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Old-Fashioned Beef Stew
Updated Feb. 29, 2024
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- Total Time
- 2 hours 45 minutes
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ¼cup all-purpose flour
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1pound beef stewing meat, trimmed and cut into inch cubes
- 5teaspoons vegetable oil
- 2tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1cup red wine
- 3½cups beef broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
- 2bay leaves
- 1medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 5medium carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch rounds
- 2large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾-inch cubes
- 2teaspoons salt
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the flour and pepper in a bowl, add the beef and toss to coat well. Heat 3 teaspoons of the oil in a large pot. Add the beef a few pieces at a time; do not overcrowd. Cook, turning the pieces until beef is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch; add more oil as needed between batches.
- Step 2
Remove the beef from the pot and add the vinegar and wine. Cook over medium-high heat, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Add the beef, beef broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer.
- Step 3
Cover and cook, skimming broth from time to time, until the beef is tender, about 1½ hours. Add the onions and carrots and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes more. Add broth or water if the stew is dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle among 4 bowls and serve.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I like to use the paper bag method for dusting meat.
Put flour and seasonings and meat, chicken, etc in paper bag, fold closed and shake. One less utensil to clean and even coating.
Tablespoon of herbs de Provence and 2 Tablespoons tomato paste will give it some flavor.
After browning the beef sauté the onions. Then add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and continue to cook until the color starts to go from bright red to rust. Then deglaze with the wine and vinegar. Add one tall spike of fresh rosemary (leaves removed and chopped) and three to four sprigs of thyme. Follow the recipe and finish with two cups of peas two to three minutes before serving.
Okay People, this is "Old Fashioned Beef Stew" and it's exactly how my Mom made it and How I've made it for 45 years. Flouring your meat before browning actually adds flavor to the stew. There are tons of beef stew recipe out there, but this is authentic "Old Fashioned"!
If you're complaining about blandness, red wine, a bit of Worcestershire or even some harissa can help liven it up. Also, homemade peasant bread or even some store bought parker house rolls are a wonderful accompaniment. This is exactly my mother's go-to recipe for beef stew. She's gone now, but I would give anything to eat this with her one more time.
This was delicious. I cubed a chuck roast which was cheap and flavorful (removing all excess fat). I added some worchestershire sauce and ketchup at the end to add umami (flavor). After cooking I separated the solids and boiled the liquid a bit to reduce and concentrate, then whisked in a slurry of flour and water to thicken before recombining with meat and veggies. This stew is a one pot meal. It doesn't require rice or noodles because of the large amount of potatoes.
I think many of the negative comments were from people who have no idea what an old time stew tasted like. They probably have McDonald's taste buds and there is no changing that. This was a wonderful stew. With that said I also added to it. My choice was worcester sauce from my Brittish background. Adapting a recipe to fit your own taste is a normal procedure. Perhaps if some of these who commented threw in a Quarte pounder they would have felt differently.
Two great Irish cooks rated this the best beef stew they ever tasted. It's a keeper in our home.
Julia Childs recommends just browning the meat in oil without flour. Then make the stew as shown here. She thickens the gravy at the end by adding miller's butter (half butter and half flour) rolled into little balls, one at a time, until it's as thick as you like. I agree with her.
Excellent. Added thyme. Sauteed the chopped onions. Used olive oil. Substituted gold potatoes for the bakers. Added about 1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce and some ketchup...good additions. Should include a beef bone in the cooking.
Sautéed onion and a shallot, added to deglazed pot with browned meat and a few sprigs of thyme. Added 2 T tomato paste, more pepper, shot of Worcestershire sauce and peas at the last...as my mother always did. Excellent stew. I will make it again.
For this stew (and all others I've made), I like to use beef shank - lots more marbling than chuck, and just melts in one's mouth after an hour or so of slow simmering. I also throw the bones in (along with marrow) to add flavor. If you're making a big pot, shank is about half the price of chuck!
This was delicious, though I made a few alterations. Like others, I added more herbs (thyme, rosemary, herbs de Provence, Basil, ground all spice). I chopped up the onion & along with a few table spoons of oil and tomato paste,I microwaved it with the herbs in a bowl for about 1 minute on high (a trick I learned from Cooks Illustrated slow cooker recipe book) & then I added this mixture to the pot at the start of step 2 above. Cooked the meat much longer, a/b 5 hrs before adding veggies.
save money and use beef chuck instead of ribeyes/filets. get an intact chuck roast from the butcher, not pre-cubed "beef for stew". Cut the meat up yourself into small cubes. Ribeyes are for grilling, or broiling, not stew. The collagen breaks down nicely and the chuck meat transforms wonderfully. Of course, if you're wealthy, do as you wish.
Loved this. Doubled the wine & reduced the beef broth. Sprinkled in Herbes de Provence as per another review's suggestion. I'm normally a high-intensity spice seeker but found this dish flavorful and tender in its classic-ness.
I just made it vegetarian with 1.5 pound portobello mushrooms cut into 1 inch cubes. It was fantastic! The only difference was browning the mushrooms first (no need to toss them in flour), and adding 2 tbsp of herbes de Provence, tomato paste and v. Worcestershire sauce along with vegetable broth. Highly recommended!
Delicious recipe, I’ve been making it for years now. I do skip the wine and add more broth instead.
Use chicken broth instead of wine. Add plenty of tomato sauce, soy sauce, worchestire after wine and let cook for 1 minutes.
Just like moms! I always add turnip and usually extra broth. Top it with some homemade dumplings, I use the old bisquick recipe for that.
Basically, 1 1/2 times this recipe
Great stew. Knocked off a star since it was a little chunky for the kids.
Perfect as-is!
Add Herbes de Provence, tomato paste. Sautee onions with the meat while it is browning. Toss flour and meat in a paper bag.
Great recipe! I added about 1 cup sliced mushrooms at the beginning of simmering, and peas at the end. And, i slow cooker’ed mine on high for 8 hrs.
After browning the meat, saute the onions and then add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. deglaze with the wine and vinegar then continue the recipe as written. At the end, add rosemary salt and pepper for great flavor! Pair with a toasted baguette
Made for Diane and Charlene Round beef per Diane Add 1 T tomato paste 1 t Worcestershire 2 t thyme 2 t herbs de franc 1 t butter to finish Potato half cook then turn off heat to finish
Must have cooked this 20 times at least. Great, great base recipe. However, I always add a good amount of rosemary and thyme. Really, the more rosemary the better. Also, 3 cups of broth is never enough for me, so I always add more. Also, I let it cook with the onions for about 1 1/2 hours, then add carrots, then potatoes and then cook for another 1 1/2 hours. I hate adding tomato to anything that is not supposed to be tomatoey, but I do recommend a tiny, tiny splash of Worcestershire sauce.
I made this today, using some of the suggestions (thanks, Tom!) and it is delicious! I'm just sad that I didn't double the recipe since it's meant for a sick friend. I know she and her family will appreciate it and I can't wait to make it for my family!
Probably benefit from addition of more broth while cooking
My favorite “go to” recipe for beef stew!!
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