Beef Stew

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, filling dish!

I love serving this recipe with a simple salad like the Kale and Blueberry Salad or a side of good bread. I always look for an easy dessert like Streuselkuchen to round the meal off.

The medley of root vegetables makes this stew 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 inexpensive.

Rutabaga adds a bit of welcome peppery sweetness to the stew.

You can make the stew without rutabaga if you can’t find it at your local supermarket. But if you’ve never tried it, I recommend adding it to the stew.

Ingredient Notes

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 good enough wine to drink with the meal rather than 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 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 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 them without 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 I’m not using either of these classic stew ingredients.
I think there is already enough flavor in this recipe, and they aren’t needed. But if you like traditional beef stew, by all means, add one of both.

OLIVE OIL – I like the richness of 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.

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How To Make This Beef Stew Recipe

For detailed instructions, please check the recipe card.

1. ROAST GARLIC – Add garlic cloves into a small baking dish and top with butter. Roast, peel, and remove soft roasted garlic flesh. Set aside.
2. MEAT – Cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with flour. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the beef on all sides. About 5-7 minutes.
3. VEGGIES AND SPICES – Add 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.
4. THICKEN – In a small bowl, combine flour and softened butter. Spoon the mixture into the simmering beef stew. Stir and continue to simmer until the sauce has thickened.

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.

Serving Suggestions For 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 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 well with this dish. If you’re wondering what bread goes with beef stew, here are some ideas:

• Garlic Bread
• Dinner Rolls
• Buttery Cornbread
• French Baguette