This hearty winter beef stew with red wine is a warming wintertime favorite. It’s a delicious bowl of hot beef stew bursting with rich layered flavors and tender meat. The thick hearty broth is the best part and it’s always at the top of my cold-weather cravings.
Make an Easy Beef Stew with Red Wine Marinade
In this recipe, the marinated beef is what really gives this stew such richness and deep flavor and makes it special. When you cook this beef stew on the stove in a large pot or dutch oven, it creates that perfect environment with low steady heat that romances the meat into a soft, juicy bite of heaven.
Make A Delicious Marinade For The Beef Stew with Red Wine and Herbs
Before anything else, I try to marinade the beef stew meat every time I make this. I find that this helps the meat come out more tender and the marinaded meat infuses tons of flavor into the rest of the beef stew. What you’re left with is soft, delicious meat that releases so much depth of flavor into the stew as it cooks low n’ slow and goes from the stovetop to the oven.
Related: Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup
1. Marinade Beef Stew with red wine
This page contains affiliate links which allow me to earn small commissions from qualifying purchases of fun and favorite products at no cost to you.
The marinade itself is pretty easy to put together.
Toss Meat With Marinade
In a bowl with cubed chuck beef stew meat, toss in seasoned salt, fresh ground pepper, some fresh rosemary sprigs, a little red wine, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and some minced garlic. Toss to coat the meat in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let marinade for 3 hours or overnight if possible.
2. Dice Vegetables to make Beef Stew with red wine
While that mixture works its magic into the meat, start dicing the vegetables that will make up the rest of the delicious texture and hearty flavor for this homemade beef stew recipe.
3. Dredge the Beef Stew Meat
When you’re ready to put everything together, preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
(Optional) cut a few strips of bacon into a small dice and toss them in a large heated cast iron dutch oven on medium heat. This quick bacon step will add a little smoky taste to the stew and deepen it in flavor. If you’re not a big fan of bacon, skip this step and just go straight to browning the meat.
Render/brown the bacon pieces and then remove them from the pan once crisped with a slotted spoon and set on a paper towel to drain. Set aside. If not using bacon, skip this step.
Begin by dredging the meat in a little flour that’s been tossed with salt/pepper. Coating the beef cubes with a little flour and browning them will help seal in the juices and flavor.
4. Brown Your Beef Stew Meat
In the same cast iron dutch oven or large pot you used to brown the bacon, begin browning the stew meat. Brown all that delicious red wine marinated beef stew meat on all sides until golden. Remove browned meat from the pot and set aside on a plate. Work in batches if needed to avoid overcrowding the pan (which leads to the meat steaming instead of browning).
5. Add Vegetables and Beef Stew meat to the pot on the stove top
Set aside the browned meat and deglaze your pot with a little splash of red wine. Get your wooden spoon and pick up all those good brown bits up from the bottom of the pan. Add in just another dash of cooking oil if needed so we can toss in our vegetables.
What is the best red wine for beef stew?
Preferably a red wine that is dry and good enough to drink! Any dry red wine from Merlot to Cabernet Sauvignon to Pinot Noir. When added to the beef stew, a nice red wine will deeply enhance the flavors of the beef as it slowly stews away in the pot. The red wine used will also make a wine that you can pair with and enjoy alongside the meal (which elevates the experience even more).
6. Deglaze the pan and Toss in hearty Vegetables
Now, over medium-high heat, toss in your carrots, onion, celery and diced red potatoes (or russet potatoes) and another clove of crushed garlic into the pot. Stir until the vegetables sweat and soften just a tad, about another 8 to 10 minutes.
Now add the browned meat plus browned bacon pieces (if using) along with any juices back into the pot.
Top all of these off with a carton of beef broth or beef stock. Optional, you can splash in a touch more red wine at this point or throw in a fresh rosemary sprig (or a bay leaf or two) for added flavor. Fresh herbs always add great flavor, especially with that wine in the mix.
7. Cook Easy beef stew with red wine low and slow
Cover everything up with a nice tight-fitting lid and set your large dutch oven or large pot in an already pre-heated 300 F degree oven. We’re gonna cook this easy beef stew recipe low ‘n slow until everything is tender and soft.
Yes. It’s okay to open up the lid and check on your Beef stew!
Cook for about 2 to 3 hours. If it’s falling apart and fork-tender, it’s done. If the beef stew meat is still a little firm, leave it in a tad longer checking as needed until tender.
Once you knock out the first few steps to cook the beef stew on the stove, it will be time to get it in the oven to create a slow and steady heat environment. When you reach this point, it’s pretty much a ‘set it and forget it’ situation. The dutch oven on low heat is gonna slowly break down the meat and make all the delicious juicy magic happen. You just let it do its thing…
What you’re left with is soft tender meat and delicious slow roasted vegetables in a savory rich broth.
8. Make Beef Stew Thicken, If Desired
When we dredged and browned the beef stew in the pot at the beginning, it should’ve added a little thickness and body to the cooking liquids in the stew throughout cooking process.
If you find that you would like to thicken your beef stew more, remove about a cup of the cooking liquid from the pot and ladle into a small bowl. Whisk in 1 or 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour until silky and combined then pour back into the pot and stir in until combined. Cover and cook beef stew until slightly more thickened, about 20 to 30 more minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Check throughout for desired thickness.
9. Stir In Frozen Peas. Serve Hot
Stir in a pack of frozen peas about 5 minutes before the time is completely up and adjust for seasoning if needed. This will add a little bite and texture as well as a pop of vibrant green color to the finished stew.
You’ll end up with rich hearty tender chunks of beef in your stew which we started on the stovetop and easily finished up in the oven. This simple beef stew with red wine really makes a delicious warming bite for those cold winter nights.
It’s a one-pot crowd-pleasing comfort food that will warm your tummy and your bones! So go ahead, break out the big crusty bread, dip it in! Ladle it over creamy mashed potatoes or steamed rice! You totally earned it.
Hearty Winter Beef Stew with Red Wine and Rosemary | Dutch Oven Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2 lb Beef Stew Meat - cubed into larger 1 or 2 inch cubes
- 3 large Carrots - sliced
- 3 stalks Celery - sliced
- 6 Small Red Potatoes or petite potatoes - halved or quartered
- 1 Large onion - diced
- 3 cloves Fresh Garlic - minced
- 2 to 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil - for browning
- 3/4 to 1 cup All Purpose Flour - seasoned with pinches of salt and pepper – for dredging
- 1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt - for seasoning stew meat to taste
- 1 carton Beef Stock or Beef Broth - 32 oz carton
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup Dry Red Wine - optional – for marinade/stew
- 3 strips Bacon - diced
Instructions
Marinade Beef Stew Meat
- In a bowl, marinade cubed beef pieces in 1 clove of fresh minced garlic, 1/2 tsp Lawry’s seasoned salt, 1 tsp pepper, 2 sprigs of rosemary, 1/4 cup red wine, 1 tbsp good fruity olive oil, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce. Toss everything to coat and cover with plastic wrap and marinade for at least 3 hours or overnight if possible. Â
Pre-Heat Oven
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. (Optional for flavor) dice your strips of bacon and add to a small bowl, set aside.
Dredge and Brown Beef Stew Meat
- Dredge the marinated beef cubes and coat each piece with flour that’s been tossed with pinches of coarse sea salt and pepper. I find doing this on wide flat plate with raised edges is easiest. When finished dredging the meat, set right next to the stove near the dutch oven or large pot as you will need it readily. While the dutch oven heats over medium heat, add the bacon pieces to the pan and brown them. When finished browning, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add another tablespoon or so of cooking oil (preferably with a high smoke point) of your choice to the juices left behind in the pot from the bacon and begin browning the beef stew meat on all sides. Brown on all sides and remove from the pot. Set aside in a large clean bowl. Add oil as needed during browning process.
Deglaze Pot and Add Stew Vegetables and Potatoes
- Now, with the meat removed from the pan, deglaze your pot with a small splash of red wine, picking up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Toss in diced carrot, onion, celery and potatoes. Stir around for 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are softened and then add minced garlic and stir in. Continue to sweat vegetables until fragrant and beginning to soften and become tender. About another 8 to 10 minutes. Â
Add Stew Meat Back To Pot and Add Cooking Liquid
- Add browned stew meat and bacon bits back into the dutch oven or large pot and top everything off with a carton of beef stock or beef broth (adding as needed to cover meat and vegetables in the pot). Optionally, splash in a little more red wine, if desired. Give it a gentle stir, cover, and place in a preheated 300 degrees F oven until everything is softened and the meat is broken down and tender. About 2 to 3 hours.
Adjust Seasonings, Thicken The Stew If Needed, Add Peas
- 5 minutes before stew is finished, taste it and adjust the seasoning/salt if needed. Dredging and browning the beef stew meat in the beginning should have helped to add some level of thickness to the stew. However, if you would like the stew thicker, ladle a bit of the cooking liquid into a small bowl and whisk together with a tablespoon or two of all purpose flour and add back to the pot. Stir in thoroughly. Cover and cook until slightly more thickened as desired, about another 20 to 30 minutes. Check as needed.
- When desired consistency is reached, add in a bag of frozen peas and stir through. Serve with crusty French bread for dipping or ladle over fresh steamed rice or mashed potatoes. Serve hot.
Nutrition
