This easy beef stew recipe is made on the stove top in a large pot and turns out so rich and flavorful with tender meat. Enjoy it with buttered bread for an amazing meal!
Hot take, but I truly believe every household needs a classic beef stew recipe to lean on in times of need.
Whether someone in the home is extra hungry and needs something filling and satisfying, it’s snowing, rainy, or otherwise stay inside weather, or you’re meal prepping for weekday meals, beef stew is always an excellent option.
I make a hearty beef stew no less than 4 times during the fall and winter months, and often even more.
Tender beef, squishy potatoes, and rich broth that I can dip buttered toast in? Sign me up early and often!
The main ingredients for beef stew are beef stew meat (or beef chuck roast cut into 1-inch cubes), beef broth, dried herbs, fresh vegetables, and potatoes. This combination of ingredients yields a thick and hearty stew that is so flavorful and cozy for the belly.
If you prefer cooking in your slow cooker, make my Crock Pot Beef Stew recipe! For an electric pressure cooker option, make my Instant Pot Beef Stew.
Want to make it fancy? Make my Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon.
Let’s chat about beef stew ingredients in detail as each one is important to the recipe.
Beef Stew Ingredients:
Avocado Oil: Used to sauté the onion and brown the beef, we need a quality cooking oil. I use avocado oil because it has a high smoke point, ideal for cooking at high temperatures. Olive oil works too.
Beef Stew Meat: The main ingredient in beef stew. I buy beef stew meat from the meat section of the grocery store, because it comes pre-chopped which saves time. You can also chop a chuck roast or boneless short ribs into chunks if you prefer other cuts of beef.
Yellow Onion and Fresh Garlic: Fresh onion and garlic bring robust flavor to this easy beef stew recipe. Adjust the amount to your desired taste.
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: For thick beef stew, we need to add a thickening agent like flour. I use gluten-free all-purpose flour but regular all-purpose flour works too. Corn starch or tapioca flour are also great options.
Fresh Vegetables: Carrots, Celery, Yukon Potatoes: Hearty vegetables like carrots, potatoes and celery bring a nuanced flavor, texture, and carbohydrates for a filling, balanced meal. I use baby potatoes because they are easy to chop in half, but regular potatoes work great too.
Beef Broth: The liquid in our beef stew. I like using beef bone broth for some added health benefits but regular beef stock works as well.
Seasonings: Dried Oregano, Parsley, Bay Leaf, Sea Salt, and Black Pepper: The simple seasonings for our stove top beef stew recipe.
Looking for ways you can customize this filling meal? Here are some options.
Recipe Adaptations:
- If you love cooking with red wine, use 3 cups of beef broth and 1 cup of wine. I recommend a dry red wine such as cabernet sauvignon.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of tomato paste for a little acidic flavor.
- Mix in 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, or soy sauce for some rich umami flavor.
- If you don’t have bay leaves on hand, skip the bay leaf.
- Add in fresh herbs such as fresh thyme, parsley, or rosemary if you’d like.
- Swap the dried oregano and parsley for Italian seasoning if it’s what you have on hand.
- Use red potatoes or russet potatoes instead of gold potatoes.
- If slow cooking is your preferred method, prepare this homemade beef stew recipe in your crock pot.
- Skip the potatoes in the stew and serve it with mashed potatoes. I recommend my Caramelized Onion Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan.
- Add 2 cups of chopped baby bella mushrooms if you’re a fan of mushrooms.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients for beef stew, let’s make it on the stove top!
How to Make Beef Stew:
Heat the avocado oil in a large thick-bottomed pot (I use a large Dutch oven) over medium-high heat.
Add the chopped onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. If at any point the onion begins to turn too brown, decrease the stove top to medium heat.
Scoot the onion off to the side and add in the beef stew meat. Brown the beef for a few minutes. Scrape the any browned bits off the on the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
Stir in the all-purpose flour until it appears to have been absorbed into the meat.
Add in the vegetables (chopped potatoes, carrots, and celery), beef broth, dried oregano, parsley, and bay leaf. Cover the pot and bring the stew to a full boil.
Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low heat and cook at a gentle boil for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until potatoes and beef are fork tender.
Note: you can cook at a gentle simmer for even longer if you’d like. This may sound like a long period of time, but the long cooking time helps break down the connective tissue so that the beef is so tender and easy to chew. I find a long cooking time makes the best beef stew recipe.
Season the beef stew to taste with sea salt and pepper. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
Serve beef stew in large bowls with crusty bread, and enjoy!
Storage Tips:
Refrigerate the beef stew in the same pot you used to make it, or transfer it to an airtight container. Keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
You can freeze leftover stew double bagged in large zip lock bags for up to 3 months.
The next time you’re craving healthy comfort food, whip up this simple beef stew recipe!
If you’re looking for more soup and stew recipes, also try these reader favorites.
More Soup Recipes:
Dive on into this one-pot meal!
Beef Stew
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion chopped
- 2 to 2.5 lbs beef stew meat
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 large carrots chopped
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 2 cups yukon gold potatoes chopped*
- 32 ounces beef broth
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp sea salt to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil in a large thick-bottomed pot (I use a large Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Scoot the onion off to the side and add in the beef stew meat. Brown the beef for a few minutes. Stir in the all-purpose flour until it appears to have been absorbed into the meat.
- Add in the vegetables (chopped potatoes, carrots, and celery), beef broth, dried oregano, parsley, and bay leaf. Cover the pot and bring the stew to a full boil. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low heat and cook at a gentle boil for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until potatoes and beef are fork tender.
- Season the beef stew to taste with sea salt and pepper. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
- Serve beef stew in large bowls with crusty bread, and enjoy!
Nutrition
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Truly remarkable! The beef turns out so tender! Even better than the slow cooker version I’ve been making all these years. This is how I’ll be making beef stew moving forward. Thank you!
I felt the same way, actually! I’ve made beef stew in the crock pot more than on the stove top and now I’m definitely switching methods. I really feel the meat turns out better!
This seems very much like the Beef Stew my Mom used to make which I loved! After playing outside all day and starving, I’d come in the door and that aroma filled the house. Oh how delectable. I loved dipping the crusty, butter slathered bread into the sauce and also using it to get every last drop when the bowl was empty. When I wanted to make this after I was married she had to think about what she used & in what quantities, it was good but not quite the same as hers. This is really the first Beef Stew recipe I’ve come across that doesn’t add a bunch of other ingredients I don’t normally keep on hand and I like that the tomato paste was just an option rather than a main ingredient. One thing she did add on occasion, when she had them, was frozen baby peas, especially if she was short on potatoes. Thank you for this recipe, I plan on making it tomorrow 😊
Ooh, I love adding peas to stews, too! I’m so happy to hear you like what you see here, Lisa! Your mom’s stew sounds incredible as well! I agree – I never could see the purpose of tomato paste, but I do know some people enjoy it. I leave it as an option, but I don’t add it myself. I hope you love this version as much as your mom’s!