On top of preferences, this recipe occupies a leading place, which is why I want to share this recipe with you; it is as simple as it is delicious. If you have guests for dinner, serve them the best Dutch oven beef stew with potato gnocchi and a glass of cold beer, you will see that they will be very excited.
Table of Contents
Like most of my recipes, it has Hungarian influences due to the spices I use, and I am especially talking about paprika and marjoram this time and which I recommend you try as well. It is a simple recipe in which I will use only a few ingredients with the beef, but which will cook for a long time over low heat will result in a tasty beef stew.
Ingredients
This recipe is for two large portions or three ordinary portions, and if you have guests, you can double or triple the quantities.
I will use 500 g of beef braising steak, which, you will see, is a slice of delicious meat for this recipe: one larger white onion, one yellow pepper, one ripe tomato and two cloves of garlic.
As you can see, I will not use other vegetables, such as carrots, often found in other recipes; I want to emphasize meat that feels king in the final dish.
Why Use Braising Steak Instead of Diced Beef?
First of all, I recommend that when you buy meat to cook stews, it is even better to buy a lump of meat and cut it at home into cubes as you wish.
I chose this thick slice of braised steak because it is full of thin slices of fat that will melt and give a different taste to the dish; the pieces of meat will cook faster and be softer, melting in your mouth.
While if the meat is cut into cubes, it is usually devoid of fat, it is a piece of meat which you do not know from which side of the beef it is cut.
How to Prepare the Ingredients For the Beef Stew?
I start as I usually do, prepare all the ingredients and then start cooking. I take this beauty of beef braising steak, which I will cut into cubes, leaving all the fat on the meat because it will melt, and we will not feel it when we chew the meat.
I peeled the onion and then chopped it finely so that, in the end, we would only feel its taste in the dish; it disappeared completely.
I also chopped the garlic cloves, but whoever wants can crush it, and I also cut the pepper into small pieces so that it cooks almost at the same time as the onion.
As for the tomato, it can be added in several ways, cut it into cubes or peel it, then cut it into small pieces. I chose another easier method: cut the tomato in half and grated it with the cut side until only the peel I threw remained.
How to Make the Dutch Oven Beef Stew Recipe?
For the meat to remain juicier, I decided first to fry it a little until it gets a crust on the outside.
Frying the Meat
For this, I heated three tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven, then put the pieces of meat to fry.
I fried the meat for 2-3 minutes until it got a copper colour, turning them on each side, then I took them out on a plate and set them aside for a while.
Continue With the Vegetables
After removing the meat from the pot, I added another tablespoon of lard to melt it. You can use either pork lard or goose fat, but if you don’t have it, add two tablespoons of oil.
Put the onion, garlic and pepper, all finely chopped, to fry over medium heat; better to soften until the onion becomes glassy than crispy.
This means we sauté it for about two or three minutes on medium heat, and then we put the pieces of pre-fried meat back in the pot.
Seasoning the Stew
Now I will season the dish with a teaspoon of sea salt, one teaspoon of freshly ground pepper, one tablespoon of paprika (if possible Hungarian), one bay leaf and one teaspoon of dried marjoram.
Finishing the Dish
Mix with a wooden spoon taking care not to burn the paprika, and immediately add the grated tomato, after which I poured about half a litre of water.
Put the lid on and let it simmer until the meat is cooked and becomes very soft. I cooked over low heat for about an hour and a half, but depending on the type of meat used and the animal’s age, it may differ; it is good to test the meat from time to time.
And that’s it; this was my easy Dutch oven beef stew version ready to serve; I can’t wait to sit down and eat.
How to Storage
If you keep it in the fridge, it can be consumed three to four days after preparation, but if you want to keep it longer, it is advisable to freeze it in heavy-duty freezer bags.
Serving the Stew
The Dutch oven beef stew can be served in different ways, and I chose the delicious potato gnocchi I bought and just boiled them. But it also goes well with mashed potatoes, polenta, French fries or dumplings. And with hot chilly pepper and a glass of cold beer is the ideal dinner for me.
If you liked my cast iron Dutch oven beef stew recipe, I also recommend other various stew recipes from our blog, such as:
- Creamy Pork Stew Recipe
- Turkey Cabbage Stew Recipe
- Hungarian Hunter’s Stew Recipe
- Best Lamb Stew Recipe With Raisins and Couscous
- Creamy Homemade Chicken Stew Recipe
- Best Turkey Stew Recipe
- Best Homemade Beef Stroganoff Recipe
- Simple Pork Tenderloin Stew Recipe
- Best Homemade Beef Stew Recipe
- Pork Shoulder Stew With Mushrooms and Sour Cream
- Dutch Oven Turkey Tenderloin Recipe
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Dutch Oven Beef Stew
Equipment
- 1 Dutch oven pot
Ingredients
- 500 g beef braising steak
- 1 piece onion large size
- 1 piece tomato ripe
- 1 piece yellow paprika pepper
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp pork lard or goose lard
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika powder Hungarian
- 1 tsp sea salt kosher
- 1 tsp ground pepper freshly ground
- 1 piece bay leave fresh or dried
- 1 tsp marjoram dried
- 500 ml water
Instructions
- Take this beef braising steak and cut it into cubes, peel the onion and then chop it finely, cut the pepper and the garlic cloves into small pieces.
- Cut the tomato in half and then grated it with the cut side until only the peel that I threw remained.
- Heat three tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven and then I put the pieces of meat to fry. Fry the meat for 2-3 minutes until it got a copper colour, turning them on each side, then take them out on a plate.
- In the same Dutch oven add one tablespoon of pork lard to melt and put the onion, garlic and pepper to fry over medium heat.
- Sauté it for about two or three minutes on medium heat and then put the pieces of pre-fried meat back in the pot.
- Season with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, paprika (if possible Hungarian), bay leaf and dried marjoram, add the grated tomato after which pour about half a litre of water.
- Put the lid on and let it simmer until the meat is cooked and becomes very soft, around one and half hour.
- Can be served with gnocchi, mashed potatoes, polenta or dumplings.