Dutch Oven Beef Stew

A classic dutch oven beef stew recipe is perfect for fall and winter weather. The smell of a good beef stew simmering all day on the stovetop is a smell I love throughout the colder months.

Stews are great when you are trying to use up a tougher cut of meat or if you just want that good old comfort food to warm you up.

Dutch Oven beef Stew Recipe Video

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How to make beef stew in a dutch oven

Making beef stew is so simple to do but it takes time to build flavor and to make the meat and vegetables tender. The time standing in front of the stove isn’t long at all but it needs a few hours to be able to simmer.

I always recommend prepping all of your ingredients before you start any recipe. You want to get your vegetables washed and cut, also trim and cut your meat.

1. Prep Vegetables

You want to dice your onions, chop your garlic. Wash and peel your carrots and then cut your carrots and celery to about an inch or an inch and a half. I like them a little bigger so that they don’t fall apart.

Yukon potatoes do not need to be peeled because the skins are thin and will break down while they simmer but you can if you would like.

You want to quarter your potatoes so that they are about bite-size. Bigger potatoes may need to be cut more.

2. Prep the chuck roast

You want to make sure to trim your chuck roast or whatever cut of meat you might be using. Now, you want to make sure to keep the fat on the beef. That is going to break down and add lots of flavor to the stew and help make the beef tender.

Sliver skin is what you want to trim off from your beef. It’s just like it sounds, silvery thin skin. Trim all of that off but be sure to leave all of the fat on there.

Cut into 1 1/2″ to 2″ pieces so that you have some nice good chunks in your stew. Sprinkle kosher salt liberally over all of the meat.

3. Brown the beef

Browning the beef is a crucial step in making beef stew. This is going to add a ton of flavor! Heat up your pan until you can feel the heat with your handheld about a 1/2 inch over the pan.

Once it’s good and hot add your olive oil to the pan. To tell if your olive oil is hot enough to add to your beef, pick up your pan and move the oil around the pan.

If it’s moving around like water and has a sheen to it then you are good to go.

Add your beef into the pan one at a time so that you can make sure they aren’t all touching. This way they can cook more evenly and brown up. Move them around the pan browning each side.

Once they are all browned go ahead and add them to the dutch oven.

4. Sautee onions, garlic and tomatoes paste

In the same pan that you’ve browned your beef in, you want to add your onions and garlic and saute them. If you need to add in a little oil go ahead and do that.

Once your onions are looking good add in your tomato paste and add a little bit of salt.

You are going to cook this with your onions but you want to be careful not to burn them. Stir it around the pan for a minute.

Now add in about 1 cup of red wine. This is going to deglaze the pan and help get all of the browning (AKA flavor), off the bottom of the pan and into the stew.

Once you have deglazed your pan add in about 1 cup of the beef stock and slowly add in your flour. This is going to help thicken the stew.

Make sure you add a little at a time so that it doesn’t clump up. Use a whisk to really incorporate all of the flour.

5. Add it all together

Now we are going to add the sauce we just made into the stew pot that the browned beef is in. Pour the rest of the beef stock and the rest of the wine into the pot as well. Give it all a good mix.

Bring it to a boil uncovered for a couple of minutes and then go ahead and cover it, put it on low or simmer for an hour or so.

If your stew ends up runny, learn how to thicken beef stew.

6. Add in other veggies

Now that the soup has been simmering for an hour or so, go ahead and add in your carrots, potatoes, and celery. Let these cook in the stew for about a 1/2 hour.

Taste to see if you need to add salt to your stew once more before you serve it.

Learn how long your beef stew can be refrigerated when you have leftovers from the last meal.

What kind of dutch oven to use

When cooking on the stovetop or in the oven then I recommend using a Dutch oven with an enamel coated cast iron. I use the Le Creuset dutch oven.