Dutch Oven Beef Stew - The Seasoned Mom (2024)

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This old-fashioned Dutch oven beef stew is full of tender chunks of meat, fresh vegetables, and diced potatoes in a thick, rich gravy. The flavorful, satisfying, and traditional one-pot meal is the best beef stew recipe that you will ever taste!

If you love using your Dutch oven for soups and stews as much as we do, be sure to try our beer cheese soup with bacon and broccoli, this chicken stew, or a pot of pork chili, too!

How to Make Beef Stew | 1-Minute Video

On a chilly day, nothing beats a cozy pot of Dutch oven beef stew. It’s total comfort food! The aroma that wafts through your home as it cooks all afternoon is like a warm hug from your grandmother!

This melt-in-your-mouth easy dinner recipe gives you succulent beef and flavorful vegetables that have soaked up all of the juices from the meat. It’s truly the perfect supper to serve on a quiet Sunday evening. Just add some biscuits, cornbread, or crusty bread on the side to soak up all of that extra broth!

Why use a Dutch Oven for Beef Stew?

Many folks prefer the convenience of a Crock Pot slow cooker or even an Instant Pot, but I find that the Dutch oven yields the best tasting beef stew every time. Dutch ovens are made from cast iron, so they retain and evenly distribute the heat. Plus, the tight-fitting lid traps the moisture inside the pot — resulting in the juiciest stew and meat that you will ever taste.

Instead of dried-out beef, mushy vegetables, and gummy potatoes that have been cooked to death in a slow cooker, you can easily control the cooking time of all of the individual ingredients when using a Dutch oven. Plus, you get all of those great browned bits at the bottom of the pot after browning the meat and bacon, which add tons of flavor to the stew.

The Secret to Good Stew

The secret to good stew lies in the layering of flavors and high-quality ingredients. You build these layers of flavor in the Dutch oven as you saute the bacon, sear the beef, deglaze the pot, and simmer the dish low and slow. Cooking the stew long enough is also an important tip, since this process breaks down the tough connective tissue and fiber in the meat, yielding a flavorful, tender, and juicy beef stew.

How to Make Beef Stew Tender

Patience! The key to tender beef in your stew is just cooking it long enough. You can’t rush a pot of beef stew, which does best when given the opportunity to simmer low-and-slow on your stovetop. This low, slow cooking process gradually breaks down the tough connective tissues and fibers in the meat, yielding a perfectly tender pot of stew!

Do you boil beef before making stew?

No, you will sear the meat to create a crust on the outside, to add flavor to the pot, and to lock in the juices. You do not boil the beef before preparing the meal.

The Best Meat for Beef Stew

I purchase “stew beef” or “stew meat” that has already been cut into cubes for a shortcut. Stew meatis made from cuts ofbeefwith lots of tough connective tissue, typically chuck (which comes from the front shoulder) or round (the rear muscle).

When you slowly braise these tough cuts in a liquid, the connective tissue breaks down and becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender. That’s why it’s traditionally simmered in stock and turned intobeef stew or pot roast. If you can’t find this prepared stew beef, you can purchase a whole chuck and dice it into 1-2 inch cubes at home.

What to Serve with Beef Stew

Since it’s full of meat, veggies, and potatoes, this is a great one-pot meal! That said, if you’d like to round out the supper with a couple of other options, here are a few easy sides to serve with your beef stew:

• House Salad with Candied Pecans,Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette, aClassic Caesar Salad,Mixed Greens with Dijon Vinaigrette, or aWedge Salad
• Dutch Oven Bread, No-Knead Cranberry Walnut Bread,French Baguette,Garlic Bread,Breadsticks, Homemade Crescent Rolls, orSoft Dinner Rolls
• Southern Cornbread, Pumpkin Cornbread, Broccoli Cornbread, Cake Mix Cornbread, Jiffy Cornbread with Creamed Corn,Skillet Cornbread,Sweet Cornbread,Blueberry Corn Muffins,Old-Fashioned Corn Sticks,Honey CornbreadorBakery-Style Corn Muffins
• Buttermilk Biscuits,Cheddar Biscuits with Chives and Bacon,Drop Biscuits,Flaky Biscuits,Sour Cream Muffins, 7UP Biscuits, 4-Ingredient Butter Swim Biscuits, orCheese Biscuits
• Pumpkin BreadorPumpkin Muffins
• Cranberry Orange BreadorOne-Bowl Cranberry Orange Muffins
• Cheddar Chive Beer Bread (No Yeast, No Knead)orHoney Beer Bread

Recipe Variations

• The wine gives the dish so much rich flavor; however, if you want to prepare an alcohol-free recipe, simplyreplace the wine with an extra cup of beef broth.
• If you can’t find diced stew meat at your store, purchase 2 lbs. of chuck and dice it into cubes at home.
• Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce for savory, umami flavor that pairs really well with beef.
• Balsamic vinegar is a nice alternative to the red wine vinegar.
• I typically use sweet onion, but yellow onion or white onion will also work here.
• If using yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes instead of the russets, you do not need to peel them.
• The mushrooms are one of our favorite ingredients in this stew; however, if you don’t care for mushrooms, you can substitute with frozen peas. Celery is also a nice addition to stew. Add it at the same time that you add the carrots and onions.
• In lieu of butter, brown the bacon and beef in olive oil or vegetable oil.

This recipe was originally published in January, 2021. The photos were updated in February, 2023.