Old-Fashioned Beef Stew Recipe (2024)

I like to use the paper bag method for dusting meat.
Put flour and seasonings and meat, chicken, etc in paper bag, fold closed and shake. One less utensil to clean and even coating.

Tablespoon of herbs de Provence and 2 Tablespoons tomato paste will give it some flavor.

After browning the beef sauté the onions. Then add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and continue to cook until the color starts to go from bright red to rust. Then deglaze with the wine and vinegar. Add one tall spike of fresh rosemary (leaves removed and chopped) and three to four sprigs of thyme. Follow the recipe and finish with two cups of peas two to three minutes before serving.

Okay People, this is "Old Fashioned Beef Stew" and it's exactly how my Mom made it and How I've made it for 45 years. Flouring your meat before browning actually adds flavor to the stew. There are tons of beef stew recipe out there, but this is authentic "Old Fashioned"!

If you're complaining about blandness, red wine, a bit of Worcestershire or even some harissa can help liven it up. Also, homemade peasant bread or even some store bought parker house rolls are a wonderful accompaniment. This is exactly my mother's go-to recipe for beef stew. She's gone now, but I would give anything to eat this with her one more time.

This was delicious. I cubed a chuck roast which was cheap and flavorful (removing all excess fat). I added some worchestershire sauce and ketchup at the end to add umami (flavor). After cooking I separated the solids and boiled the liquid a bit to reduce and concentrate, then whisked in a slurry of flour and water to thicken before recombining with meat and veggies. This stew is a one pot meal. It doesn't require rice or noodles because of the large amount of potatoes.

I think many of the negative comments were from people who have no idea what an old time stew tasted like. They probably have McDonald's taste buds and there is no changing that. This was a wonderful stew. With that said I also added to it. My choice was worcester sauce from my Brittish background. Adapting a recipe to fit your own taste is a normal procedure. Perhaps if some of these who commented threw in a Quarte pounder they would have felt differently.

Two great Irish cooks rated this the best beef stew they ever tasted. It's a keeper in our home.

Julia Childs recommends just browning the meat in oil without flour. Then make the stew as shown here. She thickens the gravy at the end by adding miller's butter (half butter and half flour) rolled into little balls, one at a time, until it's as thick as you like. I agree with her.

Excellent. Added thyme. Sauteed the chopped onions. Used olive oil. Substituted gold potatoes for the bakers. Added about 1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce and some ketchup...good additions. Should include a beef bone in the cooking.

Sautéed onion and a shallot, added to deglazed pot with browned meat and a few sprigs of thyme. Added 2 T tomato paste, more pepper, shot of Worcestershire sauce and peas at the last...as my mother always did. Excellent stew. I will make it again.

For this stew (and all others I've made), I like to use beef shank - lots more marbling than chuck, and just melts in one's mouth after an hour or so of slow simmering. I also throw the bones in (along with marrow) to add flavor. If you're making a big pot, shank is about half the price of chuck!

This was delicious, though I made a few alterations. Like others, I added more herbs (thyme, rosemary, herbs de Provence, Basil, ground all spice). I chopped up the onion & along with a few table spoons of oil and tomato paste,I microwaved it with the herbs in a bowl for about 1 minute on high (a trick I learned from Cooks Illustrated slow cooker recipe book) & then I added this mixture to the pot at the start of step 2 above. Cooked the meat much longer, a/b 5 hrs before adding veggies.

save money and use beef chuck instead of ribeyes/filets. get an intact chuck roast from the butcher, not pre-cubed "beef for stew". Cut the meat up yourself into small cubes. Ribeyes are for grilling, or broiling, not stew. The collagen breaks down nicely and the chuck meat transforms wonderfully. Of course, if you're wealthy, do as you wish.

Loved this. Doubled the wine & reduced the beef broth. Sprinkled in Herbes de Provence as per another review's suggestion. I'm normally a high-intensity spice seeker but found this dish flavorful and tender in its classic-ness.

Taking into account the warnings that the recipe is basic but bland, I flavored with some mild harissa, rosemary, and herbes de provence and it was STILL bland. Ok, just not great. I think the problem is too much liquid. 3 1/2 cups of beef stock on top of the wine is too much. The liquid just needs to cover not drown the meat. Anyway, it needs work, and don’t stint on the flavorings.

less beef stock, more spices — I used harissa but not enough. I’d add garlic and more harissa or tomato paste and more herbes de provence or other spices. Also some sauce thickening would be preferable.

Great recipe, I also add celery and fresh mushrooms. I put the flour in a large baggie and shake the flour in the bag, it's a lot faster A big hit everytime!

Doubled this and it was enough for 4 nights!

Fantastic. I have been making stew for more than 60 years and this is THE best recipe.A little Alzheimer's moment sent me to search a recipe and I am so glad I founds this one. Never going back.

This is my moms recipe. Mmmm, home!

Tho mom added 1 package Lipton onion soup mix. Upped the flavor immensely.

Made this the first time following the recipe to the letter and it was fabulous. Exactly like my grandma's! The second time, I used a shallot/red onion combo and small tri color potatoes because I was out of regular onions and potatoes. It was fine but not as good by any stretch. I also think I used a better wine the first time. The wine quality is not mentioned really in the many comments here about variations and I think that's key.

This very similar to the beef stew my mom used to make in the 1960's-1970's. Basic, but bland. Dad always passed around the ketchup to add some flavor. Tasted great when I was a kid.

This was the most delicious beef stew I have ever eaten! I made some minor changes. I reduced the salt by half. I added celery & garlic. I swapped parsnips for potatoes. It was more soup-like without the potatoes even with added stew meat & extra simmering. What a beautiful color this had.

Less onion. Less liquid

So delicious. I make it at least once a month.

I usually make 50% more and add a couple of cloves of garlic and a tablespoon of ketchup.

I browned the onions with tomato paste and added a generous sprig of rosemary and some thyme per another commenter's suggestion. I also added several cups of quartered mushrooms, a yellow pepper, some fennel rounds, a parsnip I had, and 7 oz of cipolline onions when I added the carrots. Very happy making.

absolutely delicious - added a couple dashes of worsheshire at the end of browning the beef and added (chai pani) garlic seasoning, pollo bouillon, and pinch of salt towards the end about 15min after adding potatoes. I also did end up letting it simmer for an additional 30min towards the end to get the softness i wanted in the potatoes/carrots