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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We are getting our first snow tonight so, I made this tonight. I followed your recipe as directed added all ingredients, except I don’t have a dutch oven pot & I didn’t have oven safe pots. I cooked the stew on the stove. Took about 3 1/2 hrs. This stew recipe is my favorite I absolutely loved it & my BF went back for seconds. Thank you for sharing. I’m ordering a much needed dutch oven pr
obably 5 qt. and will cook this Stew again soon.
Hi Jenn just want to take this opportunity to wish you a happy new year and give thanks to you and your amazing recipes that never fail and always please and amaze! We enjoyed this beef stew with added mushrooms, the pecan crusted salmon, Thai curry chicken skewers, candied pecans for Xmas dinner! And through this challenging year many more of your recipes were immensely savored! 😋 Wishing you the best, happy holidays to you and your family, keep loving what you do! GRACIAS! Janio.
❤️
Hi Jenn I enjoy your methods and recipes a lot, thank you so much. When you state cook in the oven does this mean to place literally inside the oven? I assume not because the image shows stovetop.
Thanks for all,
Deborah Fullerton
Sorry if you found the pics confusing – yes, this does go in the oven. If you’d prefer to cook it on the stove, that’s fine. Just give it a stir periodically so it doesn’t scorch on the bottom. Hope that clarifies!
I made this yesterday with the intention of serving it today and the flavors are wonderful and meat is tender but my sauce is thin. I followed the recipe except set oven at 300 because my LeCreuset dutch oven seems to get too hot in recipes if I don’t adjust. Should I try braising longer? or maybe adding a slurry? I refrigerated overnight and will try both to improve it! Thanks for another great recipe.
Hi Pat, If you’d like to thicken the sauce, I suggest making a quick beurre manié. Mash 2 tablespoons each soft butter and flour together, then whisk it little by little into the simmering stew. (You may not need all of it.) It should thicken right up. Hope that helps!
That worked perfectly! Thank you Jenn for your quick reply in time for dinner 🙂
Yum, yum, yumyumYUM!!! Absolutely spectacular! Finally made this after checking out the recipe a billion times…only regret is having not made it sooner. Once again, thank you Jenn for sharing another fabulous recipe!
this was the best, most delicious stew I have ever made! low & slow in the oven made all the difference in a perfect sauce. just husband and me for Christmas Day dinner during this time of the coronavirus and I made this for us. he raved – gave me 5 stars!! haha. Made parmesan biscuits and ceasar-type salad and it was a perfect meal.
This is fabulous! It’s a 5-6 hour project, but worth the effort. Per someone’s suggestion in the reviews, I sauteed some cremini mushrooms in butter, salt & pepper and added in last 20 minutes or so. It was a nice addition to an already spectacular recipe! This is a great comfort food and beautiful holiday dish. Will make again and include sauteed mushrooms.
Thanks, Jenn! All the best in the new year and I look forward to getting your emails.
Hi! I love all your recipes but I don’t consume alcohol.
I really want to make this-What would you substitute the wine for?
Hi Safia, You can use more beef broth. Enjoy!
Awesome beef stew… except I don’t like onions that much so I used only 1 medium onion also instead of water I used beef broth.. came out very good and easy to make.. so far everyone who has tried it asked for the recipe .. definitely trying more of these recipes
I made this today and followed your exact recipe Jenn, and it was a huge hit! Excellent flavour, tender meat, definitely a keeper. Thank you for sharing your great recipes, I have tried many and they have all been well received by the family. My granddaughter liked this Beef Bourguignon so much she was eating the remains from the pot!
Loved this and it came out perfectly. I added the mushrooms at the end ( maybe 20 min before) after sautéing in garlic butter, thyme, until deep and golden. Deglazed with red wine.
Thanks for another wonderful recipe.