Red Wine Beef Stew

This french style Red Wine Beef Stew has tender, fall apart beef, caramelized vegetables and a thick, velvety sauce. Truly the best hearty comfort food for chilly evenings.

This post was originally published 12/14/2015. It was updated with new photos and text 10/9/2025.

A French inspired Red Wine Beef Stew

I originally developed this recipe for red wine beef stew 10 years ago, when this blog was in its infancy. We still make this recipe a few times a year, and I have been wanting to update the post for a long time. I was inspired by the classic French dish Beef Bourguignon This kind of stew was a way to take a cheap, tough cut of meat and turn it into something tender and flavorful. The meat is fall apart tender, the broth is rich and velvety, the vegetables are earthy and a little caramelized.

What kind of meat should be used in beef stew?

To get wonderful, tender beef in beef stew, you need to know what kind of meat to use.  Don’t be taken in by a package of meat at the grocery store labeled “stew meat” – first of all, it is usually cut into pieces that are too small for this recipe.  Second of all, and more importantly, you don’t know what cut of beef it is.  It is usually a leaner beef that will not get tender with a long cooking time, but will become tough. Instead, you want to buy a CHUCK ROAST – this has lots of fat and connective tissue that will break down over several hours of cooking and become tender and flavorful.

Ingredients for Red Wine Beef Stew

• Boneless Beef Chuck Roast – Look for a roast with good marbling, that means fat is distributed through the meat. Cut the roast into 1.5 inch chunks. Trim off any large pieces of fat on the edges. Season with salt and set aside until ready to use. Do not use something labeled “stew meat”.
• Red Wine – Such as Syrah or Zinfandel. It doesn’t need to be an expensive wine, but it should be one that is good enough to drink.
• Beef Broth – The main base for the sauce, this will add depth and flavor.
• Tomato paste – this adds umami and savoriness.
• Onions and garlic – some of the major flavor components!
• Carrots and potatoes – bulks up your stew and adds earthiness.
• Herbs – thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Be sure to chop the rosemary well, finding a needle in your stew isn’t pleasant!
• Olive oil – for sautéing the onions
• Flour – this is used to thicken the stew.
• Bacon, pearl onions, mushrooms and carrots – this is for the topping that is cooked separately from the stew – it adds a totally extra dimension of flavor and texture that really makes this stew special.

Step By Step instructions for making red wine beef stew

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (if using convection, reduce to 300 F)
• Cut the chuck roast into 1.5 inch pieces, season well with salt and set aside.
• Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt and sauté for about 20 minutes – until soft and golden.
• Add the garlic and tomato paste, stir and cook until well m iced and turning rust colored, 2 minutes.
• Add the flour, cook for about one minute.
• Whisk in the broth, then the wine, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
• Add herbs, bring to a simmer.
• Add the beef. There is no need to brown the beef first. Arrange the beef so it is sticking partly out of the liquid – it will brown in the oven.
• Transfer to oven and cook UNCOVERED for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Remove from oven, use a spoon to scrape down the brown bits on the side of the pan. Add the potatoes and carrots. Stir to arrange so that the beef is mostly on top sticking out of the liquid. Return to the oven and cook uncovered for another hour.
• Prepare topping – add bacon pieces to a sauce pan and cover with water. Cover pan and turn heat on to medium high. Bring to a boil.
• When water is boiling, remove lid and add pearl onions and carrots. Cook, stirring often, until water has evaporated.
• Add mushrooms and season with just a little salt (remember, bacon is already salty!). Reduce heat to medium low.
• Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are nicely browned 20-30 minutes. Depending on how much fat your bacon releases, you may need to add just a little olive oil to the pan to coat the vegetables.
• When stew is done, remove from oven, stir and again scrape browned bits from the sides into the stew. Taste stew and season with salt and pepper if needed.

Tips for making Red Wine Beef Stew

• Be sure to use the correct cut of beef – chuck roast. Do not buy generic “stew meat” as it is often leaner and can be tough.
• There is no need to brown the beef before cooking. This stew is cooked in the oven with the lid off, so the meat will brown in the oven. It works!
• Cook at 325 degrees F – and if you are using convection, turn it down to 300 F.
• If the meat is not tender at the end of cooking time, cook for another 30-60 minutes. If the stew is very brown on top, you can cover it for this extra cooking time.
• Pearl onions are for the topping vegetables – they can be hard to find, but you can normally find them in the freezer section. If using frozen earl onions, follow instructions and add them while still frozen. No need to thaw them first.

Substitutions

• Although wine is a major flavor component of this recipe, you may want to leave it out. If you do, replace with the same amount of beef broth. You may also want to add a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to replicate the flavor that wine gives.
• Need to make it gluten free? I have not tested the recipe with substitutions, but some readers have used cornstarch as a thickener. Be sure all of your other ingredients are labeled gluten free as well.

What to serve with Beef stew

I normally serve this with a nice crusty bread for dipping. Some people also like to serve beef stew with mashed potatoes – try my Garlic Mashed Potatoes or Parsnip Mashed Potatoes.

You will also love

• Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs
• Irish Guinness Beef Stew
• Slow Cooker Chili
• Chicken and Dumplings

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Red Wine Beef Stew

By Meghan McMorrow | Fox and Briar

4.86 from 27 votes

Prep 45 minutes mins

Cook 3 hours hrs

Total 3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings 8 Servings

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This Red Wine Beef Stew is rich and hearty, with tender beef and a velvety, savory sauce that you will not believe!

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 ½ pounds beef chuck roast cut into one and a half inch chunks.
• ▢ 2 onions diced
• ▢ 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic pressed or finely minced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
• ▢ 1-2 bay leaves
• ▢ 1 cup red wine such as syrah or zinfandel
• ▢ 3 cups beef stock
• ▢ 1/4 cup flour
• ▢ 2 yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• ▢ 2 carrots peeled and cut into 1/2 inch coins
• ▢ kosher salt
• ▢ fresh ground black pepper
• ▢ chopped fresh parsley for garnish optional

For The Topping:

• ▢ 1 cup pearl onions or cipollini onions
• ▢ 2-3 carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
• ▢ 8 crimini mushrooms thickly sliced
• ▢ 2 slices of bacon cut into 1 inch lardons

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 325°F
• Season beef pieces with salt, set aside.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onions and season with kosher salt. Cook, stirring often, until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Add tomato paste and garlic, cook, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes, until rust colored.
• Add flour and stir, cooking for about 1 minute.
• Whisk in broth slowly, then wine. Use a wooden spoon scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
• Add herbs and bay leaves and bring to a simmer, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in beef, arrange so beef is partly above the liquid. Return to a simmer.
• Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Remove from oven and using a spoon, scrape down the brown bits that have formed on the side of the pot. Add the potatoes and carrots to the stew, stir and rearange meat so that it is on top of the vegetables and sticking out of the sauce as much as possible (this way it will brown in the oven)
• Return to oven and cook uncovered for another hour or until potatoes and carrots are tender.
• While stew is cooking, prepare topping.
• In a medium saute pan, add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.
• Add bacon pieces, cover pan and turn heat on to medium high. Bring to a boil.
• When water is boiling, remove lid and add pearl onions and carrots. Cook, stirring often, until water has evaporated.
• Add mushrooms and season with just a little salt (remember, bacon is already salty!). Reduce heat to medium low.
• Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are nicely browned, 20–30 minutes. Depending on how much fat your bacon releases, you may need to add just a little olive oil to the pan to coat the vegetables.
• When stew is done, remove from oven, stir and again scrape browned bits from the sides into the stew. Taste stew and season with salt and pepper if needed.
• To serve, spoon stew into bowl and top with some vegetable topping and fresh parsley, if desired.
• Serve with bread (optional, but strongly advised).

Notes

When preparing the beef, cut off any large pieces of fat. 1 and a half inch chunks may seem like really large pieces, but that helps them to stick out of the broth and get browned.

There is no need to brown the beef before cooking. It will brown in the oven as it is cooked with the lid off. 

If the meat is not tender at the end of cooking time, cook for another 30-60 minutes. If the stew is very brown on top, you can cover it for this extra cooking time.

Using frozen pearl onions is fine, they can be added frozen, no need to thaw. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 373mg | Potassium: 1081mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 5198IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinners, Soups/Stews

Cuisine: American

Did you like this recipe?Please comment, rate and share! And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @foxandbriar AND #foxandbriar so I can see what you made!

Adapted from HERE and HERE