Hearty Beef Stew Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to tender beef stew? ›

The most important key to making stew meat tender is being sure to cook it for a long time. If you want super tender beef, you'll need to cook it on a low heat in a Dutch oven on the stove or a slow cooker for at least a few hours.

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

Ideally, you'll use beef stock, but beef broth is fine too. Veal stock would be divine. Instant bouillon paste will add flavor and is perfectly acceptable. Indeed, even if all you have is chicken stock, it will still be better than water and won't make your beef stew taste like chicken soup.

Vinegar can add depth of flavour to soups, sauces, and stews. Especially great for tomato-based recipes, you can add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar towards the end of the cooking process to amplify the flavours of your other ingredients.

Don't Stew the Stew Too Long Either

It might seem that cooking your beef stew on low for 8 hours will make it even better, but that is not true at all. Your beef will be tough if you don't cook it enough and it will be tough if you cook it too much.

If it tastes off-balance, add some finishing flavors to bring it to the next level. Try adding soy sauce or Worcestershire for extra savory (or umami) flavor, a touch of honey or brown sugar for sweetness, lemon zest or vinegar for brightness or chili powder or smoked paprika for spice and depth.

I contacted Laurence to get the lowdown on why she adds tomato paste to her beef stew. "I include tomato paste in many braised recipes because it adds a depth of flavor without increasing the liquid quantity in the dish," Laurence explains.

Not browning the beef enough would be the first possible problem. That adds a lot of flavour to the finished stew. You can toss the beef in seasoned flour before browning it which will also help thicken the stew. Not adding enough seasoning would be the second potential issue.

Although broth, stock and bouillon are not exactly the same, they can generally be used interchangeably in cooking. If you have the option, go for broth or bouillon when the flavour of the liquid is a key element of your recipe, and reach for stock to add new depths to a well-seasoned dish.

Why do you put chicken broth in beef stew? ›

Chicken stock is fantastic because it's essentially a blank sauce, stew, or soup canvas. It picks up and enhances other flavors so well. Bolstered with the sautéed vegetables, browned beef, and aromatics, even chicken stock winds up with great, natural beef flavor.

Chicken broth.

If you have homemade beef stock, use it! However, most commercially produced beef broths taste rather fake; chicken broths are much richer and complex. Bay leaves and thyme – Aromatics for more flavor! Carrots, potatoes and peas are the staple of a traditional stew.

(side note) Some of the flavor of the stew liquid is from those vegetables, especially the celery and carrots. You'll probably want to cook some with the meat, even if you discard (or puree) them.

Always Add An Acid To Your Soups

Lemon is arguably even more essential in richer soups like wild mushroom and rice, curried split pea, or even white bean and bacon. This is because the delicate balance of flavor profiles requires that acidic, lemony zing to cut through the fats in the soup.

Unassuming as it may be, this pantry ingredient is nothing short of a powerhouse when it comes to softening vegetables. Adding baking soda to a soup raises the pH and contributes sodium ions, both of which make the pectin that holds many vegetables' cell walls together break down faster.

But I believe the secret to the tender beef is… slow roasting the stew in a covered pot in the oven! That's it! No fancy pressure cooker needed!

Cook it slow and steady.

This gives collagens in the tough muscle tissue time to melt and make the meat tender. Try tasting a bite after an hour, two hours, and three hours — you'll see how the meat goes from chewy to pretty good to fall-apart tender.