Beef stew is a fragrant and abundant dish that is essential on cold days and on days when you are craving some comfort food.
The best beef to use when making beef stew is beef chuck because it is cheap and gets tender the longer it is cooked.
Cook the beef stew in the oven, slow cooker, stovetop, instant pot, or crockpot. When cooking beef in a crockpot, it will take 10 hours on low, 8 hours on medium, and 6 hours on high. When cooking beef stew in an instant pot, it will take around 35 minutes to cook, provided the beef has browned, and the vegetables have sauteed. If using the oven, preheat it to 300°F.
Accompany the beef stew with rice, cornbread, steamed vegetables, quinoa, salads, and mashed potatoes.
Mistakes To Avoid When Making Stew
Some mistakes to avoid making stew include:
• Using the wrong kind of meat. The best beef to make stew is chuck which becomes tender easily.
• Adding the vegetables ahead of time. Since vegetables cook quicker than beef, adding them too soon will leave them mushy. Consider adding the vegetables when you are halfway through the cooking.
• Serving the stew alone. Serve the stew alongside another accompaniment.
• Not browning the meat. Avoid adding raw meat to the broth as it won’t make a flavorful stew. Sear the beef pieces on each side for a few minutes before transferring them to the broth for a flavorful taste. Give each piece of beef enough time to brown.
• Not giving the stew time to cook well. Chuck is quite firm and needs a little bit of time to cook. Cook the chuck for about 2 hours for it to be tender.
• Thickening the stew too much. Unlike gravy, beef stew doesn’t need to be too thick.
• Too much fat. Your stew should be hearty and rich, not too fatty. Remove as much fat from the beef stew before serving.
• Cooking for too long. In as much as one should be patient when making stew, too much time will make the vegetables mushy and the beef dry.
Tips For Making Stew
• Mix a tablespoon of cornstarch and water, then add it to the stew to thicken it.
• Consider searing the beef before adding it to the stock for added flavors in the stew. Dry the beef pieces with a paper towel before adding them to an oiled pan, letting them brown before flipping to the other side.
• Use good quality chicken or beef broth. Alternatively, consider using homemade broth as it is more flavorful.
• If adding any vegetables to your beef stew, add them halfway through your cooking to avoid them being too mushy. Some vegetables to use include potatoes, onions, and carrots.
• Get beef chuck with good fat marbling throughout to make the beef stew.
• Cook the beef slowly, giving the beef pieces enough time to become tender. Rushing the cooking process will toughen the beef pieces.
• Deglaze the pan used for searing to create a base for a flavorful stew.
Below you can find 2 of our stew recipes (you can find other in our recipes section)
Christmas Eve Beef Stew Recipe:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat,
diced into 1 inch pieces
1 (28 ounce) can stewed
tomatoes, with juice
1 cup chopped celery
4 carrots, sliced
3 potatoes, cubed
3 onions, chopped
3 1/2 tablespoons tapioca
2 cubes beef bouillon
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 cup red wine
2 cups water
1 (10 ounce) package frozen green
peas, thawed
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
- Place beef, tomatoes, celery, carrots, potatoes, onions, and tapioca into a Dutch oven.
- Season with beef bouillon, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram, and stir in red wine and water.
- Place the lid on the Dutch oven.
- Bake for 5 to 6 hours in the preheated oven.
- Add peas during last half hour of cooking.
Hearty Italian Beef Stew
Ingredients:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black
pepper
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into
2-inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can CONTADINA®
Recipe Ready Diced Tomatoes
with Italian Herbs
1 (6 ounce) can CONTADINA®
Italian Paste with Roasted Garlic
1 1/2 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
4 cups peeled diced potatoes
4 cups peeled diced carrots
Steps:
- Combine flour, salt and pepper in medium bowl.
- Add meat; toss to coat well.
- Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add meat, onion,celery and garlic.
- Cook, stirring frequently, 6 to 8 minutes or until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender.
- Add undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, water and bouillon.
- Bring to boil.
- Reduce heat to low; cover.
- Simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.
- Add potatoes and carrots; simmer 20 minutes longer or until meat and vegetables are tender.
- Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.