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Dutch Oven Beef Stew

Red bowl of homemade beef stew. Bowl has handles. Fresh thyme and slices of bread surround the bowl.

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5 from 1 review

Hearty and rich homemade Dutch Oven Beef Stew is exactly what you need on a cold winter night. Stew meat, carrots, potatoes and fresh herbs are started on the stovetop and finished off in the oven until the meat is pull apart tender.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 pounds beef stew meat - cut into chunks
  • Kosher salt
  • Black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup yellow onion - diced
  • 3 cups carrots - chopped
  • 1 cup celery - chopped
  • 2 large cloves garlic - minced
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley - chopped
  • 2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon miso paste
  • 3/4 cup dry red wine
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 1 pound baby potatoes - chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 2 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 325°F.  Chop all of your vegetables and measure out the rest of your ingredients.  I recommend roughly chopping your carrots and potatoes into larger chunks so that they don't break down too much during the cooking time in the oven.  Chop smaller baby potatoes in half and larger baby potatoes into quarters.  Chop your carrots into 1/4 inch thick rounds.  
  2. Liberally season all sides of the beef stew meat with kosher salt and black pepper.  Heat the olive oil over medium heat in the bottom of your Dutch Oven.  
  3. Transfer about 1 pound of the seasoned stew meat into the Dutch Oven.  Sear (brown) all sides of the stew meat (about 1 minute per side).  Once golden brown, remove the meat from the pan and repeat this process with the rest of the meat.  Remove the final round of browned meat from the pot.
  4. Transfer the yellow onion, carrots, celery and garlic into the pot.  Sauté until fragrant, about 3 minutes.  If the vegetables are sticking to the bottom of Dutch Oven, mix in another tablespoon of olive oil.  
  5. Add the parsley, thyme, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and miso paste to the vegetables.  Mix to combine and cook for another 1 minute. 
  6. Pour the red wine over top of the vegetable mixture to deglaze the pot.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  
  7. Once simmering, pour the beef broth into the pot, add in the potatoes and add the seared stew meat back in.  Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil.  
  8. In a small dish, whisk the corn starch and water together until smooth.  Pour the corn starch mixture (slurry) into the beef stew. 
  9. Place the lid on your Dutch Oven and carefully transfer the Dutch Oven Beef Stew into your preheated oven.  Let the stew cook in the oven for 2.5 hours. 
  10. After 2.5 hours, the beef stew will have thickened, the vegetables will be tender and the stew meat will easily pull apart with a fork.  Serve your beef stew with some fresh bread, and enjoy!

Notes

  • I recommend using an enameled cast iron Dutch Oven with a tight fitting lid.  
  • When you're browning your meat, the bottom of your Dutch Oven will start to get brown and burnt looking.  Don't worry about this.  The brown bits on the bottom of the pan will deglaze when you add the red wine. 
  • The stovetop cooking portion of this recipe will take about 25 minutes.  

Nutrition