This simple and easy beef stew recipe is hearty, filling, and packed with potatoes, vegetables, and deliciousness in every bowl.

With this thick and creamy beef stew, you can have a filling meal and hearty beef stew with little physical work. Just cook everything together in a pot and let the flavors simmer.
We love eating beef stew like this or if I'm in a pinch and looking for a cheaper option, my Poor Man's Beef Stew is a great alternative too. A lot of the same ingredients and cooking instructions can be swapped between these two recipes (just to show how versatile it can be).
Serve up your stew with homemade bread rolls or a crusty bread slice with butter spread and a green side salad for a full and complete looking meal.
Why This Recipe Works
- Simple ingredients. This recipe uses very basic pantry staple ingredients and easy to find veggies to create a dish that's both comforting and delicious.
- It's frugal. The cost per serving of this soup is affordable and easy for most budgets to enjoy.
- Easy to make. This recipe is very easy to make, and that just gives you another reason to love it! Stir things together in a pot and watch the timer count down until it's ready.
🥘 Ingredients
Beef Stock- Use beef stock or water and bullion cubes as the broth in the soup.
Tomato Paste- Adding tomato paste to the soup will give us a nicer flavor and consistency.
Flour- This is the thickening agent that will make the soup more hearty.
Carrots- For added color and taste, use some chopped large carrots (or baby carrots).
Celery- Adding in celery will help to make the soup feel fresh.
Onion- This will give our soup a great depth of flavor.
Beef Stew Meat- Use beef stew meat or beef steak/roast that you cubed yourself into 1.5-2 inch-sized cubes.
Seasonings- You will need salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning to make the best flavor profile in this soup.
Olive Oil- This is needed to help us sautee everything together in the pot without sticking.
Potatoes- Adding in potatoes makes this stew very filling and is a great way to give us a little more starch.
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make stove top beef stew with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium/high heat
In a bowl, mix the meat with the flour to coat.
Add the meat to the heated oil. Cook until the edges appear cooked and browned. This should take about 5 minutes.
Stir in the carrots, celery, potatoes, and onion.
Cook for another 5 minutes.
Add in the tomato paste and seasonings.
Stir to coat.
Slowly add in the beef broth, mixing to dissolve the tomato paste.
Bring the pot to a boil and then place a lid on and reduce the heat.
Simmer for about 30 minutes- 1 hour or until potatoes and veggies are fork-tender.
Serve warm with salad and bread.
🍴 Recipe Tips
I love my beef stews with golden potatoes instead of russets because they don't run the risk of becoming grainy in the soup if overmixed or overcooked.
That said, either potato works great and you can choose based on your preferences or what you have on hand.
Adding pearl onions instead of diced onion is also a great option.
Baby carrots or sliced large carrots both turn out great and cook in this soup in about the same amount of time.
💭 FAQs
Tomato paste helps to create a flavorful broth and thicken the stove top stew a bit as well. That said, you can use diced or stews tomatoes instead. I've even used a cup of spaghetti sauce to replace a small can of tomato paste in recipes and had good results.
Store the leftovers of this soup in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-5 days. Reheat again before eating.
More great soup recipes to try
📖 Recipe
Stove Top Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons Olive oil ($0.39)
- 1-2 pounds Beef stew meat ($5.98)
- ⅓ cup All purpose flour ($0.20)
- 2 cups Baby carrots, (or sliced large carrots) ($0.99)
- 3 stalks Celery, chopped ($0.36)
- 1 medium Onion, quartered ($0.70)
- 1 pound Potatoes, quartered, yellow or russet ($1.44)
- 1 can (6oz) Tomato paste ($0.46)
- 1 teaspoon Salt ($0.10)
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper ($0.05)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning ($0.10)
- 4 cups (32oz) Beef stock ($1.33)
Instructions
- In large pot heat oil over med/high heat.
- In bowl or bag mix meat with flour.
- Add meat to oil.
- Cook until the edges appear browned. Meat will be raw inside, cooked on outside. About 5 minutes.
- Stir in vegetables and potatoes cook another 5 minutes.
- Add in tomato paste and seasonings. Stir to combine.
- Slowly add beef stock into pot and bring to a boil.
- Place lid on pot, reduce heat and let simmer 1 hour- 1 hr and 30 min. Until potatoes are mashable with fork and veggies are soft but not mushy.
- Serve with salad and bread rolls.
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