Beef stew is the perfect comfort food to warm you up on a cold evening, and there is nothing worse than this homemade meal turning out thin and flavourless.
It is incredibly important to be careful of timing when cooking stew as if the beef is left too long on the stove it will lose too much moisture which will make the broth watery and unappetising.
Holly Nilsson, a cook and the creator of Spend With Pennies, has shared cooking a stew is incredibly easy if you brown the meat properly and draw out moisture from your vegetables.
However, you can also quickly thicken the broth by making a cornstarch slurry, which will create a smooth velvet texture to make the stew feel richer without adding extra fat or calories.
She said: “Stew can be thickened by giving the vegetables a quick mash or you can use either flour or cornstarch.
“My preferred method for thickening beef stew (and the method used in this beef stew recipe) is to use a cornstarch slurry.”
Cornstarch slurry is a simple recipe made out of water and cornflour (or cornstarch) which will thicken the stew to draw out moisture without compromising the flavour.
How to make the perfect thick beef stew
You will need:
- 900g of beef (trimmed and cubed)
- 450g of potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 75g of peas
- One onion (chopped)
- Four carrots (cut into two-centimetre cubes)
- Four celery sticks (cut into two-centimetre cubes)
- 1.4 litres of beef stock
- 120ml of red wine (optional)
- Three tablespoons of plain flour
- Three tablespoons of olive oil
- Three tablespoons of tomato puree
- One teaspoon of fried rosemary
- Half a teaspoon of garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
To make the cornstarch slurry:
- Two tablespoons of cornflour
- Two tablespoons of water
Recipe:
To begin, place the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the beef and toss it in the flour mixture until it is fully coated.
Heat the olive oil in a pot. Cook the beef and onioned until both have browned. Then pour in the beef broth and red wine, if using.
Make sure to scrape up any brown bits at the bottom of the pan to get all the extra flavour. Then stir in the remaining ingredients except the peas, cornflour and water.
Place the pot on a medium-low heat, cover the pot and let the stew simmer for one hour or until the beef is tender.
After the cooking time is up, make the cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornflour and water together in a small bowl.
Holly said: “A slurry is super easy to make! Combine equal parts cornstarch and water and stir. I told you it was easy!!”
Once you have made your slurry, pour the mixture a little at a time into the stew until you have the desired consistency.
After you have added the slurry, leave it to boil for one or two minutes and give it to stir to make sure you cook out all the cornstarch and do not have a starchy flavour in your broth.
Season with salt and pepper, then add the peas. Let the beef stew simmer for five to 10 minutes more before serving this mouthwatering dish.
