Nothing screams comfort food like a bowl of warm beef stew. I grew up loving when my mom would make beef stew, especially with the warm french bread she would serve it with. French bread dipped into beef stew broth is SO good. My mom’s recipe was always made in a pressure cooker, but I don’t have one those, so I had to settle with regular stove-top cooking and it worked out just fine. You guys will love this easy, healthy recipe!
Most beef stew is turned into a thick stew by adding flour. I wanted ours to be gluten free, so I just thickened it with tapioca (or arrowroot) flour and it worked perfectly. Below is the stew before cooking throughout the afternoon and before adding the tapioca flour at the end.
If you work all day out of the house, I highly recommend making this stew on a weekend, or whenever you have enough time to let it simmer on the stove. It would be the perfect chilly Sunday treat while you lazily watch football and Netflix. Aka my perfect day. I mentioned this in the recipe comments below, but this recipe might also work in the crockpot. I haven’t tried it, but if you do, let me know how it goes! You could always make the entire recipe then add it to the crock pot to simmer while you’re at work. Sometimes slow cooker stews lack flavor if you don’t brown the meat and veggies before they are slow cooked, but again, I haven’t tried it with this exact recipe. I hope you guys enjoy this warm, comforting, nutritious beef stew recipe!
- 1 lb cubed beef stew meat - stew meat usually comes cubed already
- 4 carrots - chopped into 1 inch pieces - optional to peel or not
- 1 onion - diced
- 3 ribs celery - diced
- 3 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 small to medium white potato - cut into large chunks
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 cups broth - I love low sodium veggie broth but any broth will work
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire
- 3 tbsp arrowroot or tapioca flour
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- Preheat a stock pot over medium-high heat
- Add the coconut oil and allow to just melt
- Add half of the stew meat, season with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and brown on both sides for about 2 minutes each side
- Remove the first batch of meat to a plate, then add the other half, season the same way as the first batch and brown on both sides, then remove and set aside
- I like to chop my carrot, onion, potato and celery while the meat browns
- To the same pot, add the carrot, onion, celery, 1/2 tsp more of salt and the rest of the pepper and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the veggies begin to get soft
- Add the balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, browned meat, 2 tbsp arrowroot (or tapioca) flour and garlic and let cook for another 2-3 minutes
- Add the broth, Worcestershire, potatoes and bay leaves and stir to combine
- Let the stew come to a boil, then reduce to low heat and allow to simmer until you're ready to eat - at least 1 hour (see notes)
- 10 minutes before serving add the frozen peas stir to combine
- In addition to adding the peas, mix together about 1/2 cup of the sauce from the stew with the remaining 1 tbsp of tapioca or arrowroot starch and stir to combine
- Add this "gravy" into the stew and stir to combine
- Let the peas and the stew thicken for about 5-10 minutes, or until you're ready to serve
- I think the longer the stew cooks, the better it becomes. I let mine cook for 4-5 hours on a simmer. If it seems to be getting too thick, add more broth.
- I have never tried this recipe in the crock pot, but I am assuming after you cooked the entire stew, you could let it simmer for a few hours in your crock pot if you don't feel comfortable leaving the house with the stove on.
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