beef stew

Beef stew with tender carrots and potatoes, ready in under two hours. No flour, just a brothy, savory base and soft fall-apart beef. Makes six servings.

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Total Time 2 1

Servings: 6 servings

Course: Lunch or Dinner

Cuisine: American

Calories: 410

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

Stew base

1.2 kg beef chuck cut into 4 cm cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 unit large onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup red wine
4 cups beef broth
2 units bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
0.5 teaspoon black pepper

Vegetables

4 units medium carrots peeled and cut into 2 cm chunks
4 units medium potatoes peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks
2 stalks celery chopped
0.25 cup fresh parsley chopped, for serving

Method

Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. This helps it brown, not steam, in the next step.
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high. When it shimmers, add half the beef (don’t crowd the pan). Brown on all sides, 5–7 minutes per batch. Scoop out and repeat with the rest. Set the beef aside.
Lower the heat to medium. Pour in a splash more oil if the pot looks dry. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and golden at the edges, 4–5 minutes.
Add garlic and tomato paste. Stir one minute—until it smells sweet, not raw.
Pour in the red wine (if using), scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pot. Let it bubble for 2 minutes, then add the beef back in.
Add beef broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir. Bring up to a simmer, cover with a lid, and drop heat to low so it just barely bubbles. Cook for 45 minutes.
Stir in carrots, potatoes, celery. If liquid looks low (barely covering ingredients), add up to ½ cup of water.
Cover and simmer gently for another 1 hour, until beef is fork-tender and vegetables are soft but not falling apart. Fish out the bay leaves.
Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. I always do this at the very end—veggies soak up a lot of salt while they cook.
Scatter with fresh parsley and serve. If you let the stew rest 10 minutes before eating, the flavors meld and the texture thickens a bit.

Notes

I make this beef stew almost every winter when the weather turns and nobody wants to eat salad. It’s the recipe I reach for because the potatoes turn creamy, not mushy, and the beef honestly tastes better on day two (if there are leftovers).

Tips for better beef stew

Dry the beef before browning. If you skip this, the meat steams and never gets that deep, browned flavor. I also split the browning into two batches — yes, it’s an extra five minutes, but it matters.

For even thicker broth, leave the lid off for the last 20 minutes. The liquid naturally reduces — no need to add flour or cornstarch (which can dull the flavor, in my experience).

My own shortcut: If you want richer flavor but don’t want to buy a whole bottle of wine, just add an extra tablespoon of tomato paste and a dash of Worcestershire. The stew won’t taste exactly the same, but it’s still deeply savory.

Substitutions and variations

You can swap in sweet potatoes for regular potatoes — just cut them larger, and check after 40 minutes so they don’t fall apart. I don’t recommend skipping the carrots or celery because they help build the classic flavor. If you want to use chicken instead of beef, it’ll cook much faster but won’t give that same savory body to the broth.

Storage and meal prep

This keeps for up to four days in the fridge. The fat solidifies on top and is easy to remove when cold — actually, I think the stew tastes even better the next day! Reheat gently so the potatoes and carrots stay intact.