Easy Beef Stew is a classic meal that's filling, comforting, and perfect for a chilly day. Beef, potatoes, carrots and onions are coated in a flavorful sauce. The entire dish comes together on the stove top in a single stock pot.
If you're looking for a comforting, simple, yet flavorful meal, there's nothing better than a warm bowl of beef stew.
This easy beef stew is simple, using easy to find ingredients. And yet, the flavor is astounding. It will become a fast favorite in your winter recipe collection.
Beef, carrots, and potatoes are cooked in a flavorful beef sauce that's filled with flavor. Plus, this meal is made entirely in a single pan on the stove top. This dish takes a few hours to cook, so it's ideal for a weekend dinner.
Ingredients
Stew meat can be substituted with cubed chuck roast.
Sliced carrots can be substituted with baby carrots.
Any potatoes can be used - russet potatoes or yukon gold potatoes are both great choices. If desired, you can also omit the potatoes from the recipe and serve your beef and carrots over mashed potatoes or egg noodles instead.
Meat for beef stew
Meat for beef stewStew meat is pre-cubed beef that's packaged by the grocery store, intended for stewing.
The downside to stew meat is that you don't know exactly what cuts of meat are in there. It could be a combination of different cuts that each have different 'ideal' preparations.
The upside - It's quick and easy to grab for a weeknight meal, and usually inexpensive.
If you'd like to cube your own beef for stew, I'd suggest using a boneless chuck roast. Simply slice into bite size cubes and you're ready to go.
Searing your beef
Searing your beefThere is one important step in this recipe that shouldn't be skipped. Searing your beef. Searing gives your beef a dark brown and caramelized crust that adds extra flavor and depth to your stew.
Make sure not to crowd the pan with too much beef, or it won't sear properly. Brown half of your beef at a time if needed.
Easy Beef Stew From Scratch
Ingredients
- 16 ounces stew meat or cubed boneless chuck roast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 2 pounds potatoes peeled and cubed
- 3 carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Season beef with salt and pepper. In a stock pot over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once heated, add cubed stew meat. Sear on all sides. If needed, sear meat in two batches - do not overcrowd the pan. Remove beef and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to stock pot. Add diced onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 additional minute. Add tomato paste and stir to coat onions and garlic. Then, add beef broth and worcestershire sauce. Using a whisk, scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze and incorporate into broth.
- Add beef back to pot. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 60 minutes (or until beef is tender).
- Add cubed potatoes and carrots. Cover and simmer for another 20-25 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots can easily be pierced with a fork.
- Uncover and remove from heat. If you'd like a thinner stew, add more beef broth as desired. Top with fresh parsley and serve immediately.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Beef can be cooked for longer than 60 minutes if using a tough cut of beef. Beef will continue to get more tender the longer it cooks.
- Potatoes can be omitted from recipe and beef stew can be served over mashed potatoes instead.
- Sliced carrots can be substituted with baby carrots.
We LOVE this recipe in our family!! I double it for our family of seven and then we have a little for leftovers 😍 Have you ever tried freezing this recipe?
Hi Brittany, potatoes don't freeze and thaw particularly well, they end up with a bit of a grainy texture. However, the rest of the beef stew would freeze well and keep for up to about 3 months.
Can I use tomato sauce instead of paste? Wanna try this out today!
Tomato sauce should work if you don't have tomato paste on hand. let us know how it turns out!
Couldn't find the stew recipe I've used before so I tried this one. No tomato paste, so I used some ketchup; no worcestershire sauce (I never use it, so just don't have any around), so I substituted with a couple of shots of Dale's Steak Seasoning. added some SPIKE (my favorite multi-spice seasoning for everything), and we had a rich tasting, hearty stew. The only thing I'll change next time is to do one more cup of broth (or just add a cup of water), as I wanted more broth than there was with the additional veggie (possibly).
How many people will this recipe feed?
This recipe makes four servings. If you scroll up to the recipe card and look at the serving size, you can hover over it and adjust it to make as many servings as you'd like!
If I don't have tomato paste what else could I use or do I really need it?
The tomato paste will thicken your sauce slightly, but it's mostly there for savory flavor. If you don't have any on hand it can be omitted (but your stew will have less flavor).
I just used some ketchup. Worked fine.
Super easy & delicious! Used half sweet & half white potatoes. Added mini button mushrooms in the last 15 mins of cooking. Next time I'll do a slurry to thicken - there def will be a next time! Thank you!
Mushrooms sound like a great addition - glad you enjoyed it!
Add a pinch of sage and if using a fatty cut of meat add a splash of red wine vinegar. Perfecto!
trying this today
Hope you enjoy it, Beverly!