Beef Stew

The perfect bite of stew

This is my mom’s beef stew recipe. It’s simple, delicious, and so comforting on cold winter nights. This is an easy recipe, the hardest part is waiting for it to cook. I do use my pressure cooker a lot, but I prefer to go old-school and cook this in a Dutch oven and in the oven. It only takes a couple of hours to cook in the oven. And, it makes a lot so you will have leftovers.

I appreciate the simplicity of this recipe more than anything. It uses very few ingredients but delivers on flavor.

Beef Stew

Ingredients

2-2 1/2 pounds of chuck roast or stew meat, cut into 1” pieces

4-6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into approx 1” chunks

3-4 large carrots, cut into approx 1” long pieces

1- 15 oz can of tomato sauce

1- 6 oz can tomato paste

15 oz good red wine (I like to use Cabernet Sauvignon)

24-30 oz water

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp thyme

2 tbsp avocado oil

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 300

Pre-heat your Dutch oven over medium-high heat

Add avocado oil, once hot add the beef

Sprinkle the beef with salt, pepper, and thyme

Brown on all sides

Once the beef is browned add the potatoes & carrots

Add the tomato sauce & tomato paste

Pour the red wine into the tomato sauce can to measure it, then add it to the pot

Add one 15 oz can of water (use the tomato sauce can again), if it covers everything you’re good, if not, add another can

Mix well to combine everything

Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat

Cover the pot with foil, then place the lid on top

Place the Dutch oven in the oven and cook, undisturbed for two hours

After two hours, carefully remove the pot from the oven

Remove the lid & foil, test the beef for doneness. It should be super tender and fall apart easily. If it does not, cook for another 30 minutes.

Notes:

I eat this stew as is, but I do mash some of the potatoes up in the stew.

It’s also delicious over mashed potatoes (this is my kid’s preferred way)!

Don’t forget to drink the rest of the red wine with dinner