Chicken, beef, or vegetable stock can be used for red wine as a non-alcoholic substitute. But stock will be less acidic and more mild in flavor than red wine.
Yes! You can make beef stew both in the slow cooker or Instant Pot.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Beef stew is very much freezer-friendly. You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and gently reheat on the stovetop over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Best Ever Beef Stew
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds top sirloin steak, diced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 2 ½ cups beef stock
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Season steak with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Working in batches, add steak to the stockpot and cook, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned, about 6-8 minutes; set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add garlic and mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk in flour and tomato paste until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the stockpot.
- Stir in beef stock, thyme, bay leaves and steak. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until beef is very tender, about 30 minutes.
- Stir in potato; simmer until potatoes are just tender and stew has thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Stir in parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- Prep ahead of time. Save time by prepping and dicing the meat and vegetables ahead of time (minus the potatoes as they will brown if chopped too early).
- Avoid “stew meat”. Stew meat is often times a random mix of lean scraps that turn out dry and rubbery.
- Sear the meat. Browning the beef first is key here. That dark crust on the sirloin steak will create such richer, deeper flavors in your stew (plus, the browned bits at the bottom of the pot are all lovely bits here, adding so much flavor).
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry red wine (cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir or merlot) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your beef stew. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
- Freeze in individual portions. This will allow for easy serving and thawing, perfect for a quick lunch or fast dinner. Always leave a little bit of space at the top of your container or freezer bag as the liquid will expand as it freezes, squeezing out the extra air to prevent freezer burn.
Did you make this recipe?
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This had a delicious taste but my sirloin steak got very tough, I think next time I would add the beef at the last 10 mins instead
Excellent! I added a bit of sweet potato because I had it on hand and let it braise for another hour. It was amazing!
Great recipe. I just made it and my wife definitely approves. Only 2 things I added was peas and worsteshire. Came out great. Thanks!
My husband absolutely loved this recipe. The only thing I changed was to add a bit of chopped red cabbage and peas, and I finished cooking it in a 325* oven for a couple of hours. I served it with Irish soda bread. Your sheet pan chicken fajitas and chicken caesar salad are favorites as well. Thank you for sharing another great recipe!
My husband could not stop raving about this stew. I followed the recipe, except for adding a bit of red cabbage and peas. Then finished cooking it in a 325 oven for a few hours. Always trying to up our vegetable intake. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
Amazing!!! Followed the recipe exactly except added mushrooms. I haven’t found a beef stew recipe that had such depth of flavors. I only wish I had doubled the recipe but it provided generous servings as it stands. I did make sure I had cut the potatoes to 3/4 inch so it cooked in 30 minutes.
Making the beef stew tonight! Yum!
The flavor was good, but I’m going to use less flour next time. I had to add more beef stock to thin it out, I could detect the flour too much, and I did stir it in very well to cook off the taste of raw flour. For the amt of liquid, probably 2 tbsp. would be enough.
This is the best beef stew I’ve ever made and I’ve made dozens. The potatoes need to simmer for at least an hour though to be tender unless you dice them super tiny . Absolutely delicious!!
The only way I make beef stew ❤️❤️❤️
My meat was a bit tough. How do I make the meat more tender ?
I dust my stew beef with a flour / seasonings mix then slow browing in the dutch oven and then add the beef brough and actually let it almost boil for 20 minutes then press on with the rest of the recipe
There is also a technique used by asian restaurants called velveting. I believe it’s 3/4 teaspoon baking soda per 8 oz of meat. Sprinkle it over the meat, toss it around, and let is sit for 20-30 mins and then rinse and pat dry. Then cook as usual. I found it on another favorite page- RecipeTinEats.
The flavor was good but the stew meat (chuck) was so tough. Other reviewers don’t seem to have this problem.
I read elsewhere that you should simmer meat for 2-3 hours then add veggies at the end. Suggestions?
I like to cut the stew meat against the grain into smaller pieces, then I like to marinate them in 1/4 cup soy, 1 TB/ each baking soda, mirin (sugar) and cornstarch in Asian food it’s called “velveting” for 3 hours in a resealable bag or a bowl with plastic wrap covering. Your meat will positively melt in your mouth.
This recipe is so so good!! I’ve made it twice now and loved it both times. The total prep and cook time takes me about 2 hours and I recommend dicing the potatoes so they cook all the way through. It’s so amazing how full of flavor this recipe is considering the simple ingredients. It’s a family hit!
Made almost exactly as written, but I made it on the stovetop in a stockpot as I do not have a Dutch oven. It was fabulous. I doubled the recipe, and decided last minute to add peas and I omitted mushrooms. I ended up using about 6.5c of beef stock, but it was fabulous. Served it for dinner at a gathering, and everyone had seconds! Will be saving to make again
This was a very good stew. Will be keeping the recipe for future winter dinners.
Superb! Simple, easy and very delicious. Definitely a make again recipe. 100% key is excellent beef, broth and wine – don’t skimp.
This is the best stew I’ve ever made!
Any specific recommendations when doubling or tripling the recipe?? OR do I just straight up double all ingredients?? Please advise…
I was never good a making beef stew until this recipe. I followed the directions and it was amazing!!
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