This dutch oven Beef Stew with red wine is pure comfort food, and it is utterly delicious! Tender beef is swimming in a rich beer and red wine sauce, accompanied by potatoes and carrots. Serve this easy stove top stew recipe with some crusty bread for a filling winter meal!
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Red Wine Beef Stew
This old-fashioned beef stew with red wine is a delicious and classic dish for cold winter nights. It has a deep, rich flavor, and requires very little effort to make!
The meat in this stove top beef stew recipe comes out incredibly tender. And the red wine sauce adds so much flavor, and has a beautifully silky texture. This stew is filled with potatoes and carrots for an extra hearty and warming meal.
Everyone will love this dish, and it’s sure to become a winter staple at your house. This dutch oven beef stew is sure to please, and it makes for great leftovers too.
Why You’ll Love this Dutch Oven Beef Stew Recipe:
- TENDER BEEF: Slow-cooked beef comes out perfectly tender in this flavorful stew.
- RED WINE SAUCE: The combination of red wine and beer creates the most delicious red wine sauce for our beef stew.
- ONE POT STEW: This recipe is so easy to make! All you need is one pot to make this simple stove top beef stew.
This easy red wine beef stew and potatoes is all made in one pot. It’s a mostly hands-off recipe, so just let it simmer on the stove, and then enjoy!
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Beef Stew Ingredients
- Olive Oil: You can also use canola oil instead.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter.
- Beef: Use stew meat or chuck roast, and trim the fat.
- Veggies: This recipe calls for onion, carrots, and potatoes. But you can use different veggies if desired.
- Garlic: Freshly minced.
- Beer: A single 12 oz bottle of beer will do. Ideally, use a stout or dark ale (dark beer is better than light for stew).
- Red Wine: Use a dry or semi-dry wine.
- Beef Stock
- Beef Bouillon Cubes: Or use dry au jus mix instead.
- Tomato Paste
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Bay Leaves
- Beef Stew Seasonings: Smoked paprika, kosher salt, ground black pepper, sugar.
- Garnish: Add some fresh parsley after cooking.
How to make Red Wine Beef Stew on the Stovetop
You can jump to the recipe card for full ingredients & instructions!
- In a Dutch Oven, brown the meat, then remove from the pot. Then place in onions and add the garlic. After they’ve softened add the beer, then add the beef and all other ingredients except carrots, potatoes and parsley.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer covered for an hour.
- Remove the lid and simmer for another hour before adding the carrots and potatoes.
- Allow to thicken, serve with chopped parsley and crusty bread!
Recipe Variations
This easy beef stew with red wine is EASY to adapt. Feel free to make some changes based on the ingredients you have, and your taste.
Here are some ideas:
- Substitute sweet potatoes, or leave potatoes out all together if you prefer.
- Add in egg noodles or another pasta.
- Toss in some frozen peas or sauteed mushrooms at the very end of cook time.
No matter how you make it, it’s a super satisfying comfort food for a cold night!
Use a dry or semi-dry red wine (meaning something that isn’t sweet). I recommend using a cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir. Feel free to use something inexpensive, because you don’t want to waste the best wines on cooking!
Stew is the ideal time to skip the lean, pricier cuts of meat and go for the less expensive, tougher cuts. The long, slow cook time leaves lean meat (like sirloin) tough and chewy, while tougher cuts (like chuck) break down and become really tender.
Stew will need to cook on the stove top for about 2 hours. Prep is quick, so you won’t have to tack too much more time on to the rest of the recipe.
To thicken beef stew, add some cornstarch in and let it simmer a little longer. To thin it out, add a bit more water or broth.
Potatoes, carrots, and other root vegetables are ideal for stew. They can withstand long cook times, and become tender. You can add other veggies too if you prefer. Turnips, sweet potatoes, and peas would all taste great.
What does adding red wine to stew do?
Adding red wine to beef stew is a great way to balance out the taste. It adds a fullness in flavor that is both savory and a little fruity (like a great red wine!). Basically, it just makes this old-fashioned stew so much more delicious!
Do I have to use a dutch oven?
I love making this stove top beef stew in a dutch oven for a few reasons. They are large, have high sides, and a heavy bottom. And for dishes like stew and chili, heft is a necessity. It means higher heat retention, which is great for slow-cooking.
We’re also browning the meat before adding it to the stew. And the heat retention of these pots means you can evenly brown and caramelize the meat.
A fitting lid is important too, ensuring a steady cooking temperature, resulting in super tender meat that is perfectly infused with moisture and flavor.
So no, you don’t have to use a dutch oven, but I highly recommend it if you have one. If you don’t, you can use any heavy-bottomed pot.
Can you freeze beef stew with red wine?
Yes, you can absolutely freeze this beef stew recipe if you have leftovers, or want to make it ahead of time. The stew can be frozen for up to 3 months!
Before serving, defrost the stew in the refrigerator for 24 hours and then reheat on the stovetop, over medium-low heat, until hot.
Note: If you are making this specifically to freeze, omit the potatoes because they don’t freeze well. Instead, boil some potatoes separately when you defrost, and then add them into the stew.
Tips!
- Brown your beef. It’s SO worth it. You can make this dutch oven stew without browning the beef before, and it’s still good…but the version with the browned beef is amazing!
- Adding Veggies. Add hearty vegetables, like carrots, turnips, and potatoes halfway through cooking. If you plan to include delicate vegetables, like peas, wait to add them until a few minutes before taking the stew off the heat.
- This recipe makes a lot, and the leftovers are even more amazing, so definitely save what you don’t eat the first night! You can refrigerate or freeze leftover beef stew.
What to Serve with Beef Stew
This red wine beef stew is filled with carrots and potatoes, so it makes a pretty hearty meal on its own. Of course, I always recommend serving some crusty bread along with it (dipped in that red wine sauce? Delicious!). And a glass of red wine pairs perfectly for dinner.
If you want to add some side dishes, a salad or more veggies is a great idea!
This hearty beef stew with red wine is absolutely delicious! It’s filled with so much flavor, and so easy to make on the stove top. Make this for cold winter nights, and save some in your freezer to serve later. Everyone will love this stew!
More Hearty Soups and Stews
- Instant Pot 5 Spice Beef Stew
- Witches Brew Stew
- Slow Cooker Guinness Stew
- Hungarian Goulash
- White Wine Chicken Stew
- Creamy Chicken Stew
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Red Wine Beef Stew Recipe
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 pounds stew meat or a 2½ -pound chuck roast trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 12 ounces beer
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup dry red wine
- 3 cups unsalted beef stock
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 5 carrots peeled and chopped
- 6 Yukon Gold or yellow potatoes peeled & cubed
- Garnish: Fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil and butter in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat.3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Brown half of the stew meat, and transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the remaining meat to the Dutch oven, brown all sides, and place it with the other browned meat.2 pounds stew meat or a 2½ -pound chuck roast
- Place the chopped onions in the pot and cook 3-4 minutes or until translucent and softened. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, stirring often.1 yellow onion, 3 cloves garlic
- Slowly add the beer and stir while deglazing the pan.12 ounces beer
- Add the browned beef and all other ingredients EXCEPT carrots, potatoes and parsley. Stir well.1 yellow onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1/3 cup dry red wine, 3 cups unsalted beef stock, 2 beef bouillon cubes, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 bay leaves, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Bring the mixture to a boil, stir, cover and reduce the heat to low.
- Simmer the stew (covered) for 1 hour. Remove the lid and simmer an additional 1 hour.
- Add carrots and potatoes and cook until vegetables are tender and stew has thickened, about 20-30 minutes.5 carrots, 6 Yukon Gold or yellow potatoes
- The stew should be somewhat thick(ish). If too thick, add additional water or broth. If it is too thin, add 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch (according to package directions). Simmer until the stew has thickened to the desired consistency.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with toasty bread. Enjoy!Garnish: Fresh parsley
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’s tips
- Brown your beef. It’s SO worth it. You can make this stew without browning the beef before, and it’s still good, but the version with the browned beef is amazing!
- Don’t go for ‘fancy’ beef cuts! Stew is the ideal time to skip the lean, pricier cuts of meat and go for the less expensive, tougher cuts. The long, slow cook time leaves lean meat, like sirloin, tough and chewy, while tougher cuts, like chuck, break down and become really tender.
- Adding Veggies. Add hearty vegetables, like carrots, turnips, and potatoes halfway through cooking. If you plan to include delicate vegetables, like peas, wait to add them until a few minutes before taking the stew off the heat.
- This recipe makes a lot, and the leftovers are even more amazing, so definitely save what you don’t eat the first night!
Nutrition Information
It says to add the vegetables after the second simmer. But doesn’t say how long in the cook. On it just says cook until they’re tender.
Hi Matt, we recommend about 20-30 minutes!
This recipe looks so good. Instructions are confusing. Do you add the carrots and potatoes after the first hour of simmer or after the 2nd hour of simmer? In the summary it says after 1st but instruction card says 2nd. Which is it?
Hi Christiyne, so sorry for the confusion! Please follow the instructions on the recipe card and add the veggies after the second hour of simmering!
Just made this and it is delicious! Saving this one!
We thought the stew was really delicious! I made it according to the recipe, although I only used half of the carrots and potatoes as I thought that was all that would cook well in the amount of liquid left in the Dutch oven. Definitely one I’ll be making again!
Thanks for sharing, Helen!