Beef Stew Recipe with Carrots & Potatoes
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This classic French beef stew is the ultimate comfort food. Slow-cooked in a wine-based broth, the meat becomes meltingly tender and enveloped in a richly flavored sauce—perfect for chilly nights.
With thousands of 5-star reviews, this classic French beef stew is the most popular recipe on my site—and for good reason! It’s incredibly delicious and the ultimate cold weather comfort food. Pieces of well-marbled beef are seared in a hot pan, then gently braised with garlic and onions in a rich wine-based broth. After a few hours, the meat becomes fork tender and enveloped in a deeply flavorful sauce.
This beef stew recipe is largely hands-off and even better when made a day or two ahead. It also freezes beautifully. Serve it with artisan bread or popovers to soak up the rich sauce, or ladle it over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or creamy polenta for an extra-hearty meal.
“SERIOUSLY EPIC! Hands down, the best beef stew recipe I have ever made.”
What You’ll Need To Make Beef Stew
- Boneless beef chuck: The key to tender, flavorful stew. Look for chuck roast with a good amount of marbling, or white veins of fat running through it. Avoid generic “stew meat,” especially if it looks lean.
- Olive oil: Used for browning the beef and sautéing the vegetables.
- Yellow onions and garlic: Adds sweetness, depth, and savory aroma to the stew as they cook.
- Tomato paste and balsamic vinegar: Tomato paste enriches and thickens the stew, while balsamic vinegar adds acidity and depth to balance the richness.
- All-purpose flour: As the stew simmers, the flour helps thicken the broth, turning it into a rich, velvety sauce that clings to the meat and vegetables.
- Dry red wine: Adds bold flavor and forms the base of the stew along with the broth and water. Use any dry red wine like Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon that is inexpensive but good enough to drink.
- Beef broth and water: Forms the liquid base along with the wine.
- Bay leaf, thyme, and parsley: Classic herbs that infuse earthy flavor during cooking and add brightness at the end.
- Carrots and white boiling potatoes (baby Yukons): Add natural sweetness, texture, and hearty substance as they soak up the broth.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Trim the meat. Begin by removing any large chunks of fat that are easy to get to (like the one my knife is pointing to below), but don’t overdo it with the trimming, as the fat helps keep the beef tender while it cooks.
Step 2: Season. Next, sprinkle the meat generously with salt and pepper.
Step 3: Sear the beef. Heat a bit of oil in a Dutch oven or large pot and brown the meat in batches. This step is a bit time-consuming but browning the meat adds depth and dimension to the stew. (Note: it’s important not to crowd the pan—if you try to brown all the meat at once, it will steam instead of sear and you won’t get all that lovely color and flavor.)
Step 4: Add the aromatics, vinegar, and tomato paste. Remove the meat and add the onions, garlic, and balsamic vinegar to the pan. The vinegar will loosen all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan and add flavor. Cook until the vegetables are softened, then add the tomato paste and cook for a minute more.
Step 5: Return the beef to the pot and add flour. Stir for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the flour is dissolved.
Step 6: Add the cooking liquid and seasoning. Add the wine, broth, water, thyme, bay leaves, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then cover and braise in the oven for 2 hours. (If you don’t have a Dutch oven or prefer to cook the stew on the stovetop, that works, too! The timing will be the same—just keep it on the lowest heat setting and stir occasionally to prevent sticking.)
Step 7: Mix in the veggies. At this point, remove the pot from the oven and add the carrots and potatoes.
Step 8: Finish cooking. Return the stew to the oven and cook for one hour, until the meat and veggies are tender and the broth has thickened.
Pro Tips
The stew should thicken nicely by the end of cooking, but if you’d like to thicken it further, simply mash 2 tablespoons each softened butter and flour into a paste. Bring the stew to a simmer on the stovetop, then stir in small amounts of the paste, letting it dissolve and thicken the sauce before adding more.
Want to make the stew in a crockpot? Sear the meat and cook the onions and garlic as instructed. Then transfer everything to the slow cooker with the carrots, potatoes, water, wine, and broth; cook for 4 to 5 hours.
Video Tutorial
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Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless beef chuck, well-marbled, cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 7 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks on a diagonal
- 1 pound small white boiling potatoes (baby yukons), cut in half
- Fresh chopped parsley, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) and set a rack in the lower middle position.
- Pat the beef dry and season with the salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. Brown the meat in 3 batches, turning with tongs, for about 5 minutes per batch; add one tablespoon more oil for each batch. (To sear the meat properly, do not crowd the pan and let the meat develop a nice brown crust before turning with tongs.) Transfer the meat to a large plate and set aside.
- Add the onions, garlic and balsamic vinegar; cook, stirring with a wooden spoon and scraping the brown bits from bottom of the pan, for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute more. Add the beef with its juices back to the pan and sprinkle with the flour. Stir with wooden spoon until the flour is dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine, beef broth, water, bay leaf, thyme, and sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil. Cover the pot with a lid, transfer to the preheated oven, and braise for 2 hours.
- Remove the pot from the oven and add the carrots and potatoes. Cover and place back in oven for about an hour more, or until the vegetables are cooked, the broth is thickened, and the meat is tender. Fish out the bay leaf and discard, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve the stew warm -- or let it come to room temperature and then store in the refrigerator overnight or until ready to serve. This stew improves in flavor if made at least 1 day ahead. Reheat, covered, over medium heat. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.
Notes
- If you don’t have a Dutch oven or covered pot that is appropriate for the oven, the stew can be cooked on the stove. The timing will be the same and it should be cooked over the lowest setting.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly Instructions: Simply prepare the stew as directed, then cool it to room temperature before refrigerating. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat until hot. If you want to freeze the stew, transfer it to an airtight container once it has cooled. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw the stew overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop.
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Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made this exactly as shown for a group visiting from Germany. They all loved it!! The weather is cooling off this week so I am making it again for just me and my husband. Thankfully, it warms up well and is more delicious the next day. Restaurant quality.
I do not have a Dutch oven but I do have a large pot- any suggestions with tweaking the recipe? Thank you! Looking forward to making this recipe.
Hi Taylor, It’s perfectly fine to use a large pot without any other modifications. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Hi Jen, I’ve made this recipe several times and love it. Can you explain the purpose of the sugar? I usually leave it out, but just wondering if I’m missing some key flavor component, of if the sugar serves some other purpose in the recipe.
Thanks!
Laurel
Hi Laurel, Glad you like this! I add the sugar just to balance out some of the other flavors.
Sugar in small amounts can simply serve to complement other flavor components in dishes. In this recipe it works to balance the sourness from the balsamic and the acidity of the tomato paste. 1.5 tsp definitely does not make the dish sweet!
Sugar helps with the acidity of the tomato paste
Can I cook this in a slow cooker? For how long?
Hi Ann, for using a slow cooker, you go all through all the steps until you’re ready to add the water, wine, and broth. At that point, you add everything to the slow cooker and cook for 4 – 5 hours on high (and you can put the carrots and the potatoes in with the meat– you don’t need to wait).
Hi Jenn,
My guy likes a little heat and suggested I add jalapeno to the recipe. We love this recipe. Would the jalapeno be ok, or would red pepper flakes be better, also, how much?
Hi Doreen, I think either would work, but I’d err on the side of the red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
I am not the greatest cook, yet by following your recipe, this stew was amazing. Such great flavours.
I am about to make it again and looking forward to it.
I’m so excited about a good beef stew recipe! Just realized we don’t have balsamic vinegar…can I substitute red wine vinegar?
Sure – enjoy!
Best stew I’ve ever made! Such great flavour and enjoyed thoroughly by my family. Thanks for the terrific recipe!
Wonderful recipe. We add a little oyster sauce to it . Seems to make it more beefy, don’t know why . If Any is left ( doubtful) we water it down and turn it into soup . We also add a puck size portion of Demi-glacé to it . Fantastically rich dish and serve it with mashed potatoes with Stilton to soak up all the lovely sauce . 5star . Thank you.
I have used the same beef stew recipe for years but was never completely happy with the results because the meat was always tough and chewy. I found Jenn’s recipe online after searching for a beef stew that’s cooked in the oven. I made this yesterday and I will NEVER use another beef stew recipe other than this one AGAIN! Jenn’s tip of using a chuck roast instead of beef stew meat was spot on! The meat was so tender and the sauce was so flavorful! Sure, it’s time consuming but very easy. My family absolutely loved it! Thank you Jenn for a truly GREAT recipe!
Oh my goodness! The very best beef stew we’ve ever made. Absolutely delicious. Great instructions, and very easy to make. This will be our “go to” beef stew from now on. We didn’t add the flour, because we are gluten free, and doubled the thyme. Very minor changes, which is unusual. Thank you!
Definitely am making this for Sunday dinner tomorrow! Looks delish. Do you think the flavour would be compromised if just cooked on the stove (not braised in oven?)
It’s fine to simmer it on the stove, Sarah. Enjoy!