Dutch Oven Beef Stew

This is a hearty Dutch Oven Beef Stew that is slow cooked in the oven. In the 5 hour cook time the flavors develop, the beef becomes impossibly tender and the veggies cook perfectly. The tapioca pearls thicken the tomato based sauce into a luscious gravy. It will fill your house with the most savory scents, everyone will be running to the table for this hearty beef stew.

This is a dish that my Mom always made, except we called it 5 Hour Beef Stew. It is a common “Midwestern” recipe, although the recipes do vary in the seasonings, vegetables, and liquid that are included.

Some similar Beef recipes that are popular on Mom’s Dinner are the Red Wine Beef Stew and Instant Pot Beef and Barley.

Why It’s The Best…

• Hello One-Pot Meal! Everything cooks together in one pot, less mess/less dishes!
• In the 5 hour cook time the stew develops so much flavor!.
• Beef Stew Meat is incredibly economical and is fall apart tender after it stews in the oven for 5 hours.
• Tapioca Pearls thicken the tomato based broth perfectly.

Ingredients

Pictured are the ingredients that you need to gather to make Dutch Oven Beef Stew and some tips on a few important ingredients:

Beef Stew Meat is generally what I use for Beef Stew that will be cooked for a long time. Stew meat is chuck or round steak that is tenderized and cut into smaller 1 or 2 inch chunks. Since it is a tougher cut of beef it is generally a very inexpensive meat to buy.

If you have the time to simmer or slow cook it, it becomes super tender and flavorful. It is definitely not a cut of beef that you would want to buy for grilling or quick cooking (unless you are quick cooking in the Instant Pot, like my Beef & Barley Stew, it’s perfect for the IP)

Tomato Juice is the base for the gravy/sauce. The beef stew meat and veggies infuse the tomato juice with layers of flavor. You can also use a V-8 if you prefer or if that is what you have.

Russet Potatoes are the perfect starchy potato to use in this recipe. They hold up to the long cooking time and become deliciously creamy in the stew.

Bay Leaf – this will add a nice earthy flavor to the stew. Just make sure to remove them and discard at the end of the cooking time.

Tapioca Pearls are the thickening agent in this stew recipe. As the stew bakes the tapioca pearls melt into the sauce/gravy and thicken it perfectly. Read more about this crucial ingredient below.

Tapioca Pearls

Most of the Mom’s Dinner recipes are very straight forward with ingredients that are familiar and easy to find.

This recipe has an ingredient that is a little different, tapioca pearls.

They are made from the starch that is extracted from the cassava root. You have probably heard of or had large tapioca pearls in bubble tea (also known as boba). Or maybe you love tapioca pudding as much as me!?

In this Dutch Oven Beef Stew recipe the tapioca pearls are added to thicken the sauce, broth, or gravy. After 5 hours in the oven the pearls “melt” into the tomato juice and thicken it to create a delicious tomato gravy for this beef stew.

You can find tapioca pearls in the grocery store either with the pudding or by the grains. Just make sure you do not buy tapioca pudding mix.

You can also order the tapioca pearls here from Amazon.

Step by Step Picture Instructions

This is a super easy Dutch Oven Beef Stew recipe. Just make sure you have 5 hours to let it stew in the oven.

Chop your carrots, onions, celery, and peeled potatoes into similar sized 1 ½-2 inch chunks. I also usually will cut some of the stew meat into smaller chunks so they are all around 1-2 inches in size.

Add all the ingredients into a large Dutch Oven that has a lid and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon. Place it in the preheated oven for 5 hours.

If you can, give the Beef Stew a stir at least once or twice during cooking.

Let the stew cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Make sure you remove the bay leaves and discard before serving.

Serving & Storing

This Homemade Beef Stew is excellent served with saltine crackers (like a soup) or warm crusty bread and butter (like ciabatta or sour dough). You can also garnish with chopped fresh parsley for a fancy look and fresh taste.

This is a hearty meal on it’s own so you don’t really need any other side dishes. But these Apple Pie Bars would make a killer dessert!

If you are lucky enough to have leftovers pop them in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat portions in the microwave.

Freezing

You can absolutely freeze this Dutch Oven Stew. I recommend freezing it in portion sizes. Keep frozen for up to 3 months.

Thaw in the fridge overnight or place the frozen stew in a pot on the stove top . You may need to add a little bit of liquid (beef stock, chicken broth or water) when reheating.

Troubleshooting The Seasonings

Make sure you give the stew a taste before serving. This way you can perfect the flavor to your family’s taste.

The recipe has a lot of tomato which can be too acidic for some… or maybe your family likes things extra salty…or maybe you had extra sweet carrots and need to balance the flavor. Here are some suggestions:

• Too savory – add a little more sugar and give it a good stir.
• Too salty – add some broth (beef or chicken) or water to dilute the saltiness.
• Too sweet – add some additional salt, a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce or a vinegar like balsamic.
• Too Tangy – add a little more sugar and give it a stir.

Customizing This Beef Stew

This recipe is pretty traditional with tender meat, potatoes, carrots, celery and onions. But maybe you like peas in your beef stew or flavors of fresh thyme or rosemary. Here are some ways to customize the flavor for your family:

• Add frozen peas or green beans at the very end of cooking, the heat of the stew will warm the peas.
• Baby Bella mushrooms, halved, will add a nice earthy flavor and hearty texture.
• Instead of chopped onion use frozen pearl onions.
• Chop some fresh thyme or rosemary and add it at the beginning for a herbaceous flavor.
• For red wine lovers, replace a cup of the tomato juice with a cup of red wine (pinot noir or malbec would be great!).

Recipe Tips

Follow these final recipe tips so that your Beef Stew turns out perfectly!

• Use a quality beef stew meat and make sure the pieces are cut to 1-2 inches each.
• Cut the remaining vegetables roughly the same size between 1-2 inches.
• Stir the Stew a couple times during the 5 hour cook so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
• Don’t skip the tapioca, it thickens the broth perfectly.
• Don’t forget to taste for additional seasoning before you serve!

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