Classic Beef Stew (The One That Saved My Sundays)

There is a very specific Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, somewhere in late September, when the light goes gold around four o’clock and the house suddenly feels too quiet. That is the exact hour I start looking for something to put on the stove, mostly so the kitchen smells like somebody around here has a plan.

This beef stew is that plan. It is not fancy and it is not fast, but almost all of the time is the pot doing the work while I fold laundry badly in the next room. I made it three Sundays in a row last fall and nobody complained once, which in my house counts as a standing ovation.

Heads up, a couple of links below are affiliate links, which just means if you grab something I get a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. Only things I actually use in my own kitchen made the cut.

Why you will love this one

The beef actually falls apart. That is the whole thing. Most of the disappointing stews I have made over the years were rushed, and rushed beef is chewy beef. Give it the low simmer and it rewards you.

The broth thickens itself. No cornstarch slurry, no roux, no last minute panic. You toss the beef in flour before browning and that flour quietly does its job over two hours.

It feeds a crowd and it feeds you again on Tuesday. Honestly it is better on Tuesday, which is the best kind of recipe.

And it is forgiving. I have made it with red wine, without red wine, with bacon, without bacon, with whatever sad vegetables were left in the drawer. It has never once been bad.

What you need

For the beef

• 3 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 ounces bacon, chopped (optional, but it is so good)

For the pot

• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine, or 1 extra cup of broth
• 6 cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried

For the vegetables

• 1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
• 4 large carrots, cut into thick coins
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Chopped fresh parsley, for serving

You really do want a heavy pot for this. I use a 6 quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven and it goes from the stove to the table without me having to dirty anything else.

How to make it

1. Pat the beef very dry, season it with the salt and pepper, then toss it with the flour until every piece is lightly coated.
2. Cook the bacon in your Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 6 minutes. Scoop it out and leave the fat behind.
3. Add the olive oil and brown the beef in batches, about 3 minutes a side. Do not crowd the pan. Crowded beef steams instead of browning and you lose all the good crusty bits. Set the browned beef aside.
4. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic for 1 minute, then the tomato paste for 2 minutes until it darkens.
5. Pour in the red wine and scrape up every brown bit stuck to the bottom. That is the flavor. Let it bubble down for 3 minutes.
6. Return the beef and bacon to the pot along with the broth, Worcestershire, bay leaves and thyme. Bring it to a simmer, cover, and let it go low and slow for 1 1/2 hours.
7. Add the potatoes, carrots and celery. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the broth has thickened.
8. Stir in the peas for the last 5 minutes. Fish out the bay leaves, taste for salt, and finish with parsley.

Tips, swaps, and making it ahead

Use chuck roast. Not stew meat from the little package, which is usually a mystery mix of lean scraps that turn tough. Chuck has the fat and connective tissue that melts into the broth.

Skip the wine if you want. Swap in an extra cup of broth and a splash more Worcestershire. Nobody will know.

If it is too thin, take the lid off and let it bubble another 15 minutes. If it is too thick, add broth a half cup at a time.

Make it ahead. This is genuinely better the next day. Cool it, refrigerate it overnight, then reheat gently on the stove with a splash of broth. I keep a stack of glass storage containers just for this kind of thing.

Freeze it without the potatoes if you are planning that far ahead. Potatoes go grainy in the freezer. Add them fresh when you reheat.

Serve it with crusty bread, or over mashed potatoes if you want to be dramatic about it. A good deep ladle makes serving so much less messy, which I learned the hard way.

Quick recipe details

• Prep time: 25 minutes
• Cook time: 2 hours 15 minutes
• Total time: about 2 hours 40 minutes
• Servings: 6 to 8
• Storage: Refrigerate up to 4 days in an airtight container. Freeze up to 3 months (leave the potatoes out). Reheat low and slow with a splash of broth.

The takeaway

Some recipes are for impressing people. This one is for taking care of them, which I think I like better. It asks for a little patience and then it just handles the rest of your evening for you.

If you make it, tell me what you changed, because I know somebody out there is putting mushrooms in it and I want to hear about it. Drop it in the comments.

So glad you are here.
xo, Pam