🥘 Slow-Simmered Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef chuck roast
- 1 lb potatoes
- 4 carrots
- 1 onion
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 tbsp tomato paste (pantry staple)
- 1/2 cup flour (pantry staple)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (pantry staple)
- Salt & pepper (pantry staple)
Instructions
- Cube beef, toss with flour, and brown in batches in oil.
- Sauté onion, add tomato paste, then broth, scraping the pot.
- Simmer covered 1.5 hr; add potatoes and carrots, simmer 30 min more until tender.
Tips
- Brown the beef in batches, in a single layer, with real space between the pieces. Crowding is the most common mistake here — the meat steams grey and you lose the flavour the whole dish is built on.
- Cook the tomato paste for a minute before any liquid goes in. Raw paste tastes tinny; cooked it turns sweet and savoury.
- Add the potatoes and carrots in the last 30 minutes. Two and a half hours turns them to mush.
Substitutions
- Beef chuck
- Any hard-working cut with connective tissue — brisket, short rib, shin, oxtail. Avoid lean cuts like sirloin; they go tough, not tender, over long cooking.
- Beef broth
- Half broth and half red wine or dark beer is a common upgrade. Water plus a bouillon cube also works.
- Potatoes
- Waxy varieties hold together; russets break down and thicken the stew, which some people prefer. Swede, parsnip or celeriac all work.
- Flour
- A cornstarch slurry at the end for gluten-free, or skip it and simmer uncovered longer to reduce.
Storage & reheating
Keeps 4 days refrigerated and is genuinely better on day two — the flavours settle and the meat softens further. Freezes 3 months. Potatoes can go slightly grainy after freezing, so some cooks freeze it without them and add fresh.
Common questions
Why is my beef still tough after two hours?
It usually needs longer, not less. Connective tissue turns to gelatin somewhere around 2–3 hours of gentle simmering — if it's chewy, keep going. The other cause is boiling rather than simmering, which tightens the muscle fibres.
Can I make this in a slow cooker?
Yes. Brown the beef in a pan first — don't skip it — then 8 hours on low. Add the vegetables for the last 2 hours.
Why is my stew watery?
Not enough reduction, or too much liquid to start. Simmer uncovered for the last 20 minutes, or mash a few cooked potatoes into the broth to thicken it.