Food and Recipes Recipes Beef Stew Recipe Comforting stew brings joy to every dinner table. By Southern Living Test Kitchen Southern Living Test Kitchen The Southern Living Test Kitchen has been publishing recipes since 1970, four years after the first issue of Southern Living Magazine appeared on newsstands. The Southern Living Test Kitchen team includes a team of professionals with deep expertise in recipe development, from pastry chefs and grilling experts to nutritionists and dietitians. Together, the team tests and retests, produces, styles, and photographs thousands of recipes each year in the state-of-the-art test kitchen facility located in Birmingham, Alabama. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on July 20, 2021 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Active Time: 35 mins Total Time: 4 hrs 15 mins Yield: 8 serves Beef stew is the benevolent king of all stews. Familiar yet never tiresome, chunks of tender beef and potatoes in rich brown gravy will always bring comfort and joy to our tables. Little things are what elevate a good stew to become a great one. Taking time to sear the beef is integral to flavor in both the meat and the gravy, as is letting it simmer low and slow until the beef is spoon-tender. Busy cooks might be tempted to purchase packages of so-called stew meat at the market, but it pays to follow this recipe and take a few minutes to cut up an economical chuck roast. Stew meat is a mixture of scraps left over when a butcher trims a range of cuts to go in the meat case, and these random pieces won't cook the same way or finish at the same time. The uniformity of a well-marbled chuck roast yields consistent results and the best flavor. Originally, this recipe called for the stew to be cooked in a wok, which was trendy at the time. We prefer using a Dutch oven because it provides a large, flat surface to properly brown the meat. Ingredients 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt ½ teaspoon black pepper 2 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes ⅓ cup vegetable oil 4 cups sliced yellow onion (about 2 medium onions) 1 (12-oz.) can pale beer (such as Yuengling Traditional Lager) 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon steak sauce (such as A.1. Original Sauce) 1 garlic clove, crushed 2 bay leaves ½ teaspoon dried thyme 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1⁄2-inch pieces (about 4 medium potatoes) 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces 1 (10-oz.) package frozen English peas 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional) Directions Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl; dredge beef in flour mixture. Heat half of oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high; add half of beef, and cook until browned all over, about 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and beef. Add onion to Dutch oven, and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in beer, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme; bring to a boil. Add beef; cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until beef is tender, 2 ½ to 3 hours. Stir in potatoes and carrots; cover and simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in peas; cook an additional 2 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Top each serving with chopped parsley, if desired. Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox Print