Paula's Old-Time Beef Stew

By Addie

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Show: Paula's Home Cooking
Episode: Comfort Food

Ingredients

• 2 pounds stew beef
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 dash ground allspice or ground cloves
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 4 red potatoes, quartered
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Preparation

Step 1

Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots, potatoes, and celery. Cover and cook 30 to 40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with a little hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.
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REVIEWS: (661)

We loved it. I modified it for a slow cooker for a no-mess clean up at the end of the day. I still browned the meat, layered the veggies on the bottom. I added and extra cup of water and cooked for 6 hours. I thickened it with cornstarch and water mixture at the end and let it boil! Thank you Paula for a wonderful recipe!

Oh, yum! I added rosemary, potatoes, and tomatoes. I cooked cornbread muffins to eat with the stew. Add fresh southern sweet tea. Really delicious!

My family loves this stew and it is very easy to make. I added potatoes. Thanks Paula :

My family loved this recipe, said it was the best I've ever made. I changed it up just a bit based on other reviews. I used stew meat and marinaded it in dry red wine for 1.5 hrs in the refrigerator. I tossed the meat with tenderizer seasoning and garlic salt before browning. I reserved the red wine marinade and added beef broth to equal 4 cups liquid instead of using water since I too added potatoes to the dish. I used 2 rosemary sprigs with the bay leaf and 3 garlic cloves. It was still a bit watery so I did use the cold water with corn starch to thicken it. This is definitely a repeat meal for the winter.



Other than the allspice, this is exactly my mom's classic stew recipe. Money saving tip: Instead of buying stew meat, buy a roast and cut it up yourself. You can control the fat that way, and will probably save quite a bit per pound. With a good knife, it only takes a couple of minutes.

This was amazing! It takes a little time, but it's soooo easy. I used Elk Loin instead, and after the first hour or so the meat really started softening up. I also added potatoes and used a butter/flour roux at the end to thicken. Soooo good.

I make this all the time, probably once a week in cold weather, great recipe. I change it up a bit and use an entire bottle of Guinness beer or red wine and mix either of those with beef stock instead of the water. I also add 6 large potatoes cut up, sliced mushrooms, and peas. I usually up the liquid to 3-4 cups though, to account for all the additional vegetables. Also, the potatoes make it thick so no cornstarch needed.

I loved this stew, its a keeper! I used beef stock instead of water. I also used more garlic since we love it in our house. I did not use corn starch since I added cubed potatoes. I let the veggies go the full 40 min and they were tender. I served over cornbread.

Ok, now I see where others have made this recipe and reviewed it...Not sure why I didn't see those until now, but anyhow... I made this recipe for supper tonight in my new Dutch Oven... added petite peas in the last 5 mins or so...next time will see about adding some mushrooms, so there will be potatoes, mushrooms and peas along with the carrots and celery... added about a cup of beef broth 1/2 way through cooking instead of plain water... This recipe, definitely a keeper... Thanks Paula!!!

I love this recipe. I make it all the time for my kids and boyfriend. I add potatoes at the last 30 minutes and also add corn at the end. I bake fresh biscuits to go along with it. It is great to eat on a cold fall day.

I'm certainly no great cook so I always follow recipes exactly. However, I read several reviews and decided to add 2 more cups of water, a packet of Lipton beefy onion soup mix, and my boyfriend (who is very encouraging brought a stew mix from the grocery store. The stew mix included a turnip, carrots, parsnips, celery, parsley, leeks, and the onion. I also added 4 russet potatoes so that it could be an entire meal. It tasted great! I would definitely make this recipe again. Since its the first day of fall, I wanted to star practicing my fall/ winter menu items and this definitely one of them.

This is a great beef stew recipe. I did add the carrots a little earlier in the cooking process so that they were fully cooked. I did add some beef broth along with some potatoes and frozen peas. This was a delicious meal served along with some crusty bread. I did have to cook mine a little longer than the recipe indicated but it was worth it. This ones a keeper.

Very easy on for a last minute stew. I do prefer a all day the all day crock pot method more, but this really worked in a pince. Instead of water I used beef broth which added more seasoning and flavor. Also I added potatoes for a little more added starch for thickening in addition to the cornstarch. All in all I was pleased as was my family.

Yum, and super easy. One of my go to recipes.

This recipe is as old fashioned and delicious as it gets. I did add cubed potatoes though (love my taters. I use a ton of Paula's recipes, I guess that's why she is the Queen of the Kitchen.

This is a great recipe. I've made it several times following the recipe...well...sometimes I add a cup of frozen peas also. I love how it doesn't require any beef broth like so many other beef stew recipes do. It makes a fantastic broth just based on the ingredients in this recipe. It is now my standard beef stew recipe.

Agreed... absolutely delicious!! Another WIN for Paula! We served it over wide egg noodles... yum!! Also, served some simple roasted red potatoes and a nice bottle of red wine. Couple small things I would suggest. First follow Paula's directions in her video, not the written recipe. Specifically, first, leave the bay leaves and the garlic in the stew like Paula suggests. Second, there's no need to pull the hot liquid from the stew... do just like Paula did with the cornstarch... mix it with cold water (although I mixed the 2 tbs with 1 cup of water instead of 1/4 cup and add it straight to the stew. I let it simmer for another 10 minutes after adding the cornstarch. For the seasonings... the only changes I made was to increase the paprika to 1 full teaspoon, and I increased the Worcestershire to 2 Tablespoons. I loved this recipe for two reasons... easy to prepare so allows more time to spend relaxing with the family, and, the stew has great flavor!