Description
This hearty beef stew is a comforting and flavorful dish, perfect for warming up on a chilly day. Featuring tender chunks of beef chuck roast braised with aromatic vegetables, red wine, and herbs, the stew is thickened with a blended vegetable base and packed with potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms. Its rich, robust flavors and satisfying texture make it an ideal meal that feels like a pot roast in a bowl.
Ingredients
Scale
Beef and Coating
- 3 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp sea salt (for seasoning beef)
- 2 tsp ground black pepper (for seasoning beef)
- 1/3 cup chickpea flour (for coating beef)
Vegetables and Aromatics
- 2 carrots, unpeeled and quartered
- 3 carrots, sliced into 1/2-inch slices
- 2 celery ribs, quartered
- 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled
- 7 cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 2 lbs red or Yukon potatoes, unpeeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
Liquids and Seasonings
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups dry red wine (or substitute with additional 1 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth)
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 whole fresh thyme sprigs
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth, plus extra as needed
Instructions
- Preheat and Brown Beef: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Season the beef chunks with sea salt and ground black pepper. Lightly coat beef pieces in chickpea flour, shaking off excess. Brown beef in batches without crowding the pot, turning to brown all sides. Set browned beef aside on a plate.
- Sauté Vegetables: Reduce heat to medium and add quartered carrots, celery, onion, and garlic to the pot. Cook stirring occasionally for 10–15 minutes until the vegetables are well browned.
- Add Tomato Paste: Stir in tomato paste with the vegetables to incorporate fully.
- Deglaze with Balsamic Vinegar: Pour in balsamic vinegar and stir to blend. Cook for 1–2 minutes to reduce slightly and deepen flavor.
- Simmer with Wine and Herbs: Add red wine, bay leaf, and thyme sprigs to the pot. Let the mixture simmer gently for 5 minutes.
- Braise the Beef: Return the browned beef and any juices to the pot. Add 4 cups of low sodium beef broth and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and place it in the preheated oven to braise for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the beef is tender and easily pulled apart.
- Remove Herbs and Blend Sauce: Carefully remove the beef, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf from the pot. Set the beef aside. Using a stick blender, blend the contents remaining in the pot until smooth to thicken and flavor the stew base. If you don’t have a stick blender, you may use a food processor or traditional blender.
- Return Beef and Boil: Add the beef back to the pot and bring the stew to a boil on the stovetop.
- Add Vegetables and Simmer: Add the potatoes, sliced carrots, and quartered mushrooms to the pot, submerging as many as possible. Add additional beef broth as needed to cover the ingredients, but use sparingly to avoid diluting flavors. Cover and simmer on low for 40–60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes and carrots are tender.
Notes
- This stew is very hearty and similar to having a pot roast in a bowl; it’s so satisfying you’ll want seconds, though it’s quite filling.
- Use a dry red wine for best flavor; if avoiding alcohol, substitute the wine with additional low sodium beef broth.
- Chickpea flour provides a gluten-free coating alternative to wheat flour and helps to thicken the stew.
- The blending step thickens the stew and infuses it with concentrated flavor from the cooked-down vegetables.
- Leftovers keep well and often taste better the next day as flavors meld.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups
- Calories: 630 kcal
- Sugar: 5.3 g
- Sodium: 890.8 mg
- Fat: 32.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 12.8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 17 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.4 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 38.5 g
- Cholesterol: 115.7 mg
