Best Beef Stew
The Best Beef Stew Recipe: Hearty delicious stew to enjoy during the colder months. Make in the crockpot, instant pot, or on the stovetop!
Why We Love Beef Stew
On a cool crisp evening, nothing beats a hearty bowl of beef stew. It has the ability to satiate our bodies and comfort our minds.
Most people would say they’ve had a really good beef stew with mushrooms and wine, at some point in their lives.
Yet have you tried The Best Beef Stew Recipe?
Growing up, beef stew was a weekly staple in our family. My mom made it hundreds of times throughout my childhood.
You can’t make something so often without perfecting it. You just can’t.
Over the years, I’ve tasted many beef stew recipes outside of my home, but nobody’s stew comes close to my mom’s. She is a beef stew expert.
Am I partial? Probably.
Yet mom’s Easy Beef Stew Recipe is something to experience. It’s perfectly chunky, yet with tender pieces of beef and a silky base. It offers bold beefy flavor, yet with tons of herby essence, and a touch of sweetness from the carrots.
Mom’s Beef Mushroom Stew is everything a great stew should be. You should try it!
Ingredients For The Best Beef Stew Recipe
In a beef stew this delicious, using high-quality ingredients is important. But you can go for a cheaper cut of beef since it will be cooked low and slow until tender perfection!
- Thick-Cut Bacon – Instead of oil or butter to sauté the veggies, add fat with luxurious porky essence!
- Beef Chuck Roast – Chuck roast offers just the right amount of fat marbling, so the beef cooks down slowly into tender morsels.
- Onion – The background of all great dishes!
- Celery – Another essential for slow-cooked perfection.
- Garlic – A must.
- Carrots – Provides sweetness and balance.
- Mushrooms – Paired with beef, mushrooms create a rich earthy flavor.
- Stewed Tomatoes – For balance and color. Make sure to break the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon, or crush them in your hands before adding them to the pot.
- Italian Seasoning – Dried herbs are perfect for slow cooker beef stew and soups. The long simmer time brings out their flavors.
- Beef Broth – You can also use beef bouillon or mushroom broth.
- Red Wine – Adding a splash of red wine gives the stew that little extra something. It’s not necessary, but does make a difference in overall flavor. Use either cooking wine or regular wine.
- Russet Potatoes – For chunky goodness and thickening. You can also use yukon gold potatoes if you have those on hand.
- Parsley – Add a sprinkling of fresh parsley at the end to brighten up the deep flavor.
How To Make Beef Stew On The Stove
You can make our Best Beef Stew Recipe on the stovetop, in the crock pot, or in the instant pot. I’ll show you how below.
- Chop all ingredients. Except for the potatoes… Save those for later.
- Brown the bacon. Bacon makes everything better, right? It even adds an extra layer of flavor to stew. Let it brown before adding the vegetables.
- Sauté the vegetables. Add the onions, celery, and garlic to the stock pot or dutch oven. This softens the vegetables and allows them to release their flavor into the stew.
- Brown the beef. Push the vegetables to the side and add the raw beef. Cooking the beef a little upfront, locks in the juices so the beef retains its essence while simmering. Make sure each piece of beef has a nice sear!
- Add more veggies, herbs, and broth. Add the carrots, mushrooms, canned tomatoes with juices, Italian seasoning, beef broth, red wine, salt and pepper. Now it’s time to simmer the soup. Keep the pot covered, so the beef can tenderize.
- Now the potatoes. If you add the potatoes to the stew right away, they tend to cook down to mush by the time the beef is soft and tender. I like to give the beef a head-start and add the potatoes about 30 minutes into the cooking time That way, they are soft and still thicken the stew base, without fully disappearing.
- Cover and simmer. Simmer another hour or so, until the beef chunks are ultra tender. There’s nothing worse than tough beef in a stew.
Crock Pot Beef Stew
Make set-and-forget Slow Cooker Beef Stew in the morning. Then come home to a perfect dinner later in the day!
- Use a multi-cooker to sauté the vegetables and brown the meat right in the crock. Then add the remaining ingredients and set to slow cook.
- If you don’t have a multi-cooker, start the recipe in a large skillet on the stovetop, then transfer the meat and veggies to a slow cooker and add the remaining ingredients.
- Yes, it’s important to soften the vegetables and brown the meat before you slow cook. The beef stew won’t taste quite the same if you skip this step!
- Slow cook on low for at least 8 hours, or on high for at least 4 hours.
Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe
Absolutely, you can make this recipe in an instant pot! However, you cannot make this easy beef stew recipe exactly as-is, because the recipe is too large.
- To make the Best Beef Stew Recipe in a pressure cooker, reduce the entire recipe by half. (Use our Servings Slider in the recipe below to adjust the ingredient measurements.)
- Sauté the bacon, onions, celery, and garlic in the Instant Pot for 5 minutes.
- Then add all ingredients and set on Pressure Cook High for 20 minutes.
- Perform a Quick Release. Then once the button drops, it’s safe to open the lid.
See The Recipe Card Below For How To Make The Best Beef Stew Recipe. Enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Bacon lovers, you can add in a few more strips if you like. Just don’t over do it, or the stew base will be greasy.
- Yes, you can omit any vegetable. Just remember, they are all included for a reason, so swapping out veggies will alter the overall flavor a bit. Or add more, like maybe some frozen peas or chopped kale!
- Whining over the wine? Non-drinkers, you can omit the wine if you don’t want extra wine going to waste. (You can also buy mini bottles.)
- When in a hurry, buy pre-cut stew meat (which is usually chuck roast), pre-cut vegetables from the produce department, and jarred minced garlic.
- Not a beef eater? Use this as a base recipe to create pork stew, lamb stew, or chicken stew using chicken broth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Beef stew will last for 7 days when it is stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove until reheated!
Absolutely! This classic beef stew recipe is a great freezer recipe. Store cooled leftovers in an airtight freezer container and freeze for up to 9 months. Thaw completely at room temperature before reheating on the stovetop.
The secret to good stew is adding umami-rich ingredients and allowing the stew to simmer long enough to create super tender beef chunks. The umami-rich ingredients in this recipe are the mushrooms, beef, and beef broth. These savory flavors are balanced by the tangy tomatoes and the rich red wine. Don’t rush it- if the beef isn’t as tender as you want it, let it keep simmering until it is!
If your stew isn’t as thick as you want it to be, you can add a cornstarch slurry. Simply mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water and whisk well. Then pour that into the stew, stir, and simmer. You can add more after that if it still isn’t as thick as you want it!
Beef stew is a wholesome meal that can be served on its own, or you can serve it alongside fresh garlic bread, dinner rolls, biscuits, or some fresh crusty bread!
Looking for More Amazing Soups and Stews? Be Sure to Try:
- Perfect Beef Barley Soup
- Tuscan-Style Beef Cassoulet
- Seafood Cioppino Recipe
- Philly Cheese Steak Soup
- Mesir Wat Lentil Stew with Ayib
Best Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 strips thick-cut bacon, chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
- 1 1/2 pounds button mushrooms, quartered
- 28 ounces stewed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 8 cups beef broth
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 3 cups russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Chop all the meat and produce, except the potatoes. Set a large soup pot over medium heat. Then add the chopped bacon and brown it.
- Once the bacon is cooked add the chopped onions, celery, and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes to soften. Then push the vegetables to the sides of the pot and add in the beef chunks. Stir and brown for another 5-10 minutes.
- Next add in the carrots, mushrooms, stewed tomatoes with juices, Italian seasoning, beef broth, red wine, 2 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Stir, and break the tomatoes up a little with a wooden spoon. Then cover and bring to a boil.
- Let the beef stew simmer for about 30 minutes. Then peel and chop the potatoes and stir them into the pot.
- Cover and allow the stew to continue simmering on medium to medium-low for another 60-90 minutes, until the beef is very tender. Stir occasionally. When ready to serve, stir in the chopped parsley. Then taste, and salt and pepper if needed.
Video
Notes
- Start on the stovetop to brown the bacon, sauté the vegetables, and brown the beef as seen above.
- Then transfer it to a large slow cooker, and add all remaining ingredients, except the parsley.
- Cover, and slow cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours. Stir in the parsley when ready to serve.
- Reduce the entire recipe by half. (Use our Servings Slider in the recipe above to adjust the ingredient measurements.)
- Sauté the bacon, onions, celery, and garlic in the Instant Pot for 5 minutes.
- Then add all ingredients and set on Pressure Cook High for 20 minutes.
- Perform a Quick Release. Once the button drops, it’s safe to open the lid.
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This beef stew is a new go-to! I didn’t realize it was so easy to make until I tried this recipe and it’s the best we’ve ever had!
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Hi can anyone tell me if I cook 4 1/2 lbs of meat should I triple the ingredients? I’ve never cooked that much soup or stew before
Hi Heidi,
Whoa, that’s a lot of meat for beef stew! LOL! Yes, you can triple the recipe. You may need three large pots to do it though. Or you can portion out the beef you need for 1-2 recipes and freeze the rest.
Perfection!!!!!
Wonderful recipe!
This is so delicious… Very very tasty.
Just as easy as the recipe indicated. Delicious! This will be a staple in our home from now on!
Great and simple recipe, I made only one adjustment – I did not use as much broth. I felt there were plenty of liquids with the stew tomatoes, used about 4 Cups of broth instead of the 8 Cups. Stew came out great and the family loved it! It will be a keeper.
I tried to make this and it came out like soup. I even used less broth than called for. What did I do wrong???? I really wanted this one to turn out 🙁
Hi Jennifer,
Sorry about that! My guess is that the temperature was a bit too low, or you needed to cook it a little longer to break down the potatoes and thicken the broth.
Came back to grab this recipe, it’s one of my absolute favorites! Pure comfort food.
This quickly became a favorite at my house!
Perfection!!!!! unfortunately had no beef base but made it anyway! Cant wait to make it again!!!
I love a good beef stew! This recipe is perfect for fall!
NOTHING beats stew in the fall! thanks for sharing this recipe!
This is one of our go-to recipes! Such a delicious, flavorful meal!