How to Make Beef Stew
If you've never made beef stew, you might think it's complicated to put together or will break the family budget. Not true. Beef stew is actually one of the easiest and most economical meals you can serve. Once you've browned the meat and chopped your vegetables, the ingredients simmer away without constant tending.With stew, you have a whole meal in one pot, so you don't have to bother with side dishes. If you want, you'll have time to make a salad and biscuits to enhance the meal, or you can just relax and read a chapter in your book while a hearty meal bubbles away on the stove.
Transcript
Hello everyone, I'm Judith with recipe.com, and today, I will
be showing you how to make an old-fashioned beef stew,
a really hearty dish to warm you on a cold
winter's day. So, what you're gonna need is 3 medium
potatoes, which we've cubed. 12 ounces of beef stew meat
cut into about 3 quarter inch cubes, 3 cups of
vegetable juice, 1-1/2 cups of frozen cut green beans, 1
cup of frozen whole kernel corn, 3 cups of water,
1 medium onion cut into thin wedges, 1 cup of
sliced carrot, 2 table spoons of cooking oil. I'm using
canola oil. 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 bay leaf,
a quarter of a teaspoon of black pepper, half a
teaspoon of dried margarine, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1-1/2
teaspoons of instant beef bouillon granules, and 2 tablespoons of
all purpose flour. Now, we have zip lock bag here,
a large one, that we're going to be using. So,
first things first. Let's get our flour into our bag,
and we're gonna add our beef stew cubes, couple at
a time. We're gonna give that a good shake. It's
gonna be, cut those cover a little bit, just do
it in batches if you need to. This is one
of personal favorite dishes, really just such a great dish
to warm you up. So, as you look, give that
a good close. I'm gonna give it a good a
shake, get all the cubes covered with that flour. So,
we have a large pot here, which I put to
medium heat, and we're gonna add in our oil. Let
that heat up, and we wanna get our beef stew
cubes nice and brown before we add in all our
other ingredients. So, in the go, that's got nice and
hot. Fantastic, so once they brown, we'll add in some
of the rest of our ingredients. So, our beef has
brown nicely and we've drain the fat from the beef,
and so now it's time to add in some of
our other ingredients. So, in goes our vegetables juice and
in there, and goes the granules, our herbs, black pepper
in there, oregano, margarine, our bay leaf is going in
there too, our Worcestershire sauce and our onions, and of
course our water is gonna over that too. So, there
you go, we're gonna bring it up to boiling, and
then we're gonna reduce and simmer it for about 1
and a quarter hours until the meat is nice and
tender. So, it's been about an hour of beef stew
has been simmering nicely, and so now it's time to
add in our vegetables. So, in goes our potatoes. We'll
stir them in there, stir in all your vegetables and
all those lovely juice flavorful ingredients all over. We'll put
in our carrots, our greens beans, and our sweet corn,
and that is just gonna give such a great color
to our stew, so we'll stir all of it in
there, get it all covered, mix in. So, we're gonna
bring that to a boil, and we're gonna reduce the
heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes with a
cover on. So our beef stew has been simmering away
for 30 minutes and that is just about done. It
smells and looks delicious. All those flavors popping out there
and then last thing we need to do before we
serve it up is discard our bay leaf, which we
found pretty easily at this time. That's good. So, let's
put that there. Give it a good stew and that
looks great. So, we're just gonna taste that up, and
then some nice beef chunks there and who wouldn't want
that a hearty flavorful filling old fashioned beef stew. We'll
thanks for watching everyone. For more great recipes and savings,
go to recipe.com.
What You'll Need
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 12 ounces beef stew meat, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 cups vegetable juice
- 1 cup water
- 1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
- 1 tablespoon Worcesershire sauce
- 1-1/2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cups cubed potato (about 3 medium)
- 1-1/2 cups frozen cut green beans
- 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
- 1 cup sliced carrot (2 medium)
Step By Step
1
Place flour in a plastic bag. Add meat cubes, a few at a time, shaking to coat. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven brown meat in hot oil; drain fat. Stir in vegetable juice, water, onion, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon granules, oregano, marjoram, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until meat is nearly tender.
2
Stir in potato, green beans, corn, and carrot. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 30 minutes more or until meat and vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaf.
3
Makes 5 servings (about 7 cups)
4
Slow-cooker directions: Prepare and brown meat as above. In a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker layer meat, onion, potatoes, green beans, corn, and carrot. Decrease vegetable juice to 2 cups. Combine vegetable juice, water, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon granules, oregano, marjoram, pepper, and bay leaf. Pour over meat and vegetables in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.
Whether you choose a slow cooker or the traditional method in a Dutch oven or pan, you will be happy to know how to cook beef stew. It's a perfect choice for cold, damp or rainy days, of course, but it's also an excellent dish on days when you want some stick-to-your-ribs comfort food, no matter the weather or the time of year. And its one-pot method means a stress-free after-meal cleanup.
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