Classic Beef Stew Recipe
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This classic beef stew recipe combines tender chunks of beef, carrots, and potatoes in a rich, deeply flavorful sauce. It’s the ultimate cold-weather comfort food.
With thousands of 5-star reviews, this beef stew recipe is the most popular dish on my site—and for good reason. Well-marbled beef chuck is seared until deeply browned, then slowly braised with onions and garlic in a rich wine-based sauce. After a few hours in the oven, the beef is meltingly tender, the vegetables are perfectly cooked, and the sauce is rich and deeply savory.
Better still, the recipe is largely hands-off once it goes into the oven, tastes even better a day or two after it’s made, and freezes beautifully. Serve it with crusty bread or popovers to soak up the sauce, or spoon it over egg noodles for an extra-hearty meal.
And don’t just take my word for it. When The Kitchn tested four popular beef stew recipes side by side, they gave this one a 9/10 and named it the “Straightforward Standout.”
“SERIOUSLY EPIC! Hands down, the best beef stew recipe I have ever made.”
What You’ll Need To Make Beef Stew
- Boneless beef chuck: My favorite cut for beef stew because its marbling and connective tissue make it especially well suited to slow braising—the meat becomes juicy and fork-tender as it cooks. Look for a well-marbled chuck roast and cut it into chunks yourself rather than buying packaged “stew meat,” which can contain leaner pieces from different cuts that cook unevenly.
- Yellow onions and garlic: These aromatics build the savory flavor base of the stew.
- Tomato paste and balsamic vinegar: Tomato paste adds richness and body while balsamic vinegar adds depth and acidity.
- All-purpose flour: Thickens the cooking liquid into a rich sauce that clings to the beef and vegetables.
- Red Wine, Beef Broth & Water: Form the flavorful braising liquid. For the wine, use an inexpensive dry red such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon—something good enough to drink.
- Bay leaf, thyme, and parsley: Bay leaf and thyme add earthy flavor as the stew braises; fresh parsley adds a bright finish just before serving.
- Carrots and white boiling potatoes (baby Yukons): Add sweetness, texture, and heartiness. Baby Yukons hold their shape well during braising while becoming tender and creamy inside. For extra vegetables and a pop of green, you can add frozen peas toward the end of cooking.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Beef Stew
Step 1: Prep the beef. Trim away any large, hard pieces of fat that are easy to get to, but don’t overdo it. The marbling running through the meat helps keep the beef juicy and tender as it braises. Pat the beef dry, which helps it brown rather than steam, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Step 2: Brown the beef. Heat a bit of oil in a Dutch oven or large pot and sear the beef in batches, leaving enough space between the pieces so they brown rather than steam. Take your time here; you’re looking for a deep brown crust, not just a change in color. The browned bits that collect on the bottom of the pot are important, too, as they’ll form part of the flavor base for the stew.
Step 3: Cook the aromatics. Add the onions, garlic, and balsamic vinegar to the pot. As the vinegar hits the hot pan, it will help loosen the flavorful browned bits stuck to the bottom, so scrape them up with a wooden spoon as the onions cook. Once the onions begin to soften, stir in the tomato paste and cook briefly to deepen its flavor.
Step 4: Return the beef and add the flour. Return the beef and any juices on the plate to the pot, then stir in the flour until no dry streaks remain. The flour will thicken the braising liquid as the stew cooks, giving the finished sauce body.
Step 5: Braise the stew. Pour in the wine, broth, and water, then add the bay leaf, thyme, and sugar. Stir well, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to the oven. Braise for 2 hours, then stir in the carrots and potatoes and continue cooking until the beef is fork-tender and the vegetables are cooked through. Adding the vegetables later keeps them from becoming too soft or falling apart. Remove the bay leaf and adjust the seasoning before serving.
Pro tip: No Dutch oven? You can also cook the stew on the stovetop. Keep it covered over the lowest heat and stir occasionally to prevent sticking; the cooking time will be about the same.
Step 6: Serve. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, then ladle the stew into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread for soaking up the rich sauce. Like most stews, it’s even better the next day, and it freezes beautifully, too.
How to Thicken Beef Stew
Don’t worry if the stew seems thin during cooking; it won’t fully thicken until the very end. If you’d still prefer a thicker sauce once it’s done, mash 2 tablespoons each of softened butter and flour into a smooth paste (this is called a beurre manié). Bring the stew to a simmer on the stovetop, then whisk in the paste a little at a time until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
Can I Make Beef Stew in a Slow Cooker?
Yes, but for best results, begin on the stovetop as directed. Brown the beef, then cook the onions, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. Return the beef to the pot, sprinkle with the flour, and stir until incorporated. Transfer everything to the slow cooker, including the carrots and potatoes, and add the remaining ingredients. Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours, until the beef is tender and the vegetables are cooked through.
Video Tutorial
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Classic 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 stovetop. The timing will be the same and it should be cooked over the lowest setting.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing 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 followed this lovely recipe except I added sweet potatoes (the yellow kind) and it was delicious. I even splurged on a beautiful chuck roast from our nearest gourmet farmhouse butcher. Honestly it was so good except… my beef ended up having a liver flavour. I don’t know what I did wrong. I used almost the same ingredients except I added some tinned tomatoes. I cooked it in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven. My husband still loved it. Sadly I just had to pick the beef out and eat the rest. Could I have cooked my beef too long? Would this have caused it? Regardless it is an amazing recipe. I’ll keep trying.
Hi Hayley, I’m sorry to hear you found that the beef tasted like liver – I’ve never heard that before! While the canned tomatoes may have changed the flavor a bit as they added some acidity, I don’t think it would cause the beef to taste that way. Also, the Dutch oven should not have caused a problem. Every once in a while, you can buy a bad cut of beef and perhaps that was the culprit here. Hope you have better luck next time if you make it!
I found this recipe a couple years ago when I was cooking for my grandpa when he couldn’t live alone anymore — I was trying to find a beef stew recipe with wine in it like my grandma used to make. This recipe turned out so similar to what my grandma used to make! I was thrilled.
Now, I need to figure out two things:
1. How to make it gluten-free as I’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease. After reading a lot of comments, it seems that 1-to-1 flour replacement is the top choice.
2. *How long* does it take to reheat (on the stovetop) if I make it the day before? The recipe says how to reheat it, but not how long I would expect company to wait to eat while it’s reheating! Strangely enough I couldn’t find anything about this in the comments, although I admit I didn’t read all 4,543 of them.
How nice that you found a recipe for your grandfather that was reminiscent of what your grandmother made. In answer to your questions, the same amount of gluten-free flour is a great replacement for the flour, and I’d guesstimate that it would take about 20 minutes, give or take, for the stew to reheat. Hope that helps!
It may be my East Texas roots that makes me a big fan of the Mississippi pot roast recipe. I think the reason for that is the seasoning runs through the meat and any added vegetables. With that said, I was very disappointed with this recipe as I found the flavor extremely bland. Neither the meat or vegetables had sufficient flavor. Though the cooking process did result in extremely tender meat.
Good morning Cory,
after reading your review, I thought I’d weigh in..BECAUSE this is an insanely good tasting recipe (I’ve made this well over 10 or 12 x…).
This is just a thought: are your seasonings fresh? And when it calls for searing (browning) the meat is there enough time given without crowding? I’m a former personal & professional chef, and without exception, I haven’t served this to anyone that didn’t go crazy over it …
I hope you’ll try this again, it really is very, very good!!!!
It’s a 5 Star ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️recipe…
Lisa
Dear Jenn,
It is April 7th, 2023. Easter Friday afternoon. It is cold out there today where I live in the Swiss Alps at about 2’000 feet above sea level. I bought the ingredients to make this wonderful beef stew AGAIN. I absolutely love this recipe!!! Before I begin cooking I am sitting here at my computer, with a hot cup of coffee, and re-reading all your notes and tips for this recipe. I am thinking about you and all the work you put into your website. Your website is my first stop, go-to website, when I am searching for the ‘perfect’ recipe on-line. Many of my favourities are from your website. I just thought you would like to know. Have a fantastic Easter weekend. Kathleen – a Canadian living in Switzerland.
Kathleen, thanks for your very kind words — I’m so glad you like the recipes that they are your go-tos1 You made my day; have a wonderful Easter (and enjoy the stew)!
Spot on
Hello Jen,
Made this many times! My family loves this! I was wondering if this would do well in a crockpot ? ( after browning the beef and cooking the ingredients then transfer it all into crockpot and let it cook for awhile before add carrots and potatoes at end. Thank you : )
Glad your family likes this! Yes, you can cook it 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, I note that when you are asking for cooking times for this in a slow cooker, you advise 4-5 hrs on high. I was wondering if this recipe is appropriate to be cooked on the slow setting of the slow cooker, and if so, for how long? Thank you
Mark.
Hi Mark, I’m not an expert on slow cookers as I don’t own one, but I just looked this up online and it sounds like you should cook it for about 8.5 hours (see more here). Hope you enjoy the stew!
Made for company the was a hit and none was leftover.
Per Chef’s suggestion, I made the day ahead. Not only did it taste better but I was fresh for company after doing all the heavy cooking the day before!
I cobbled together a few recipes but used this as a base
– did not use potatoes (not my favorite)
– increased carrots to a pound
– added a pound of mushrooms
– used a bottle of Cote de Rhone and did not add water
– used gluten free flour and at the end added a corn starch slurry
I will definitely make again
My husband and I loved this stew. It was flavourful, the right consistency – not runny at all. Vegetables were cooked perfect. Exchanged water for beef broth and added a cup of mushrooms. Thanks!
Love this recipe; have made many times. Wanted to experimente w/ Instant Pot to see how it would turn out. Browned meat in large slabs, then cut into cubes. Decreased wine and beef broth to 1/5C each, and reduced each separately for a few minutes before adding to pot. 32 minutes high pressure. 10 minutes natural release, then release remaining pressure. Added potatoes and carrots. 4 minutes high pressure. Quick release. Sauce is a bit thin, but thickened as it sat. Can use saute function, but watch carefully to prevent the bottom from scorching. Forgot to add the 2C of water, but turned out just fine. Tastes just as good, but quicker for a weeknight. About 2 hours start to finish (from browning meat to serving). Served w/ garlic toast (Ina Garten idea).
Thank you for sharing the details of how to cook in the IP.
Just wondering (as I’m cooking for a young family) if the wine would cook off in the pressure cooker, or whether I should just add less, e.g. 1/2 cup?
Thank you for any thoughts.
Hi Savanna, I wish I could say, but don’t know enough about a pressure cooker to say – sorry! Perhaps Kona will weigh in. BTW, if you have any concerns, you can replace some or all of the wine with additional beef broth. Hope that helps!
I made this recipe a few days ago, It was absolutely delicious! My husband loved it too! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you
This was amazing. My family loves it. I was wondering what a serving size was? I saw it’s 6 servings however for neutrino fact purposes I was curious if it was possible to get the weight of a serving or if a serving was like a cup? Thank you!!!
Hi Bella, So glad you enjoyed it! Unfortunately, I don’t have precise serving quantities; the nutritional data is calculated based on the total calories divided by the estimated number of servings.