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Best Ever Beef Stew
My hubby LOVES beef stew. He’s a midwestern boy so he loves his meat and taters. I always made a basic recipe for it but recently I decided I needed to tweak that recipe to give it a little more flava. Nothing was wrong with that original recipe. It’s the one I got from a Betty Crocker cookbook when we were first married. I wasn’t cooking much then and I knew he loved beef stew and that was my go-to cookbook given to me from my Momma. Read more about it HERE.
Loads of flavor
This recipe still has all the flavors you love about beef stew but I found that browning the meat first and adding a bit of Worcestershire sauce and garlic helps to keep it from tasting bland. And I added peas for a bright green color and of course, more flavor. When they came out with Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Beef Base a few years ago, I have found myself using it more and more. It is concentrated beef flavoring and it really does have amazing flavor. They have a chicken version (Better Than Bouillon, Chicken Base) and vegetable version (Better Than Bouillon, Vegetable Base) too. There are organic versions and reduced sodium versions too. Note: This is not a sponsored post. I just like to share products that I love with y’all. You can usually find it located near the other stocks and broths in your grocery store. In my grocery store, it is on a top shelf. It is sometimes located near the packets of seasoning mixes too. Once you open the jar, you do have to refrigerate it.
Ingredients:
2 pounds beef stew meat
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cups water
3 heaping teaspoons Better than Bouillon (concentrated beef stock)
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
3 heaping teaspoons Better than Bouillon (concentrated beef stock)
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
4 russet potatoes, diced into chunks
1 cup frozen peas
4 russet potatoes, diced into chunks
1 cup frozen peas
Directions:
Cut up your stew meat. Sometimes when you buy it already cut up, the pieces are still really large. If that’s the case, cut them into smaller 1″ chunks.
In a large Ziploc bag, add flour and seasoned salt. Seal bag and shake to combine ingredients.
Add in stew meat. Shake well to coat with flour.
In a large pot, over high heat, pour in vegetable oil. You want the oil nice and hot so that the meat will brown quickly.
Once the oil is hot, add floured beef chunks (in two batches). Don’t shake off too much of the flour when you take them out. The flour will actually help thicken up the stew some. I brown half of the beef chunks then do a second batch until they are all browned. We are not cooking the meat all the way. Just browning it will help give the beef a great color and flavor. Take out the browned beef and set aside. Season with pepper.
If necessary, add a tad bit more oil to the pot, turn down the heat to medium, then add in diced onion and celery. Cook until translucent (just a few minutes).
Scrape the bottom of the pan and loosen any brown bits (lots of flavor in those!)
Pour in water.
Then add concentrated beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Stir well.
Add meat back to the pot. Then toss in diced carrots and potatoes. Stir to combine.
Cover and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stir, then turn down the heat to low and allow to simmer for 35-45 minutes (until potatoes are fork tender).
Give stew a stir every so often while cooking. Ten minutes before you’re ready to serve, stir in frozen peas and cover pot.
Give stew a stir every so often while cooking. Ten minutes before you’re ready to serve, stir in frozen peas and cover pot.
Once peas are tender, you are ready to dig in!
Cook’s Notes: If you can’t find Better than Bouillon concentrated beef stock, just substitute it with beef stock and do not add additional water.
Enjoy!
White Chicken Chili with Cornbread Dumplings
Best Ever Beef Stew
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Calories: 560 kcal
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 3 cups water
- 3 teaspoons heaping Better than Bouillon concentrated beef stock
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 large carrots peeled and diced
- 4 russet potatoes diced into chunks
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Cut up stew meat into 1" chunks. In a large Ziploc bag, add flour, seasoned salt and pepper.
- Seal bag and shake to combine ingredients.
- Add in stew meat.
- Shake well to coat with flour.
- In a large pot, over high heat, pour in vegetable oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add floured beef chunks (in two batches).
- Don't shake off too much of the flour when you take them out.
- The flour will actually help thicken up the stew some.
- Brown half of the beef chunks then do a second batch until they are all browned.
- We are not cooking the meat all the way.
- Just browning it will help give the beef a great color and flavor.
- Take out the browned beef and set aside.
- Season with pepper.
- If necessary add a tad bit more oil to the pot, turn down the heat to medium, then add in diced onion and celery.
- Cook until translucent (just a few minutes.)
- Scrape the bottom of the pan and loosen any brown bits (lots of flavor in those!)
- Add water and concentrated beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and garlic.
- Stir well.
- Add meat back to the pot.
- Then toss in diced carrots and potatoes.
- Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to low and allow to simmer for 35-45 minutes (until potatoes are fork tender.)
- Give stew a stir every so often while cooking.
- Ten minutes before you're ready to serve, stir in frozen peas and cover pot.
- Once peas are tender, you are ready to dig in!
Nutrition Facts
Best Ever Beef Stew
Amount Per Serving
Calories 560 Calories from Fat 189
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 21g 32%
Saturated Fat 11g 55%
Cholesterol 117mg 39%
Sodium 1730mg 72%
Potassium 1237mg 35%
Total Carbohydrates 42g 14%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
Sugars 4g
Protein 48g 96%
Vitamin A 106.8%
Vitamin C 26.3%
Calcium 6.6%
Iron 34%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
I love all of your recipes…just made your Banana Nut Bread yesterday and it was great! I made Beef Stew a few days ago (used Better Than Bouillon-Yay!) but had to combine 2 different recipes.Thank you for this recipe, it's what I was looking for!
Carlee, I am hooked on it now. The flavor is so deep and rich that it makes sometimes boring food taste so good!
Jolene – YAY!! Aww thank you for taking the time to leave me a note about that recipe. I hope you love this one too and that it combines the best of your recipes!!
James – I am always learning new things! I had no idea that's what those yummy bits of goodness were called by the professionals. Thank you for teaching me something new! And I sure do appreciate the recommendations about the Knorr products. I will definitely check those out next time I'm at the store! Sure do appreciate you!
My mom was just singing the praises of Better than Bouillon too. If you both love it, i better give it a try! The stew loves lovely and perfect for a snowy day like we're having today!
Hi Brandie,
It looks delicious, and I'm sure it tastes so.
I too have been using "Better than Bouillon" since it came out…great stuff. But, I also keep a good supply of the Knorr (my favorite cube bouillon)and Herb-Ox cube bouillons in case I run out. To me, a bouillon base adds soooo much extra flavor to a dish and is an indispensable part of my herbs and spices.
Also, I'm sure you know, but most cooks and chefs don't mention it in their recipes, the caramelized bits on the bottom of the pan are called "Fond" which is French for "base" and commonly refers to the browned bits and caramelized drippings of meat and vegetables that are stuck to the bottom of a pan after sautéing or roasting.
Keep up the good work girl, I got money on ya. 🙂
Brandi, This was a terrific recipe. However, I saved it and renamed it Best Ever Fire Pot Beef Stew. Lesson learned, don't keep trying to get those potatoes peeled while your oil is heating up! It's how we learn to cook, right? By our mistakes!! So with a bit of delay getting the fire out and the pot salvaged, this turned out delicious! This recipe got my interest because you used that Better Than Bouillon Beef Stock. I have been using it for the past year. And as I have never made a Beef Stew, I am always looking for something new. I followed your recipe and also added a half of a small head of cabbage, chopped, for flavor, and 4 cups of water and 4 teaspoons of beef broth….I probably had more vegetables than called for and needed some extra broth. It was a hit all around and the pic I sent to my family of the pot in flames on my patio added great conversation 😀 They told me to fix it again, but it will be know to us as the Fire Pot Stew!
Although I didn't have Better than Bouillon, I had regular beef cubes and use those. This recipe was fabulous! I've made beef stew forever but I think the worcestershire adds a nice touch. A
nd leaving more of the flour on the meat thickens it perfectly. Thanks for a terrific recipe. I have made a number of your recipes now and haven't had any to disappoint.
Elizabeth- I love that story!!
tkg in nc-So glad it was a winning recipe for you.
It was a cold rainy day today in our area and I decided to try this recipe. It is fantastic! My husband is quite a picky eater, but LOVED this! I will definitely make it again! Thank you for sharing!
So glad it was a hit! Those picky husbands…sigh! So glad he loved it!
Will this recipe work using gluten free flour in place of the all purpose flour. I think it would.
I used GF all-purpose flour and it worked great!
This sounds good, but I’m wondering if it’s too salty?
All your ingredients have sodium in them. Like the bouillon, Worcestershire and season salt.
Loved, loved, loved! No season salt so I used Montreal Steak Seasoning and it worked fine, just omitted the pepper since it has pepper enough in it already.. Also, threw in some mushrooms just b/c I had to use them up. Thanks!
I must say this was delicious!
The only thing I changed was I used 1 beef bouillon cube because i didnt want it to be too salty.
I also noticed the bottom of the pan was starting to stick/burn and I’m not sure why. But I luckily only had to simmer for less than 20 minutes for the potatoes.
One of the best beef stew recipes I’ve made, thanks!!! 🙂
This was a hit to come home to today after the pumpkin patch! I followed the recipe except after sautéing the onions and celery I put everything into the crockpot and turned it on low for about five hours. When we got home I added the peas and a tablespoon of cornstarch and cold water to thicken it a bit and let it cook for another 15 minutes while I made some rolls in the oven. It turned out great!
Hi Tami! That is SO awesome to hear!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know. Happy Fall!
This was amazing! Such a delicious stew recipe. Thank you thank you!
So good! This was delicious.
This was a perfect beef stew recipe. I didn’t have seasoned salt, so I used Emeril’s original spice, which is pretty much seasoned salt and paprika.
Literally the best beef stew ever.
I gotta do the whole “don’t cook the beef all the way” better next time though, as it would have had more tender beef if I had followed that instruction.
I am an inexperienced cook. I heavily rely on recipe’s.
I make a huge mess, there will always forever be some sort of veggie peel of some sort on the floor. I always have flour on my clothes and oil stains and my clothes.
I have only made one beef stew before trying your recipe.
It was a terrible ordeal. My family only ate the potatoes.
I was wary at how simple this was… I was worried every step of the way.
But. I did it. I made my second attempt and beef stew ever.
And it was fantastic.
This recipe never fails me.
I’m sure soon I can make this at the drop of a hat… and I look forward to the day.
Thank you so much c:
What can I use beside better than boulluin the store I go doesnt have it? Can I use canned beef broth
Can you do this in the slow cooker?
How about adding 1/2 russets and 1/2 sweet potatoes to equal the total amount you suggest?
I adapted this recipe a bit (olive oil instead of vegetable, an extra cup of water and Better than Bouillon, and started it with 4 slices of Applewood smoked bacon). All I can say is, WOW, what a huge hit! My Dad loooves this stew – and I am now using Better than Bouillon instead of beef stock for all the recipes that call for it. You’re right – it lends a huge difference in terms of flavor. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Sounds to die for! I’m gonna have to make it this way next..
Super yummy the first time.
Talk about truth in advertising! This truly is the Best Ever Beef Stew! Probably one of the BEST recipes I’ve ever gotten off the Internet. Thank you!
This recipe turned out great! I ended up using regular beef bullion and it still worked fine! I was scared that all of the substitutions I did (olive oil instead of vegetable oil, no Worcestershire, using various spices instead of seasoned salt) (all of those due to a lack of having those ingredients, haha) would’ve ended in a disastrous stew, but mine still turned out super tasty! I’m definitely using this in the future. Thanks for the recipe!! My family loved it 🙂
Hey Brandie,
Strong work on this recipe. There are so many iterations of Beef Stew recipes on the internet (I can always wing it but I love new ideas that internet cooks provide) that I was fired up to find one that doesn’t use a slow cooker or instant pot. Stove Top is easy and fast for beef stew and makes the house smell fantastic.
Pretty much did everything as stated but sauteed the carrots with the onions and celery by mistake. I did add additional ingredients because I just can’t help myself. Your recipe is excellent by itself though.
I did the following additions:
Deglazed pot after vegetables sauteed with a bit of red wine (Used Franzia Dark Red Blend from the box – don’t laugh, surprisingly great daily wine for cooking and drinking)
1 Bayleaf
1 tsp dried whole thyme
1.5 tsp dried whole rosemary
.5 tsp dried whole oregano
1/4 tsp white pepper to the sauteed meat and 30 turns of fresh ground pepper to the pot
Could eat it everyday and Sunday too! Thanks!
Hi! Im confused…if i dont have better than bullion use beef stock and dont add the 3 cups of water? Is that correct?
That is correct Teresa.
Rather than use a slow cooker. Can I make this recipe and let it simmer for a few hours after completing? Worried that it could get overcooked and mush all together. On the other hand, wondering if letting it sit on the stove top on low could only make it better and richer…
Thanks! Ecstatic to try this.