Last week we finally finished our long distance move from one state to another. If you’ve ever made a long distance move, you know that the most problematic thing is food left in your refrigerator or freezer. You’ll spend weeks trying to use up everything you can just so none of it goes to waste, and my last few weeks were no different. Sometimes the recipes that come out of a last ditch effort to use up everything in your freezer can be no-repeat recipes, and other times they’re delicious. For me, this beef stew recipe was completely delicious and one I’ll be making again because it was so simple.

I had some leftover sliced beef and pork along with carrots and onions which I always have on hand for making chicken stock. I simply added some potatoes and had a super delicious meal ready to go! Here’s the recipe.

Easy Beef Stew Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds beef sliced or cubed (or in my case beef and pork)
1/4 cup flour (I used regular flour because it’s what I had on hand, but oat flour would work just as well)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic minced
2 bay leaf
1 onion diced
2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes diced
4 carrots sliced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 can tomato paste

Directions

Place flour into a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Toss beef in flour to coat.
Cook beef in a skillet over medium heat with olive oil till browned. Remove from skillet and place in a large pot.
Cook onions in skillet until softened then transfer to the pot with your beef.
Using the red wine, de-glaze the skillet and add the red wine and bits from the skillet to the pot.
Place the rest of the ingredients into the pot with the beef and onions and bring to a simmer (I added a bit of extra red wine here because I love the taste so much).
Simmer for 30 minutes to one hour or until the carrots and potatoes are cooked through (stir every now and again so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot).
Remove the bay leaves, then serve and enjoy!

This recipe may sound a bit complicated, but it basically boils down to brown the meat and onions, de-glaze pan, and simmer everything in a pot till it’s yummy. If you’ve been too intimidated to try making beef stew , give this recipe a try, you won’t be disappointed.

I highly recommend playing around with this recipe and adding any vegetable you feel would go well… cauliflower, peas, beans, even broccoli or mushrooms would be a great addition to this stew.

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Photo by Clemens v. Vogelsang is licensed under CC BY 2.o