This old-fashioned Dutch Oven Beef Stew is a staple in my kitchen. It is so hearty, comforting, and perfect for when winter rolls around. Filled with tender pieces of beef, potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms, this beef stew is gluten-free and Paleo-friendly.
I love using a Dutch oven to make my beef stew recipe as they are made from cast iron, so they retain and evenly distribute the heat very well. It’s also the ultimate one-pot meal as everything is made in the Dutch oven so cleaning up is easy. I love how hearty, tender, and flavorful this stew is and your family will ask for it every day!
Don’t have any beef in your fridge but still want a hearty stew recipe? Try my Easy Instant Pot Chicken Stew, Cabbage and Sausage Stew, or my Brazilian Fish Stew instead!
Ingredients to Make this Beef Stew Recipe
- Boneless beef chuck — you want to make sure the beef is well-marbled and cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces.
- Salt and black pepper
- Olive oil — or an oil of your choice.
- Mushroom — you can use your mushroom of choice but brown or white button mushrooms are perfect for this.
- Onion — I finely chopped a yellow onion. You can use a different onion if you prefer.
- Garlic — the more garlic, the better!
- Balsamic vinegar — balsamic vinegar in beef stew adds subtle acidity that balances the flavour of the stew out.
- Worcestershire — this adds a ton of flavour so don’t skip out!
- Tomato paste — this adds body and more meaty taste to your beef stew.
- Dry red wine — the red wine brings out the flavour of the meat.
- Beef broth — using beef broth adds more flavour than using just water in the beef stew.
- Dry herbs — you’ll need bay leaves and thyme.
- Arrowroot flour — this is a thickening agent and gluten-free flour. If you do not need this to be gluten-free, you can use another thickener.
- Carrots — cut into bite-sized pieces, be sure to peel them first.
- Baby potatoes — cut in half. You do not have to peel them, just get them a thorough washing beforehand.
- Fresh parsley — chopped, for garnishing.
How To Make Dutch oven Beef Stew
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the lower-middle position.
Prepare the Beef
- Remove the beef from the fridge for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature.
- Place the beef on a paper towel-lined cutting board and pat them dry.
- Season all sides of the beef cubes with coarse salt and black pepper.
- Place a large Dutch oven on the stove. Then, add in the pot 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Sear the meat in 3 batches if necessary, turning with tongs, for about 3 to 5 minutes per batch; add one tablespoon oil for each batch. Transfer the meat to a large plate and set it aside.
Sear the Rest of the Ingredients
- In the same pot, add more olive oil and add mushroom.
- Saute mushroom for about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.
- Add the onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and Worcestershire; cook, stirring with a wooden spoon and scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, for about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute more.
Add the Liquid and Braise the Stew
- Bring back mushroom and the beef with its juices back to the pan.
- Add the wine, beef broth, water, bay leaf, and thyme.
- Stir with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pan and then bring the pot to a boil. Cover the pot with a lid, transfer to the preheated oven, and braise for 2 hours.
Add the Vegetables
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- Remove the pot from the oven and add the carrots and potatoes.
- Cover and place the Dutch oven pot back in the oven for about an hour, or until the vegetables are cooked and the meat is fork-tender. This keeps the vegetables from being overcooked and from falling apart in the stew.
Finish off the Stew
- 5 minutes before removing the pot from the oven, add 2 tablespoons of arrow flour in a small pot with a little water. Mix all well to combine. You will get a nice and rich gravy doing this.
- Remove the pot from the oven and add arrow flour mixture and mix well. This helps thicken the stew. Fish out the bay leaf and discard before garnishing with fresh parsley, if desired.
Recipe tips
- Brown the meat in batches so you don’t overcrowd it in the pan. Giving it space will ensure that all of the edges get the crisp texture you are looking for.
- If you prefer, you can also add a high-quality dry red wine (pinot noir, cabernet and merlot) to the pot after you sear the meat.
- Leftover beef stew will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days as long as you store it in an airtight container.
- To reheat this Dutch Oven beef stew recipe, cover and simmer over low heat until it’s warm throughout.
- You can also freeze the leftovers in airtight containers for up to 3 months but the texture of the potatoes and carrots may not hold up very well.
- Don’t be tempted to skip the bay leaf! The bay leaves add a lighter note to this beef stew recipe and help the other flavours shine. It’s a small step and a single ingredient but it does a lot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Beef chuck roast comes from the shoulder and upper foreleg of the cattle that has a rich, beefy flavor. These are tough cuts but will become tender and moist when they are simmered over a long period.
For the best tasting beef stew recipe, you need to brown the beef first in the Dutch oven. When seared, it leads to a deep, rich, flavor for the stew. By browning, the edges of the meat need to caramelize before you take it off the heat. The process leads to building the build-up on the bottom of the pan that provides a ton of flavour once its been deglaze
If you don’t find the Dutch Oven beef stew to be rich enough, be more generous with the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. They add umami flavour which contributes to the richness. Allowing the Dutch oven beef stew to cook a little longer will help as well.
Stew meat can become tough as if over-cook it. It may seem contradictory as the beef stew is braised for two hours, but it has to be cooked low and slow. If you are cooking the beef at a high temperature instead of a simmer, it can lead to the beef becoming rubbery and tough.
Cook it low and slow! Cooking the beef on low heat, slowly allows the collagen and fat to break down. If the beef is cooked at a high temperature, the protein in the stew meat will seize up and become tough.
How To Store Leftover Beef Stew
Dutch oven beef stew tastes even better the next day. This is because all of the ingredients marinate in broth and seasonings overnight and become infused with fantastic flavor!
That being said, make sure to save your leftovers for a quick and easy lunch or dinner the next day. I love taking a to-go container of soup to reheat at work when I’m tired of eating sandwiches.
To Store: Allow leftovers to cool and place them in an airtight food-storage container. Refrigerate for up to four days.
To Freeze: This stew is also freezer friendly. Place cooled leftovers in a freezer-safe food storage container and leave a bit of space at the top (liquid will sometimes expand as it freezes, so we need to allow for this in order to avoid an unnecessary mess)! Store stew frozen for up to 3 months.
To Reheat: Thaw stew in the refrigerator overnight (if reheating from frozen) and then warm thoroughly using the microwave, or in a pot on the stovetop.
More beef stew recipes?
- Healthy Slow Cooker Beef Stew: This is a gluten-free Beef Stew that is loaded with potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms alongside tender, melt in your mouth beef.
- Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe: It’s a whole30 stew with potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips, and herbs.
- Turnip and Carrot Slow Cooker Beef Stew: Great recipe to cook with turnip.
- Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe: Instant Pot beef stew will provide you with winter comfort food in a fraction of the time.
- Julia Child’s Coq Au Vin: A very simple and delicious French chicken stew that anyone will enjoy!
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Dutch Oven Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lb boneless beef chuck well-marbled, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil*
- 1 cup mushroom sliced
- 2 medium yellow onions chopped
- 7 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire
- 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground or dried thyme
- 2 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 4 large carrots peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks on a diagonal
- 1 pound small white boiling potatoes baby Yukon, cut in half
- Fresh chopped parsley for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the lower middle position. Remove the beef from the fridge about 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking. Place it on a paper towel-lined cutting board and pat them dry with paper towels. Season all sides of the beef cubes with coarse salt and black pepper. In a large Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sear the meat in 3 batches if necessary, turning with tongs, for about 3 to 5 minutes per batch; add one tablespoon oil for each batch. Please, do not crowd the pan otherwise it will steam. Transfer the meat to a large plate and set aside.
- In the same pot, add more olive oil and add mushroom. Saute mushroom for about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.
- Add the onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire; cook, stirring with a wooden spoon and scraping the brown bits from bottom of the pan, for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute more.
- Bring back mushroom and the beef with its juices back to the pan. Add the wine, beef broth, water, bay leaf and thyme. Stir with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil. Cover the pot with a lid, transfer to the preheated oven, and braise for 2 hours.
- Remove the pot from the oven and add the carrots and potatoes. Cover and place the Dutch oven pot back in oven for about an hour, or until the vegetables are cooked and the meat is tender.
- 5 minutes before remove the pot from the oven, add 2 tablespoons of arrow flour in a small pot with a little water. Mix all well to combine.
- Remove the pot from the oven. And add arrow flour mixture and mix well. Fish out the bay leaf and discard. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired. Enjoy!
Tips
- If your meat has a lot of fat, you probably will need to use only 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- When browning the meat, you may have to do so in batches to avoid overcrowding the pot.
- To store: Store leftover beef stew in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- To reheat: You can reheat the stew in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- To freeze: Freeze leftover stew in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight and reheat before enjoying.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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Juliana Langley says
So I just pulled the dutch oven out of the oven after 2 hours and was surprised to find that all the liquid has absorbed! Hmmm, what would you suggest? It’s time to add the carrots and potatoes, but there’s no liquid to thicken with the arrowroot. Maybe just add more beef broth?
Juliana Langley says
So here’s what I did:
I added a quart of beef broth, a little more wine, and finished it off on the stove until the veggies were tender. I also added more potatoes, carrots, and some celery to up the vegetables in the dish. It was delicious- very flavorful!
Olivia says
You can add more beef broth or reduce the temperature you were cooking/baking.
Tóth Alvin says
It was so good… I recommend
Olivia says
Awesome!
Melanie says
Very tasty recipe
Olivia says
Happy you liked it!
Jaime Ambrose says
Best recipe ever!
Olivia says
Thank you! You’re the best!
Linda says
This was amazing. Just got an enameled dutch oven a couple of weeks ago so tried this today. I’ve made numerous beef stew recipes but have never had the beef come out so very tender. I did add 2 more cups of beef broth when adding the potatoes and carrots and cooked for probably 1.5 hours longer total after adding. Did cook at 325 instead of 350. This will be my go to beef stew recipe from now on. Thanks.
Olivia says
That’s so amazing. I’m so glad you like this recipe. Thanks for stopping by.
Linda says
This was extremely delicious. As I had recently purchased an enameled cast iron Dutch oven I was looking for recipes. I’ve done beef stews on the stove and in the crockpot but have never had the beef come out as absolutely tender as this did. I may have to fix it again for Christmas Eve!
Olivia says
Wow your comment made my day. So glad you liked this recipe. Thanks for stopping by.
Mimi says
Can I use cornstarch or a diff
Flour instead of arrowroot? And is there anything I can substitute for the balsamic vinegar?
Olivia says
Yes you can replace it for cornstarch and you can use red wine instead of balsamic vinegar.
Cathy Worrell says
The best substitute for balsamic vinegar is to mix 1 TBS red wine vinegar with 2 tsp maple syrup. You can use honey or sugar if you don’t have maple syrup. I found this on the internet when making this stew when I didn’t have any balsamic vinegar on hand.