My beef stew recipe uses carefully selected ingredients and techniques for the BEST flavor, ever! This stew can be made in the oven or slow cooker and includes instructions for both.

Recipe:

Ingredients
½ cup all-purpose flour (63g)
1 ½ teaspoon table salt, divided
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 ½ lbs chuck roast, cut into 1 ½” cubes (1.13kg)
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 Tablespoon salted or unsalted butter (or use additional olive oil)
1 cup yellow onion, diced (about 1 medium-sized onion) (130g)
1 ½ Tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup dry red wine (I use Merlot) (236ml)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 cups beef broth (946ml)
1 ½ lbs gold potatoes, cut into 1” pieces (I use small potatoes that I can just cut in half, but unpeeled Gold potatoes are a great alternative) (680g)
1 lb carrots, cut into 1” pieces (453g)
2 stalks celery, cut into 1” pieces
3 dried bay leaves
5 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 small sprig fresh rosemary (or ½ teaspoon dried rosemary)
Additional salt and pepper, to taste

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Instructions
Arrange rack to center of your oven and preheat oven to 325F (160C).
In a large paper or Ziploc bag, toss together flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Add cubed meat and toss until all of the cubes have been coated with flour.
Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Working in batches, remove the meat from the bag and lightly shake off any excess flour (do not discard flour). Sear meat in batches, allowing space between each piece (otherwise it won’t brown properly, I usually do 3 batches). Cook for about 3 minutes or until deep golden brown on one side, flip and sear the opposite side until deep golden brown, then remove to a plate while you cook the next batch. Add additional oil between batches as needed.
Reduce heat to medium, toss a Tablespoon of butter into the pot and once it’s melted add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened (about 3 minutes).
Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant/30 seconds.
Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, for about a minute or until browned in color.
Measure out 1 Tablespoon of flour from your earlier flour mixture (if you tossed this just measure yourself a fresh Tablespoon of flour) and sprinkle over the pot. Cook, stirring, until flour is fully absorbed then cook another minute.
Very slowly, drizzle in wine, scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze it and work any browned bits into the stew. Cook until wine is slightly reduced, slightly thickened, and glossy in appearance (several minutes).
Add worcestershire sauce and slowly drizzle in beef broth and stir well.
Return beef to the pot (including any juices that collected on the plate), and add remaining ingredients (remaining ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, potatoes, carrots, celery, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary).
Stir and ensure that the beef and veggies are mostly covered by the broth (and the herbs are completely submerged, or they’ll burn). Slightly offset the lid from the pot, transfer to center rack of 325F (160C) oven and bake for 2-3 hours. Check stew at 2 hours and add more time as needed, cooking until beef is tender enough that it falls apart with a fork.
Once meat is tender, discard bay leaves and thyme/rosemary stems. Check the consistency and taste of the soup. If you’d like it a bit thicker, simmer uncovered on the stovetop until thickened. Taste-test and add salt and pepper as needed (if the soup tastes anything less than supremely flavorful, it likely needs a bit more salt to bring out the flavors of the soup).

Notes
Chuck roast
Choose a chuck roast that is well-marbled for best flavor. Avoid pre-cut “stew meat”.
Storing
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The flavor of the stew develops as it sits and some people even say it’s better the next day. This stew may also be frozen.
Slow Cooker
To use a slow cooker, follow steps 1-10 then transfer ingredients to basin of a slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. Note that the broth does not become quite as thick when prepared in a slow cooker, to help thicken the stew, remove the lid after 8 hours and cook on high, stirring occasionally (or return to a large pot on the stovetop and simmer, uncovered, until thickened).

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