French Bistro Beef Stew

This French Bistro Beef Stew recipe isn’t as fancy as it sounds – just a few simple ingredients cooked low and slow to make the best tasting stew you’ve ever had!

You can serve this delicious stew recipe with our Perfectly Smooth Mashed Potatoes too, or a side of Spicy Mushroom Rice!

A Comforting, Simple Beef Stew Recipe

Beef stew is definitely one of my favorite comfort foods. Beef, potatoes, carrots – it’s not hard to see why this would be one of my favorite types of things to eat.

It’s also a recipe that can be one of those “add whatever you have in the fridge” type things, if you have potatoes, cool. Carrots, great. But most sturdy vegetables will do, too.

While this This French Bistro Beef Stew sounds like an expensive, fancy dinner it’s definitely not. Simple ingredients cooked low and slow to get the most flavor possible, it’s the perfect comfort food recipe. 

What Cut Of Meat Should I Use For This Stew Recipe?

For this beef stew you’re going to need a four pound chuck roast. Give or take. Get as close to 4 pounds as you can, or ask the butcher to cut you a piece.

Chuck roast is an inexpensive cut of meat that’s perfect for a long braise in the oven or cooked low and slow in a slow cooker. The low and slow cooking method breaks down the fat and connective tissue in the meat, resulting in fork tender meat just like you’d expect to taste in a perfect beef stew.

We like to keep the meat in slightly larger pieces like you see here, not totally shredded apart. It’s just a matter or preference but we find it the best way to enjoy this stew.

Recipes like our Grandma’s Sunday Meatballs and Sauce or these Beer Braised Lamb Chops are also good examples of low and slow recipes. Recipes that might take a little more time to prepare and or cook but the end result is out of this world good.

How Do I Make This Beef Stew Recipe?

First, like we mentioned before you need to start with the right cut of beef. Next you have to make sure that meat is properly seasoned. SO many people under season their beef in recipes like this stew.

Remember that you have a fairly large piece of meat here, around 4 pounds, so you’re going to need a lot of seasoning! Add more salt and pepper than you think you need, that’s a good place to start.

Salt, pepper and flour the roast then sear it in a dutch oven until it’s browned on both sides. That’s another key step to making the best beef stew, searing the meat properly, until you have a nice brown color on all sides.

After the beef is browned, remove it from the pot and set it aside on a board.  Add onions, a lot of onions. Don’t worry, because they cook them down in this step and also while the stew is cooking. The onions add another level of flavor to this stew, and you won’t even notice them once the stew is done.

Get the carrots and mushrooms in the pot along with about 1/2 cup of red wine. If you don’t cook with wine now’s the time to try it. Certainly don’t go out and grab the most expensive bottle, just one you want to drink.

The wine will reduce and concentrate in the stew so make sure it’s something at least worthy of drinking, and hopefully one that you like the taste of. To braise meat properly, the liquid should only come up about halfway covering the meat so it braises instead of boiling, just like it is here.

Cook the stew for 2 1/2 to 3 hours in the oven. The total cooking time will depend on a few things, the size and shape of your roast, the size and shape of your pot and how your oven cooks.

Check it at 2 1/2 hours, if it’s not fork tender, then give it another half hour of cooking time.

This French Bistro Beef Stew is legit one of the best I’ve ever had. The onions melt into the brown, wine filled gravy. The meat is super tender and perfectly seasoned. All of which goes perfectly with buttered noodles, fries or mashed potatoes.

Any form of carb will work well here, I’m not going to get picky about that. But just a note – if you are a low carb follower there aren’t any potatoes in this French Bistro Beef Stew so it’s also perfect for a delicious low carb dinner.

Looking For More Dinner Recipes?

• Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast
• Slow Cooker BBQ French Dip Sandwiches
• Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
• Crock Pot Sausage & Peppers
• Beef Tip Marsala Stew

French Bistro Beef Stew

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• Author: Dan
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x

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This French Bistro Beef Stew isn’t as fancy as it sounds – just a few simple ingredients cooked low and slow to make the best tasting stew you’ve ever had!

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Ingredients

• 4 pound chuck roast
• Kosher salt and black pepper for seasoning, flour for dusting the roast
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups sliced onions
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4–5 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces (about 2 cups)
• 10 ounces button mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Beefy Onion flavor

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Season the roast on both sides generously with salt and pepper.
3. Add flour to a plate and coat the roast on all sides, tapping off any excess flour.
4. Add the olive oil to a dutch oven over medium heat. Once the oil is warmed, place the roast carefully into the pot to brown. Cook for 5 minutes, check to see if the roast is browned then flip to the other side for another 5 minutes until browned. Remove the roast from the pot to a board or plate and cover with foil.
5. Add the onions, salt and pepper to the pot and stir to coat in the oil. Turn the heat down to low and cook the onions for 10 minutes until they are soft and caramelized, stirring often.
6. Add the mushrooms and carrots to the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring together with the onions.
7. Pour in the wine to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Scrape up the bottom of the pot to get all the flavor into the gravy. Pour in the broth along with the soup mix and stir. Place the roast back to the pot, cover and place into the oven.
8. Check the beef after 2 hours to see if the meat is fork tender. Cook 30 minutes longer if the meat isn’t tender enough, depending on if you want to slice the meat or shred the meat into pieces.
9. Remove the roast from the pan, shred or slice the meat and add to a serving platter. Ladle the gravy and vegetables over the meat and serve.

Recipe Notes

If you let the gravy sit for about a half an hour while the meat is covered in foil, you can skim off some of the fat that settles on top before serving.

If you want to lower the carb content of this stew, add less onions, tap the flour off very well so that you only have a thin layer and reduce the wine to 1/4 cup.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: French