This melt-in-your-mouth Beef Stew is bursting with flavor and texture. Tender beef is simmered to perfection in a roasted garlic red wine beef broth. A medley of root vegetables is cooked with potatoes to create an incredibly hearty dish that is also filling!
I love to serve this recipe with a simple salad like the Kale and Blueberry Salad or simply a side of good bread. To round the meal off I always look for an easy dessert like Streuselkuchen.
The medley of root vegetables makes this stew really special.
I'm such a huge fan of root vegetables. Especially in the fall and winter. They are earthy, rich in texture, and flavor, and often quite inexpensive.
Rutabaga adds a bit of welcome peppery sweetness to the stew.
If you can't find it at your local supermarket, you can make the stew without rutabaga. But if you've never tried it, I highly recommend adding it to the stew.
Ingredients
BEEF - About two pounds of fresh beef chuck.
FLOUR - You'll toss the meat in the flour before searing it.
BUTTER - Use unsalted butter. Using butter will add to the richness of the stew.
VEGETABLES - You have some room to adjust this stew to your own taste and liking. But for my old-fashioned beef stew with root vegetables, I like to use celery, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, and potatoes. Dice the vegetables to a similar size (about ¼ inch pieces).
RED WINE - Most red wines will work - I recommend a dry red wine. Choose a wine that is good enough to drink with the meal rather than using a 'cooking wine'.
Beef stew is special, it's not something we cook every day, so you don't want to skimp on the quality of the wine. I like Pinot Noir. That's what I'll usually use for this stew.
BROTH - I generally use beef broth for this stew, but you can use vegetable broth. If you are not comfortable using wine in your cooking, you can omit it. But you will need to compensate with additional beef broth.
GARLIC - Don't let the amount of garlic we'll use scare you. I promise it's going to be great. Because we're roasting the garlic first, it is less pungent and sweeter than sautéd garlic. And it adds so much to the taste and texture I highly recommend you don't skip this step.
Making roasted garlic is really easy and doesn't take much time. And it adds so much flavor and texture to this dish. Don't skip this step.
It is less pungent and sweeter than sautéed garlic, but it still adds a ton of flavor to this stew. If you are in a rush you can skip this step and add minced garlic to the meat while you're browning it.
SPICES - To round out the flavors you'll need some dried sage, fresh or dried thyme, plus salt and pepper for extra seasoning.
Substitutions and Variations
Stews are very forgiving. If you can't find certain vegetables, you can easily substitute without too many problems.
ONIONS - If you don't like celery, use onions instead. Yellow onions are great for beef stew. I recommend chopping them into larger chunks to match the other ingredients.
WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE and TOMATO PASTE - You might have noticed that for this stew I'm not using either one of these classic stew ingredients.
I think there is already enough flavor in this recipe and they aren't needed. But you like traditional beef stew, by all means, add one of both.
OLIVE OIL - I like the richness that comes from using butter in this recipe. But if you prefer olive oil, substitute to your heart's content.
BAY LEAVES - You'll often find that adding a bay leaf or two is part of recipes. Because this stew gets so much flavor from the roasted garlic and the root vegetables, I've left it out. But there is no harm in adding one or two leaves.
How To Make This Recipe
For detailed instructions please check the recipe card.
Roasting The Garlic
- Add garlic cloves into a small baking dish and top with butter.
- Roast, peel, and remove soft roasted garlic flesh.
Making The Stew
- Cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with flour.
- Melt butter over medium-high heat in a dutch oven and brown the beef on all sides. About 5-7 minutes.
- AdAdd roasted garlic, sage, thyme, beef broth, and wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for one hour until the beef is tender.
- In a small bowl combine of flour and softened butter. Spoon the mixture into the simmering beef stew.
- Stir and continue to simmer until the sauce has thickened.
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Freezing and Storing Beef Stew
Beef Stew is a perfect freezer meal.
Allow the stew to cool completely and divide it into freezer-friendly ziplock bags. I typically will add two servings per bag. This way it's easy for my husband and me to reheat the stew at a later date.
What To Serve With Beef Stew
Because this old-fashioned Beef Stew recipe is made with potatoes and vegetables, you technically don't need to serve anything else on the side.
I do like to make a quick salad such as my Mom's Chopped Tomato Salad or my Oma's German Cucumber Salad.
And of course, bread goes really well with this dish. If you're wondering what bread goes with beef stew here are some ideas:
- Garlic Bread
- Dinner Rolls
- Cornbread Muffins
- French Baguette
How To Thicken Beef Stew
Typically you can add either flour or cornstarch to thicken a stew. For this recipe we use flour. The recipe should already be thick enough because we're flouring the meat before searing and adding more flour and butter in our last step.
More Delicious Comfort Food You'll Love
- Lasagna Rolls
- Easy Cheesy Chicken Parmesan
- Roasted Lemon Chicken
- 3 Cheese Baked Ziti
- Buffalo Chicken Mac 'n Cheese
- Easy Hungarian Goulash
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Did this recipe work out for you? Please let me know by leaving a rating and/or review below. Snap a picture and tag @thecheerfulcook on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook.
Beef Stew
Ingredients
Beef
- 1¼ pound beef chuck boneless, cut into 1-inch cubes
Liquids
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 cup red wine
Vegetables
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
Roasting The Garlic
- Add garlic cloves into a small baking dish. Top with 1 tablespoon of butter. Roast at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.
- Allow the garlic to cool for
5 minutes . Press on the bottom of a clove to push the garlic out of its casing. Set aside.
Prep
- Peel and cut all vegetables. Cut each vegetable into about ¼-½ inch pieces. Set aside.
- Cut the beef chuck into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Dust with 2 tablespoon of flour. Shake off excess flour. Set aside.
Making The Stew
- Melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in a dutch oven and brown the beef-stew on all sides. About 5-7 minutes.
- Add roasted garlic, sage, thyme, and beef broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour until the beef is tender.
- Add chopped vegetables and red wine simmer for another 20-25 minutes.
- In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of softened butter. Mix until it becomes a smooth paste.
- Spoon butter-flour paste into the simmering beef stew. Stir and continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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