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 Chicago 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.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your 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!
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?
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This is hands-down the best recipe for beef stew I have ever tasted- and being from Maine, where we take our winter comfort food seriously, that’s saying something.
The flavor is intense, in a good way (must be the dry red). It thickens nicely. I added peas and green beans to mine.
This replaces my current go-to recipe I’ve been using for the last 20 years.
This recipe is very good!! I’ve got my own recipe passed down from my grandmother and mom, and I’d be safe to say this recipe would have their approval!! 🙂 thanks for sharing! Much appreciated!
My only disappointment with this recipe is that there were no leftovers! This stew has earned it’s “best ever” name. Soooo good. Rich, delicious, satisfying, and wonderful on a cold Seattle night. I’m going to triple this next time!
Thanks, Chunga!
I used chuck instead of sirloin (which alters the cooking time), leftover Korean cooking wine instead of the red, and subbed out the fresh herbs for some leftover rosemary I had in the fridge. Nonetheless, the stew was excellent, and I plan to use this as a base recipe again.
Great recipe! Added corn instead of celery. Also used 6oz can of tomato paste and worcestershire sauce. Other than that very delicious! Will be using this recipe again.
Just made today and used 2lb of filet only because I had it out in fridge for last two days and it needed used. I did not use the mushrooms since my Lady is not a shroom lover. Followed the rest to a tee besides using little more potatoes and a can of diced tomatoes and chili’s. The flavor was exactly what I was hoping. This is a good and simple recipe, all experienced cooks and novice should have this dish in their Arsenal. I love to cook and stumbling onto great dishes like this makes it more fun and enjoyable for me. Thanks
This stew was really easy to make and super delicious. It’s perfect – I did add a tad bit more red wine, flour, and tomato paste, 1 tsp of brown sugar to reduce the acidity and I also kept the meat in my ditch oven and added ingredient to one pot. Ohh and I added zucchini’s and extra of the veggies. So delicious and I think a forgiving recipe. At home I typically only use bouillon cubes and add water to them for broth/stock and that was excellent.
***Extra liquid fir extra veggies and for dipping a piece of bread.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
This is the absolute best beef stew ever. I use your recipes quite a bit and haven’t used one that wasn’t delicious. I’m 70, was raised up cooking and enjoy it, but sometimes I get tired of the same ole dishes so you are my solution to something new and/or different. Thanks ever so much
Excellent recipe as always! Thank you so much for the cookbooks and online recipes. I make at least two a week!
Should you remove the vegetables before browning the garlic and mushrooms and add them back in? Also, a bit hard to whisk the flour and tomato paste in with all the other ingredients in the pot. Any tips?
I didn’t add the flour to mine bc, toward the end, I intend to add a tbsp or 2 of instant mashed potatoes for thickener. I’ll see how that works.
Made again today. I wonder though how it serves 8? We only got four servings both times I made it.
Also wonder why your picture is very red as mine is very brown. I followed recipe to a tee.
Still a wonderful stew as it is snowing here in Pittsburgh on November 17th and it tastes great on a cold night!
I have stew meat and I know it’s tougher than what you recommend how long do I need to cook the meat
Delicious! The broth was so rich in texture and flavor. Definitely going to make it again- was easy to prepare and everyone asked for it again. New favorite, esp for colder nights with a glass of wine!
Perfect!
Made this last night. I only “diced” the onion, celery and garlic. Cut the meat in small chunks and also the carrots and potatoes. Next time I’ll add the potatoes in when I add the carrots. This is a very good recipe. Made a beautiful velvety sauce
And I used the wine I had on hand (Pinot noir) which worked well. Bought some artisan hard rolls that only took 10 minutes to bake
Will definitely make again, husband loved it!
Reply for Ava: Marsala comes in both sweet and dry. The dry would certainly work. My husband who is Italian makes a wonderful veal dish called appropriately “Veal Marsala” the sweet marsala is a dessert wine and wouldn’t work well in this application.
This recipe is great. For people like me who do not eat well, it is very simple to follow and the taste is great. I missed some minor ingredients, but the taste is still good. I am so happy to find it by accident and recommend it to any novice chef or anyone who wants a delicious, durable stew.
“Diced” didn’t seem right so I cubed everything instead. Easy & delicious!
Husband said it was deeeelicious! I substituted 1.5 TBSP red wine vinegar in water in place of the 1/2 cup of wine. I also didn’t have fresh thyme so I used dried. Took much longer than the recipe said though. Maybe it assumes the meat and vegetables are already diced/cut up?
I made this stew tonight. I usually make a beef flavored base (gravy) when I make stew but I wanted to try something new with the tomato base. Adding the flour and tomato paste and browning the mixture gave the gravy a sort of silky smooth texture. My husband and I really like it. Good recipe. I also added a can of drained corn right before serving. I will definitely make this again
I absolutely love your recipes!