This classic beef stew is the ultimate hearty and satisfying meal! It’s a cold-weather, one-pot wonder with chunks of beef chuck roast that are seared until golden, then simmered with vegetables and herbs in a rich and savory broth that’s complex in flavor but really simple to make. The whole family will love it!
Stews are good for the soul — and this traditional beef stew recipe from my childhood is no exception. It’s like another version of my Dad’s favorite Irish lamb stew, but with delicious elements of pot roast. Think melt-in-your-mouth beef chunks, tender root vegetables, and a red wine, tomato-y broth that continues to build flavor as it simmers.
It’s a meal I always requested when I was younger, and to this day, it delights me every time I make it in my kitchen. Plus, my house gets filled with a savory aroma that comforts me as I eat it by the spoonfuls! This beef stew is really everything you want in a fall and winter stew recipe and it’s one you can prep on a Sunday to enjoy throughout the week. You can even freeze a batch or two to last you all winter long!
Beef Stew Ingredients
- Beef Stew Meat: Stew meat is typically beef chuck roast, which is a tender, marbled portion of the upper shoulder and lower neck. This means you’ll have a good amount of fat to keep the beef chunks juicy and tender as they cook in the pot.
- Vegetables: This traditional beef stew has all the classics such as yellow onion, white potatoes, carrots, and celery.
- Flour: A little bit of flour is added to thicken the broth. I’m using arrowroot powder today, but you could use cornstarch or another flour of your choice.
- Dry Red Wine: To give this stew a bold and rustic flavor, grab a bottle of cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir. But there’s no need to buy an expensive wine, just one you typically like to drink since there will be leftovers!
- Beef Broth: Use any low-sodium beef broth brand that you like. I’ve linked the one I always buy in the recipe card below.
- Red Wine Vinegar and Tomato Paste: Essential ingredients to give the broth depth of flavor. Plus, the tomato paste helps to thicken the sauce a smidge.
- Aromatics: Fresh garlic, dried thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper are all you need! In a pinch you could use garlic powder, but I do prefer fresh garlic in this recipe.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How To Shop For Beef Stew Meat
You’ve got two options here. One, you can buy packaged beef stew meat that’s already been diced into cubes or head to the butcher section to get fresh-cut pieces (which is what I typically like to do!). Second, you can buy a slab of chuck roast and slice it into cubes yourself. This may seem a bit more tedious, but you can also pick and choose meat that’s marbled to your liking.
How To Make Beef Stew
Season the beef. Pat the beef chunks dry with paper towels, then season with a good amount of salt and pepper.
Sear the beef. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, place the beef in the pot and sear on all sides until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side, then remove to a plate.
Saute the onion. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and pour in the vinegar (which will help to loosen browned bits from the bottom of the pot) and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onion is softened. Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute more.
Return the beef to the pot. Add the seared beef back to the pot and sprinkle the flour on top. Stir everything together, until the flour is fully dissolved.
Add the liquids and aromatics. Add the wine, broth, thyme, and bay leaf. Use a large spoon or spatula to stir everything together. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 1 hour.
Add the veggies. Add the potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cook for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork-tender. Remove the bay leaves, and if you’d like, garnish with fresh thyme before serving.
Common Questions
My biggest tip is to brown your meat very well before adding the rest of the ingredients (which is how I show you in the recipe below). Getting a good, golden sear on the meat give it lots of flavor that will seep into the broth as it cooks. It also creates “fond” on the bottom of the pan, which infuses even more flavor into the broth. Additionally, red wine is a huge factor when it comes to that richness. Most of the alcohol burns off, but the depth of flavor remains.
Choosing a chuck roast with a good amount of marbling will naturally give the meat a tender texture. But make sure to slice across the grain if you’re not buying pre-sliced chunks. Other than that, if you simmer the stew meat for an hour and a half or so, it should naturally become fall-apart tender.
If you want to switch things up, you can swap the potatoes with turnips or parsnips (they’re a bit lower carb). Many root vegetables work in this recipe, so have fun with it. Just remember to swap any vegetables with a similar hearty texture so they don’t get overly mushy in the stew.
Yes, you sure can! First, sear the meat in a skillet. Once that’s done, add the cooked meat and vegetables into the slow cooker, and pour all the broth and aromatic ingredients on top (minus the flour). Let this cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Lastly, mix the flour with some water and mix it into the slow cooker until the sauce thickens up a bit.
Storage Tips
- To store for the week: Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. Keep in mind it might thicken up as it sits in your fridge. Just add a bit more water to thin it down, if needed, when reheating.
- Freeze for later: It feels like such a treat finding containers of this in my freezer —especially on a chilly day! You can store leftovers of this recipe in airtight containers in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Soups and Stews
With the weather cooling down, these soup recipes are everything you want to cozy up with! Here are some of my favorite comforting meals to get you started.
- Split Pea Soup: The best way to use your leftover ham from the holidays!
- Best Ever Chili: This beefy chili is just what you need for a cozy and hearty meal.
- Stuffed Pepper Soup: If you love stuffed peppers, this delicious soup is a no-brainer.
- Zuppa Toscana Soup: The best Olive Garden copycat!
- Apple Cider Beef Stew: This exclusive recipe can be found in my Healthy Meal Prep cookbook!
I hope you enjoy this beef stew as the ultimate comfort food throughout fall and winter! If you make it, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your review will help other readers!
Description
Video
Equipment
- Le Creuset Dutch Oven My favorite pot for stew season!
- CO2 Wine Bottle Opener If you watch the video below, you'll see me use this.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into chunks
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder, cornstarch or other flour
- 1 cup red wine
- 4 cups low-sodium beef broth
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pound baby white potatoes, halved or quartered
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced on a diagonal
- 3 celery ribs, chopped
- Optional: fresh thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Season the beef. Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
- Sear the beef. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, place the beef in the pot and sear on all sides until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side, then remove to a plate.
- Saute the onion. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and pour in the vinegar (which will help to loosen browned bits from the bottom of the pot) and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onion is softened. Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute more.
- Return the beef to the pot. Add the seared beef back to the pot and sprinkle the flour on top. Stir everything together, until the flour is fully dissolved.
- Add the liquids and aromatics. Add the wine, broth, thyme, and bay leaf. Use a large spoon or spatula to stir everything together. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 1 hour.
- Add the veggies. Add the potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cook for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork-tender.
- Serve. Remove the bay leaves, and if you'd like, garnish with fresh thyme before serving.
Lisa’s Tips
- Don’t crowd the pot when searing the meat. You want it turn get a really good golden crust before flipping. More seared “gunk” on the bottom of the pot turns into more flavor in the broth!
- If you’d like to omit the alcohol, you can replace the red wine with more beef broth.
- Many recipes will have you add 1/4 cup of flour, but when you’re finished, the liquid will resemble more of a thick gravy (and you’re often told to thin it back down with more liquid). I find that 2 tablespoons of flour is perfect, as the starch from the potatoes will also naturally thicken the broth while boiling. But if you’d like it thicker, just stir together some broth from the pot in a small bowl with 1 to 2 tablespoons flour, then add it back to the stew.
- The flavor of beef stew intensifies as it sits, making it a wonderful recipe for meal prep!
Nutrition
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Hello! I am going to try this recipe today! I am just wondering about the arrowroot flower, for some reason when I have used it to thicken in the past it becomes slimey. It’s the only flour I can use! If you have a tip for me that would be much appreciated!
Hi Sammy – unfortunately, that is a drawback of arrowroot flour. My tips would be to create a slurry and add it only after the pot has been removed from the heat. Heat can sometimes increase that sliminess. Hope that helps!
I’ve often made this almost identical recipe, but in the oven rather than on the stove top. Low and slow (no higher than 225 degrees for at least 10 hours. To to tell the truth, I was very skeptical of the short cooking time on the stovetop, but I decided to try it. I bought a good-sized, well marbled beef chuck roast for pot roasts and stews, cut it into chunks myself, and followed your recipe instructions to the letter. I’m sorry to tell you that what resulted had to be thrown out. After five hours on an electric range set to a low temperature, the beef chunks were like rubber and far from being soft and flake-apart tender like they get in the oven for 10 hours. And after those five hours on the stove top, the vegetables (carrots and potatoes) had turned to mush. It was an unappetizing, unpalatable mess, and one that nearly ruined the Dutch oven I used to make it in by sticking so bad to the bottom, I had to scrub it with steel wool pads. I love stew, but this put me so off of it, I won’t be making it again for a long time, and when I do, it will be back in the oven, like I’ve always made it before, and it comes out perfect. So, maybe you can tell me what I did wrong.
Hi Jerry – The only thing I can think of is that your electric range didn’t heat the pot to the correct temperature. The most you should have had to cook the beef would have been 1 hour 30 minutes, for it to be incredibly tender. After 5 hours, yes, I can imagine all of the vegetables were mush. I’ve made this recipe numerous times myself, so I can assure you that it works. You can also reference the hundreds of positive reviews from others on this recipe. I hope you enjoy some of my other recipe more!
Great simple stew! Made read to go with it. Will be making again
Denise
Yay! I’m so glad you loved this beef stew, Denise!
Wonderful taste with wine and fresh veggies
Glad you loved this beef stew, Stephanie!
This was my first time EVER making beef stew, and the flavor was amazing. There are some things I will do differently next time, but they were my errors (I cut the potatoes and carrots too small), but I will definitely be using this recipe again – thank you!
Hi Lori – Congrats on making your first ever beef stew, yay! Cutting the veggies a bit bigger next time is a very small tweak, but it sounds like you nailed this recipe. Well done!
I’ve made a lot of beef stew in my day and this one is absolutely the best. I did add a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes because my dad requested it.
I’m so glad you’re loving this version, Paige!
This is a fantastic recipe for beef stew, so thanks. I’ve made many over the years, and generally just wing it by browning the beef, add flour for a roux, add beef broth, veggies, etc. The tomato paste is the key here. It makes a huge difference and doesn’t turn it into an “Italian” beef stew at all. It’s just extra umami. Don’t be afraid to add more since the beef flavor still shines through.
Glad you’re loving this beef stew recipe, Patrick!
Made a few beef stews in my time, from different authors. This has been one of the best. Second time making added some dijon mustard to the cooking, great variation to the taste. With or without the mustard still great.
I’m happy to hear you loved it, Derek!
I made this Beef Stew this week and it was amazing. My husband said it was the best stew he’s ever had! Thank you for this wonderful recipe, it will rotate in our regular meal plan. I have made a lot of your meals since I found your website and all have been great!
Thrilled to hear this beef stew will be in regular rotation! Enjoy, Kathy.
I made this tonight and it is hands down the best beef stew I’ve ever made. My husband and I enjoyed it with a big hunk of sourdough bread, which was perfect for dunking. I considered skipping the wine, but so glad I didn’t; it made the broth/gravy that much richer. I had some Umami seasoning so added a dash of it, and right before serving I added about 1 tablespoon of fig balsamic vinegar. I would have used it in lieu of the red wine vinegar earlier in the recipe, but am glad I didn’t. The balsamic vinegar used in the amount called for would have been too overpowering. This recipe is a keeper! The way in which Lisa presents and demonstrates her recipes makes mis en place super easy and preparation a breeze. Downshiftology is quickly becoming my go-to online site for recipes. I know I’ll never be disappointed with one of Lisa’s recipes!
Hi Cyd – Thanks so much for leaving a review and thrilled to hear you loved this beef stew recipe so much!
This beef stew recipe is the best I’ve ever used. Absolutely delicious!
I’m so glad you loved this beef stew recipe, Morgan!
Can pork be used instead of beef please?
How is it that every time I try one of your recipes it turns into MY FAVORITE??? Your chili, split pea soup, creamy chipotle shrimp, pickled ginger and many, many more and now this BEEF STEW! And don’t get me started on the gluten-free carrot cake!!! I’m not a gluten-free person but your recipe is loved by all of my family and friends!
Aw yay! I’m so glad you’re enjoying so many recipes, Pamski.
Love this recipe. All fresh food and easy to put together. I have made other beef stews but this is by far the best.
Glad you found a new favorite beef stew recipe, Sandi!
This beef stew is a new family favorite! I love all of the Downshiftology content. Thank you Lisa!
Yay! Glad the whole family loved this beef stew, Terri!
Loved it – everybody loved it 🥰
Happy to hear everyone loved this beef stew, Eileen!
I made the beef stew recipe for the first time ever doing homemade stew. Oh my goodness! It is so absolutely delicious. The meat is so tender and all ingredients blend together into a tasty hardy meal. I’m so glad I tried it. Next up is the Irish Lamb stew. Thank you Lisa!
I’m so glad you loved this one, Jackyln! Can’t wait for you to try the lamb stew next.
I’ve made a lot of beef stew recipes over the years, and this one from Downshiftology really stands out. The flavor is rich and balanced, and the method is straightforward without cutting corners. The meat came out tender, and the broth had great depth without being overly heavy. It tasted like something that had simmered all day, even though the steps were simple to follow. This is a recipe I’ll definitely keep in regular rotation.
Thrilled to hear you loved this beef stew recipe, Gino!
Grammatical error: as they cook
Beef Stew Meat: Stew meat is typically beef chuck roast, which is a tender, marbled portion of the upper shoulder and lower neck. This means you’ll have a good amount of fat to keep the beef chunks juicy and tender as they cooks in the pot.
Thank you for wonderful recipes!
Thanks for the catch, Sandra! I just fixed that. :) I’m glad you’re enjoying all of my recipes!
This is the best beef stew ever!! I’ve made it multiple times and it never lasts long; my family eats it up! I doubled the recipe this most recent time and it tastes just as wonderful. I add fresh green beans also for added color The broth is so delicious and rich. I will make this recipe often! Thank you Lisa for sharing your recipes
Happy to hear you’re loving this beef stew recipe, Susan!
This is the most delicious recipe. I did add mushrooms. My go to stew recipe forever!
Love the addition of mushrooms, Barby!
It looks like in the video you add 2 cups of red wine. But the recipe calls for 1 cup.
I’m making this for the first and can’t wait to eat it.
Hi Sue – to clarify, there’s just one cup of red wine added. Enjoy!