Dutch Oven Beef Stew recipe is an easy traditional homemade comfort meal cooked on a stove top.
One of my favorite meals during Fall and Wintertime is a delicious homemade Dutch Oven Beef Stew, made with potatoes and vegetables. This recipe is super easy to make!
There are many recipes on the internet on how to make beef stew in Instant Pot or a Crock Pot. However, I always like a classic version made in a Dutch oven and cooked on a stove top. It is all about letting the meat simmer, with the stew absorbing all the delicious flavors and juices!
Despite it taking a total of 2.5 hours to cook, most of this time is passive.
Basically, you need to brown the beef tips, let them cook for an hour, then add vegetables, and let it cook for another hour.
How to make Dutch Oven Beef Stew.
To start, we need to brown the beef tips. I prefer to buy lean beef tips, as they come out more tender without any chewy parts.
Rinse and pat dry the meat. If the pieces are too big, you can cut them in half. Usually, I like them about 1 ½-2 inches thick.
In a zipped-lock bag add all-purpose flour, salt, and pepper and shake to mix. If you don’t have a zipped-lock bag, you can easily can do it in a regular mixing bowl.
Add the meat and toss well, so it’s all covered with flour mixture.
Preheat the dutch oven to medium/high and add vegetable oil. Make sure that the oil is hot before you add the meat.
When you brown the meat, the trick is not to overcrowd the pan, you should have some space in between of each piece. If you overcrowd, the meat will boil in its own juices. That’s not what we need! So, usually I brown it in 3-4 batches.
When done, scoop the meat in a separate plate and set aside.
Add diced onion and garlic to the oven and cook it for a few minutes until softens.
Add some tomato paste and stir in.
Now, we can add chicken stock and scrape the bottom of the pan. All the brown bits that are on the bottom of the pan will add the most flavor to this beef stew.
Add the browned beef tips and bay leaves and stir. Increase the heat to high and bring it to boil.
When it starts to boil, lower the heat to low and let it simmer. Don’t cover the pot, as we want the stock to reduce. Cook it for 1 hour. If your beef tips are quite big, you can cook them a bit longer, for about 1 hour and 10-15 minutes.
In an hour, add diced carrots and potatoes, cover with a lid and continue simmer for another hour, until the potatoes and carrots are soft.
When the stew is almost done, stir a cup of frozen peas and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
Do you have an Instant Pot? If yes, you should also like this Old Fashioned Beef and Vegetable Soup from Berry Maple! It’s a perfect comforting meal for cold nights!
MORE COMFORT MEAL RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Instant Pot Boneless Short Ribs
- Instant Pot Pot Roast
- One Pan Baked Ziti
- Instant Pot Orange Chicken
- Pigs in a Blanket
- Instant Pot Barley Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Soup
- Mac and Cheese
- Beef Cutlets
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Easy Chicken Stew Recipe
- Old Fashioned Goulash Recipe
Dutch Oven Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean beef tips
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (skip for Gluten-Free Diet)
- salt pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic crashed
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 cups chicken stock I prefer to use Homemade Chicken Stock
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cups baby carrots
- 6 Yukon potatoes diced
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry beef tips.
- Put flour, salt and pepper into a large zipped-lock bag, add beef tips and toss well until the meat is covered with flour. (Skip Flour for Gluten-Free Diet. You can just season the meat with salt and pepper)
- Preheat the dutch oven on medium/high heat and add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
- Brown beef tips in batches. Don’t overcrowd. Scoop out to a separate plate and set aside.
- Add diced onion and crashed garlic to the pot and cook for 3-5 minutes until it softens.
- Add a tablespoon of tomato paste and stir
- Add chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pan.
- Then add beef tips and the bay leaves. Increase the heat to high until it starts to boil.
- When it starts to boil, lower the heat to low and let it simmer for an hour. Don’t cover with the lid.
- In an hour, add diced carrots and potatoes, cover with the lid and let it simmer for another hour on low heat.
- When it is almost done, add 1 cup of frozen peas.
Notes
- If you follow a Gluten-Free diet, don’t add flour to the beef tips. Just season with salt and pepper and brown the meat.
- When you brown the meat, the trick is not to overcrowd the pan, you should have some space in between of each piece. If you overcrowd, the meat will boil in its own juices.
I made this last night for St. Patrick’s day dinner and loved it!! I am gluten free but subbed flour with Arrowroot flour and it worked perfectly. My only recommendation is stir frequently after you put the vegetables in and lid on. I left my house for 30 minutes (with my husband home) after I put the veggies in, on simmer with the lid on and the potatoes stuck to the bottom and burned a bit. My house smelled amazing and this is my new favorite stew! I will be making it again for sure.
Hi Lindsey! So happy you enjoyed the recipe! Also, you always need to stir the stews occasionally to make sure that nothing is getting stuck at the bottom or gets burnt.
Has anyone tried to freeze this before?
it’s such a complete “brain save” for me. I literally do nothing.The texture ends up being a tad different, but not enough that my family has ever noticed. The kids love having it cooked in baggies too because I will keep some in the fridge and it makes them much more apt to cook up something on their own.
CrazyAsk
These meatballs are so good. My family loves them…kids included. They’ve become my “go to” turkey meatball recipe. I’ve made them quite a few times and finally decided I should say thank you for a good recipe. Thank you
Kelly Hubbard
It was delicious. I used celery and peppers but all the same, my daughter and I enjoyed it
Thank you, Leora! I’m so happy to hear that you and your daughter enjoyed this stew!
Got stew meat for good price at Costco & looked for recipe. I made this recipe for dinner tonight exactly, except I used 4.2lbs of meat, did not use flour, to stay gluten free, cooked meat in small batches like noted. It turned out delicious! Definitely saving this recipe to make again. Thanks!
This recipe works exactly as expected, creating a rich, thick stew gravy. Use decent quality stewing beef to ensure tenderness. I made it with the epicurious one-a-day baguette recipe (https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/one-a-day-baguette-14497/amp). If you mix the bread dough before starting this recipe they will both be ready in 2.5 hours and you’ll have rich stew and crusty bread!
I looked to late but did all in pot n then put on oven at 275 1 hour n then cut small potatoes salt n fresh grined
Pepper look good normal I cook from
My heart but as age i m starting to need help w times degrees n also how to brown the meat , spent good money on the fresh beef cubes but I wish I just looked frist , ;( too late but cooked high for ? 10 minutes n added all w this time n then put in oven at 275 deg. Then I look at how since I never used a Dutch oven live n learn n seeing u have soo much to cook thank … please wish me a delicious meal thank you so much and will be looking from now on before starting :))
Okay, I agree that this recipe LOOKS delicious.
But did anyone actually make it so they can give feedback?
This looks so deeply flavourful. I would love to dive in and grab a generous bowlful. Just perfect on a rainy, cold day like today.
A lovely dish for the autumn and winter months, an array of whole spices and vegetables making this dish hearty!
What an ultimate comfort food! The broth is so thick and rich, I can tell from the picture !
I haven’t use beef tips in my beef stew before, but it looks like a GREAT idea! What a tasty meal – perfect for the cooler fall weather. Total comfort food!
We just had beef stew last night! It’s such a perfect cold weather meal! I’d love some of yours with a warm biscuit 😀
I swear our Dutch oven gets so much use it might as well be permanently on the stove top. This is one great looking recipe — comfort food at its finest. I’d love to dig in!!
Stew looks so comforting and delicious! Hearty warm stew are perfect fall food. Lovely pics
This looks delicious and SO hardy! Now that things have taken a turn for the cool here (it got down to 39 this morning!) I’m ready to break out the stews. We’ll definitely have to give this one a try!
I LOVE a good hearty stew! One of my favorite things to make in the fall and winter!
There is no comparing stew in a dutch oven. Love how soft and tender the meat becomes. This looks so good. Love the flavors.
This Beef Stew look soooooo delicious and it does not look dry at all. Just perfect for weekend dinners.
Wow! I’m drooling. There’s nothing like a bowl of hearty beef stew when it’s snowing and blowing outside. Your pictures got me inspired for wintery cooking. Lovely!
There is nothing so comforting as a delicious bowl of beef stew! I love that you use a Dutch oven! This looks hearty and scrumptious!