Best Ever Beef Stew
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A cozy, classic beef stew with tender beef, carrots, mushrooms + potatoes. Everyone will love this, especially on those chilly nights!
Featured Comment
We just got back from Los Angeles. You know, from their perfect always-sunny-70-degree weather. Wait, why did we leave California again?
No, but really, it was a solid 20 degrees outside and a rude awakening back to Chiberia reality, and Cartman refused to walk as usual. But that’s okay. Because I came home to the best beef stew ever.
Wonderfully aromatic, super cozy, and filled with so many goodies – tender chunks of steak, mushrooms, potatoes, and carrots. All good things here, stewing in that perfectly hearty, rich gravy.
I poured the rest of the red wine I used for this recipe into a very large wine glass, warmed up some dinner rolls, and forgot just how cold it is outside.
tips and tricks for success
- 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).
- 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.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
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
Dutch oven
Best Ever Beef Stew: Frequently Asked Questions
Mushrooms can be omitted completely if it’s not your thing. Eggplant or zucchini can be substituted, if desired, as it 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. Stock will be less acidic and more mild in flavor than red wine.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Yes! You can absolutely make beef stew in the slow cooker or Instant Pot.
Beef stew is very much freezer-friendly. You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Best Ever Beef Stew
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
Equipment
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.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I’ve made this recipe twice and it’s seriously *the best* basic stew recipe ever. Never fails and always good, and the texture and flavors are perfect. Easy to make, too, which is a huge plus.
Wonderful hearty stew !
I have been making stew for many years . Always a favorite !
This recipe was exceptional.
The red wine and tomato paste made this special.
Try adding a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce !
A must have in our home !
On average good stew, taste profile good, texture incredible. What really amazed me about this stew is how filling it was! It says it serves 8 but I fed it to all 300 of the kids in my orphanage. One smart ass asked for more because it was sooo good, good enough to be locked in solitary for two nights he said!
Hashim,
Lol I hope you’re joking. To serve 300 kids stew for 8 people is a joke and to say an orphanage has solitary confinement is eyebrow raising to say the least. Prisons have solitary confinement not orphanages. And “one smart ass” asked for more? Imagine that if you’re feeding 300 kids stew for 8 people. If this is true be glad I’m not your neighbor.
I’m fairly sure he’s referring to Oliver Twist, not an actual orphanage.
Carrie, shut up and drink your gin.
I think Carrie is beyond Gin being helpful. #lightenupKaren
Can this be adapted to be made in a slow cooker? If so, how please. lol
This is sooo good ! Took a lot longer but worth it !
This beef stew is absolutely amazing. Had it with yeast rolls and it was all eaten it was so good!
This is an excellent recipe! I agree with another review that said the cooking times should be longer, so after taste-testing that’s what I did. I didn’t have beef stock so I used vegetable stock and added a couple teaspoons of powdered beef broth seasoning – it worked out just fine!
Great recipe. I did have to alter a little. I used bison bone marrow broth..homemade. then for the wine 8 added some balsamic fig vinegar but less than 1/2 cup. I also browned the meat with a dash of curry powder. I didn’t use black pepper and only had lemon thyme. Still super yummy
Dumb question, do I put a lid on it at step 6?
Thanks.
I also felt the need to cover mine (20 min)… I didn’t want the liquids to evaporate too much by the time the potatoes would be ready and have a dryer strew. I did add potatoes at the same time as the meat. I removed the lid to thicken the sauce towards the end when the potatoes were almost ready. I continued to simmer until the meat was tender. In all, it simmered just over an hour.
Everything was Definitely Delicious and will make this my go-to strew recipe! Thank you!
Wow! That is a hearty beef stew !! Looks so rich and yummy! My sister is thinking about making this for dinner tonight. But beef and red wine will be available only at the supermarket. I have some button mushrooms and celery. So I think we’re good to go!
Times are way off. Add one more hour to time. The taste is fantastic though..
Easy recipe! Fairly quick to make!! So delicious!!!
What kind of pan is this?
It’s a dutch oven!
Craving for some Beef Stew and came upon yours on the internet. It looks amazing!!! Question, what kind of wine would you recommend to use?
Any dry red will do (just not sweet). Traditional french beef stew or beef burgundy uses wine from its region which is pinot nior. If it’s good enough to drink, it’s good enough to cook with:)
Absolutely delicious! My favorite beef stew recipe!
We are in the middle of a pandemic, so I wanted to make comfort food for my family. I made this recipe without the mushrooms because my son is not a fan. Absolutely delicious! The meat and veggies were tender. What a great combination of flavors in the stew broth.
Sooo good!!! The wine is like the cherry on top of this stew!! However, my meat got tough. Did I do something wrong? Or maybe my meat wasn’t fresh?
Needed to cook longer
also may be overcooked if not chuck
Wow Chungah it is indeed so beautiful, reading the headline I was wondering how could beef stew ever be the best. Well your pictures speak otherwise! I could almost smell the spices and beef engrossed in it from over here. Kudos, and keep spreading your love through the food you cook. Hearts to Cartman!
What can be better than a bowl of freshly made bowl of stew! And I love that you add mushrooms to it, my husband will LOVE it! Also, you photos are gorgeous!!!
This was insanely delicious. Easy to make and I topped it with dumplings which I popped in the oven till cooked and crispy on top
Been looking for this for many years! Probably the best Beef Stew I have ever had. Really, the only “tweak” I made was substituting 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar for the wine. Well, okay…I let it simmer for longer , simply because I had the time to do so. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! Currently enjoying leftovers for lunch. My entire family loved this. Thank you for yet another yummy recipe to add to the dinner rotation.