This recipe for Classic Homemade Beef Stew is simple to prepare and delicious. A hearty, savory one-pot supper is laden with juicy beef morsels, potatoes, and carrots. This beef stew recipe is comforting food at its finest, cooked in a rich and delicious sauce. This easy beef stew dish may be prepared in an instant pot, a slow cooker, in the oven, or on the stovetop.
We’ll show you how to create this wonderful homemade beef stew in various ways so you may make it as suits you best. Tender meat chunks melt on your lips with soft, comforting potatoes and carrots. This is, without a doubt, the most delicate beef stew recipe you’ll ever have!
How to Make Homemade Beef Stew Recipe?
Let’s discuss how we made this simple beef stew recipe. Preheat the oven to 325° F while you finish the rest of the preparations. Beef Preparation:
Season the meat chunks with salt and pepper on all sides. Dust the seasoned meat with flour and toss it to coat all sides. Warm Skillet: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven.
If you don’t have a dutch oven, use a covered oven-safe skillet/pot. Cook the beef in stages: Brown the meat in batches, 3-4 minutes each batch, on all sides. At this point, you don’t have to worry about the steak is fully cooked. Put the browned beef on a platter and set it aside.
Add the onions, garlic, and carrots to the Dutch oven and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring periodically, or until slightly browned. Scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the saucepan with a wooden spoon before adding the potatoes, beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce.
Toss everything together and let it cook: Return the beef to the pot and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. In the Oven: Transfer the Dutch oven (pot) to the preheated oven, covered. Cook the stew for two to two and a half hours or until the beef is exceptionally soft. Remove the bay leaf from the dish.
Taste the stew and season with more salt and pepper before serving. Warm the dish before serving. Note: To continue cooking this beef stew on the stovetop, cover the pot and cook over medium to low heat for 60-90 minutes. Check with a fork to see if the beef is tender and if the sauce starts to dry up, add extra stock or water.
Ingredients:
- 2 pound chuck roast, sliced into 2-inch slices, fat removed
- 1 tsp. salt (kosher)
- ½ tsp. black pepper, coarsely ground
- 2 tbsp. Gluten-free All-Purpose Flour (gluten-free) or Whole Wheat Flour (gluten-free)
- 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½ Yellow Onion, Chopped
- Four minced garlic cloves
- One large carrot, sliced into 2-inch chunks, or two small-medium carrots, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 2 Yukon Gold Potatoes (diced into 2-inch chunks)
- 2 CUPS BROWN BEEF
- Tomato Paste ¼
- One tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
- One bag of bay leaves
- Two teaspoons of fresh thyme leave to serve as a garnish
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Season the meat chunks with salt and pepper on all sides. Dust the seasoned meat with flour and toss it to coat all sides.
- In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Brown the meat in batches, 3-4 minutes each batch, on all sides. At this point, you don’t have to worry about the steak is fully cooked. Put the browned beef on a platter and set it aside.
- Cook, turning periodically, for 2-3 minutes, or until the onions, garlic, and carrots are slightly caramelized in the Dutch oven.
- Scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the saucepan with a wooden spoon before adding the potatoes, beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Return the beef to the pot and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Transfer the Dutch oven to the preheated oven, covered.
- Cook the stew for two to two and a half hours or until the beef is exceptionally soft. Remove the bay leaf from the dish. If required, season the stew with additional salt and pepper. Warm the dish before serving.
What Can I Do to Improve the Flavor of Beef Stew?
For extra savory (or umami) taste, add soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of honey or brown sugar, lemon zest or vinegar for brightness, chili powder, or smoky paprika for heat and depth. Vinegar or other acidic (e.g., tomatoes but not canned) or sour (e.g., served with sour cream) overtones may help with the blandness and metallic concerns. Option 1: simmer for a little longer, season again, and serve over rice/pasta/etc.
Option 2: re-season and texture using roasted vegetables and frozen peas or corn. It could be too thin or thick; the meat could be dry and stringy or gray and flavorless, and the vegetables too mushy or undercooked. It’s a delicate balancing act, but you should be able to master this classic cold-weather dish.
Is it Necessary to Boil Potatoes Before Using them in a Stew?
Your onions will be fine, but mushy potatoes and carrots should be avoided. Instead, add them 20 minutes before the conclusion of the cooking time. The stew is finished when they’re tender. Putting the center of the potato in the boiling water helps it cook evenly while leaving the skin on keeps the chunks from dissolving in the water and leaving you with a starchy mess. Add the potatoes to the stew pot for around 20 to 30 minutes before you want to serve them.
It’s worth noting that the larger the potato chunks are, the longer they’ll take to cook. Check for doneness by stirring the potatoes. If the potatoes are soft but not entirely done, cook them a little longer. If you don’t have time to wait, poke a few holes in the potatoes with a fork and microwave them for 2-4 minutes.
Is it Necessary to Brown the Stew Meat First?
Most beef stew recipes begin by cubing the meat and browning it in a large pot. Browning the meat and veggies create flavor through the Millard reaction, spreading throughout the pot as the meat and vegetables slowly braise in liquid. Browning the meat before slow cooking a recipe that asks for ground beef, such as chili, beef stew, or meat sauce, makes a tremendous impact.
Before adding ground meat to the slow cooker with the other ingredients, it should always be browned in a skillet and drained. Also, don’t stop lightly browning the cubes while browning. To make a wonderful beef stew, you must first sear the meat, and this is when the stew’s deep, rich taste begins to emerge.
Why are Onions Commonly Used in Stews?
The onion is a fantastic technique to add moisture without using any liquid. It has a distinct sweetness that caramelizes beautifully. It also makes the palate water, which activates a chemical breakdown and, as a result, taste receptor activity. Depending on how onions are sautéed, they can offer caramel flavors (from the sugars in the onions) and Millard reaction compounds.
As a result, onions can provide a variety of “umami” aromas for soup that would otherwise need roasting animal bones and other tissue (e.g., brown veal stock). Cooked onions add a rich umami taste and a subtle sweetness to foods; you don’t often notice them once the dish has been seasoned and sauced, but you’d notice them if they weren’t there. Garlic is also vital to these foundation flavors, and because it and onions are so similar, we’ll discuss them together.
Conclusion
how long does beef stew in an instant pot take to cook? It takes around 30-35 minutes on high for the stew to cook through and become soft after you’ve sautéed the veggies and browned the beef, ready to close the cover of the instant pot. Beef stew cooking instructions beef stew can be prepared in various ways. It is up to you to decide which strategy is best for you. Cook on the stovetop, in the oven, in a crockpot, slow
cooker, or pressure cooker. We’ve gone over each process in detail to show you how to make beef stew. What beef cut is stew meat? Chuck is the most common meat cut used in stews. Roasts such as bottom round, round tip, top round, and pot roast can also be used. Oxtail, bohemian, and cross-cut shanks are some other options to consider.
