The Best Recipe for Beef Stew with Potatoes and Carrots (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good beef stew? ›

Using the right type of beef, searing the meat before cooking, deglazing the pan, cooking for several hours, and using plenty of salt all make a huge difference in the flavor of your beef stew.

I almost always add some beef bouillon crystals to my stew, it helps oomph (yes, a technical term) the beefiness of the stock. Sometimes also use a few shots of worcestershire sauce or soy sauce - both will also add some oomph to the flavor.

There is no real wrong answer for your beef stew potatoes — russets or red potatoes will work fine — but Yukon Gold potatoes have the best balance of texture and flavor to complement a meaty stew.

The Ideal Stew Ratio: Two Parts Meat, One Part Vegetable

Most meat-based stews call for tough, inexpensive cuts of meat, while vegetarian recipes include the same onions, carrots, and celery typical of a beef stew. Two parts meat to one part vegetables is the perfect ratio for a meaty stew.

The three main thickening agents for gravies are flour, cornflour and arrowroot. The first two are normally used in savoury dishes while arrowroot tends to be used in sweet dishes – that said, arrowroot will work in a savoury dish as it has no flavour.

Even the best home cook has stared down into a simmering pot of stew and realized it looked more like soup! Sure, a bowl of soup can be comforting, but a true stew in all its glory should be rich and thick in consistency.

Many stew recipes call for seasoning chunks of meat with salt before searing them or adding them unseared to the pot.

Cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks and add to the already cooking stew about 30 minutes before you stop cooking and plate the stew for serving (If the potatoes cook too long, they'll just get mushy or even fall apart and add nothing but a thickening starch to the sew.

Should I peel my potatoes for beef stew? ›

Should I Peel Potatoes for Beef Stew? Peeling potatoes for stew is personal preference. For a smoother texture, peel them first, but feel free to skip this step if you don't mind them. Some of the peels will probably fall off and into the stew, but this will just add to the rustic texture.

Pre-cooking the potatoes is not necessary for most stew recipes. When added raw, the potatoes will absorb the flavors from the stew, creating a rich and delicious taste. However, if you prefer your potatoes to be softer and creamier, you can parboil them for a few minutes before adding them to the stew.

Once the meat is tender - but not falling apart, add the potatoes, celery, carrots and butternut squash. Pour over another 2 cups of beef broth and enough water to cover the vegetables. Raise heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer partially covered for about 30 minutes - until the vegetables are tender.

After about 1 1/2 hours of cooking, add roasted veggies and potatoes to the pot and finish cooking. Remove thyme and rosemary bundle and bay leaves, discard.

What does tomato paste do for beef stew? It definitely gives another layer of flavor and can thicken up your gravy. But it can also be very acidic so you might want to simmer finally chopped carrots in your sauce to give it some sweetness. And for me, there is nothing like fresh basil, parsley, and oregano.

Tough stew meat will take a couple of hours to get tender, and the vinegar helps this happen as well as add special flavor. Then add the onions, carrots, celery, Brussels sprouts etc and cook until the vegetables are the way you like them.

Vinegar & optional red wine - Use red wine vinegar and some red wine to give this stew a deep and rich sweet and savory flavor. The wine is optional and can be replaced with additional beef broth, but I do love the complexity it gives to this recipe.

The Best Substitute for Red Wine

Alcohol-free red wine. Beef broth. Chicken broth. Red wine vinegar (use ½ vinegar and ½ water for similar flavor results)

How to Substitute Tomato Sauce or Puree for Tomato Paste. You don't have to dash out to the store if you're out of tomato paste; tomato sauce and tomato puree are both an excellent substitute. For every 1 tablespoon of tomato paste needed, use 3 tablespoons of tomato puree or sauce.