Many stews can be thickened with flour or corn starch, but this version avoids all that and replaces it with crazy amounts of flavor! Sometimes beef stew can be cooked to death, so every bit tastes the same and has the same mouthfeel (that is to say, is mushy). I share some tricks for getting the most flavor out of your stew possible, while helping the vegetables keep some of their own flavor and texture.
Grain & Gluten Free Beef Stew
A simple beef stew with zero thickeners and loads of flavor.
Equipment
- 6 qt Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
- Cutting Board
- 9in Tongs
- Flat Wooden Spatula
- Miyabi Evolution 8in Chef's Knife
Ingredients
For the Seasoning
- 1 Tbsp coriander seed
- 2 tsp fennel seed
- 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes depending on desired spice level
- 1 1/2 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tbsp black pepper fresh cracked
- 2 tbsp coarse salt
For Stewing the Beef
- 2-2 1/2 lbs stew meat or beef roast cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup olive oil perhaps more, depending on dryness in pan during searing
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2-3 ribs celery leafy parts are best, any part works
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 3 sprigs oregano
- 1-2 whole bay leaves
- 14 oz diced tomatoes fire roasted preferred
- 3 cups beef bone broth
For the Final Cook
- 1 lb carrots cut non-uniformly
- 1 1/2 lbs potatoes cut non-uniformly
- 6-7 cremini mushrooms thick sliced
- 1 handful parsley chopped
- 6 cups beef bone broth
To Finish
- TT salt
Instructions
Sear the Beef
- Heat your cast iron pot just below medium. Make the seasoning by grinding the coriander, fennel and red pepper flakes together. Add the remaining spices, salt and pepper, and mix together.
- Toss the stew meat in the seasoning until evenly coated. Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to your pot and sear the beef in small batches so each piece has space around it and steam can escape. Add more olive oil as necessary to sear all the beef, setting aside the finished batches in a bowl.
Stew the Beef
- Set oven to 325. Add the onion, celery, herbs and bay leaf to the pot with 1/4 cup or so of water. Saute for 5 minutes, making sure to scrape the fond from the bottom of the pot (that's all the good stuff left behind from searing the beef).
- Add the can of fire roasted diced tomatoes and 3 cups beef bone broth, stir, cover and place in the oven to cook for 2 hours.
Finish the Stew
- After 2 hours, add the cut up carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, parsley, and 6 more cups of beef bone broth. Stir, cover and put back in the oven for 1- 1 /12 hours until vegetables reach desired tenderness. Taste, season with salt if needed, and enjoy!
What do you think?
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I finally made your beautiful beef stew recipe, but I wanted to let you know you forgot to write in the written recipe that we need to add the seared beef back into the pot at the same time as the diced tomatoes and the broth (for the first round in the oven). I trusted the recipe would tell me to add it in later and so I didn’t put it in for the first two hours. Then, for the second round, I noticed it didn’t tell me to add it in then either... or even at the end of the recipe. So I rewatched the video, noticed where you put it in (whoops!) and then just added it for the second round in the oven. Also, BTW, the written recipe says to put it in the second time for 1.5 hours, whereas the video says to put it in for only one extra hour. Given that I didn’t put the beef in when I should have, I’ll just follow your written recipe, but check it that last 30 min. Thank you!!
I just made this and it was so delicious! I was short on time so I did it all on the stovetop and it still came out great. I also replaced the water added to the onions and celery with red wine and that worked really well. Please keep these delicious recipes coming!
This was so good! I'm a long time reader and LOVE these cooking posts and that they are allergy friendly.
We loved the stew! But, next time we will cut the red pepper flakes to 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon.
Excellent flavors!! Will definitely be making again!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
I made it yesterday. Excellent flavor!
This looks and sounds delicious! Is there any adaptation to make this in a slow cooker? Would love to have this cooking while I'm away at work.
Won't turn out the same, but you can get the same flavor by just putting everything in the crockpot and setting it to low for an all-day cook.
Made this tonight-- it was delicious! I sauteed the first steps and then did the rest in the slow cooker. Didn't have good broth so upped the tomato sauce a bit, and I used carraway and anise instead of fennel and fresh garlic and more onions instead of dried because that's what I had on hand. Ha, so I'm not sure this was quite your recipe anymore, but it was definitely inspired by it and I loved the flavor!
Can I use chuck roast?
Totally! Chris recommends trimming the fat.
I can't wait for another cold snap in central Texas so I can make this! BTW, I just wanted to say that I love how you guys are shooting and editing these now-- it's really helpful to have Chris facing the camera when he talks with the music turned down, and the captions are great. Plus the overall framing and editing is great (and I found myself admiring how Chris's outfit coordinated with the kitchen colors). I really look forward to these cooking posts!
If you do want to thicken up the stew, I'm pretty sure this is gluten free (at least the internet told me so). My family always used instant mash potatoes to thicken up a stew. Though do it slowly and wait for the instant potatoes to spread out before you add more, I've accidentally added too much before and it was too thick. Hope this helps anyone with a gluten intolerance and wants a thicker stew.
Chris, this looks lovely and delicious. If I hadn’t just made my own mushy version last week, I would be making this NOW. I like the way you do things. Have a wonderful day.
Nice video (just a bit too much music for me). If you want to thicken the sauce even a little bit, you can take a big scoop of all that broth with the carrots and potatoes and blend them up and mix them back in. The veggies will create a naturally thickened sauce and is so good.
Sounds delicious! But what is best to replace tomatoes with? Can’t eat that :(
Just leave them out!