Author:
Madison Curley
This hearty beef stew blends farm-fresh beef with simple ingredients for deep, home-style flavor. Slow-cooked to perfection, it’s full of tender meat, carrots, potatoes, and rich broth — perfect for chilly evenings or Sunday suppers.
Ingredients
- 3 lb meat (stew meat or roast chunks)
- 2 Tb butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 c beef broth
- 1/4 c grape juice
- 3 Tb tomato paste
- 2 Tb maple syrup
- 1 Tb salt
- 1 Tb garlic powder
- 3 Tb balsamic vinegar
3 (ish) potatoes
- 6 large carrots
- 1 c frozen peas
- 1 c frozen corn
Beef tallow or olive oil for searing
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Pat your meat dry with a paper towel, remove as much moisture as you can so it doesn’t pop as much when you sear it. Optional to salt the pieces well before searing.
In a large dutch oven, heat up the beef tallow or olive oil and sear each piece of the meat until all sides are nice and brown. You may have to do this in multiple batches.
When the meat chunks are done searing, put them on a plate and keep searing until all the meat chunks are done. Don’t put them right back in the dutch oven yet.
When the meat is done, add the butter, garlic, and onion. This will help deglaze the pan and put all that amazing flavor in your stew.
Add tomato paste, and vinegar. Then add the broth, maple syrup, salt, and garlic powder.
- Add the meat, cover with lid, and cook for at least 3 hours (4–4½ hours would be best).
- When the meat is tender, add the carrots and potatoes and continue to cook.
- Cook until soft, about 1½–2 hours.
- Add the frozen peas and corn.
- Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Video
Recipe Note
The slow cooking process reduces the liquid and thickens the stew without adding any cornstarch.
You can sear the meat bites in tallow in batches until they’re all seared, then sauté the onions and garlic and proceed with the recipe as normal. It supposedly makes the meat more tender/flavorful, but with the slow cooking process I’ve never noticed much of a difference.