what’s for dinner :: hearty beef stew recipe

It has been a nasty winter so far and I this weekend when my husband requested beef stew it sounded like a great meal idea. This weekend, after years of trying to find a beef stew recipe that my family would eat, I finally hit upon that magic combination of ingredients and flavors. Not only did my latest attempt at beef stew get approval from my husband, all three kids cleaned their bowls! Since this recipe received the stamp of approval from all members of the family it has made the cut to be shared and I hope that you can enjoy this hearty beef stew sometime soon.

Beef Stew

Ingredients ::

• 2 lbs stew beef cut into 1/2 inch to 1 inch squares
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion chopped (1-1.5 cups)
• 3 cloves fresh garlic – minced
• 6 cups beef broth
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 tbsp tapioca flour
• 4 celery stalks chopped
• 6 carrots peeled and chopped medium
• 10-12 yellow small/medium potatoes – washed and chopped large
• 1 lb mushrooms cut into quarters
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 2 cups frozen peas

Directions ::

1. Heat oil in a large dutch oven and sear all sides of stew beef in batches. Set aside and drain extra oil.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. Add onions and garlic to pan and sauté for 1 min. Put meat back in and add beef broth, whole can of diced tomatoes, dried parsley, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and tapioca flour. Bring to boil.
4. Cover and bake in the oven for 1 hour.
5. Remove from oven and add in celery, carrots, potatoes, and onions. Still well and return to oven for one additional hour.
6. Remove from oven and add frozen corn and peas. Stir and let sit for 10-20 min before serving.

This recipe filled my 5 quart dutch oven so you may need to cut the recipe in half if you need to fit a smaller dutch oven. Serve with your favorite crusty bread or fresh baked cornbread and enjoy! We had approximately 15 servings from this one batch of stew which I thought was a pretty good return on approximately 30 min of prep time and 2.5 hours of cooking (and really 2 hours of that as it just sitting in the oven).