Easy beef stew recipe

November 3, 12:05 AMPhiladelphia Easy Meals ExaminerEmily Homrok

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Some recipes for beef stew call for hours in the oven or slow-cooker (about 2 to 5 on average), and while that works out great for folks living in, oh, the eighteenth century, who has that kind of time these days? So cut down on time—not taste. This is a simple and savory stew you can make on the stove in less than an hour.

Easy Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 lb beef for stew
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup,  condensed
1 can beef broth
½-1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
½-1 cup celery, diagonally sliced
½-1 yellow onion, roughly sliced
1-2 Yukon potatoes
4 Tablespoons olive oil (divided)

Add To Taste:

garlic powder
rosemary
thyme
pepper
salt

To Prepare:

Prep your veggies: rinse your carrots and celery, blot dry, and chop. Slice the carrots thinly to help them soften up as quickly as possible. Slice the celery on a diagonal angle. You can use the leafy ends as well, if you wish. Peel the onion and chop it into rough chunks. (Hint: This step got you down? Experiment with these tips for stopping the waterworks when working with onions.)

In a medium to large saucepan, heat up 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, stir in the chopped celery, carrots, and onion, and hit them with a dash of salt and pepper. Stir quickly and frequently, so that they don't stick to the bottom and burn. (Hint: If the pot is drying out, add water or more oil.)

In another, smaller saucepan, heat up your other 2 Tablespoons of oil and brown the chunks of beef, making sure they're evenly cooked and not simply seared on one side.

Add the beef and its oil and juices to the vegetables and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the can of beef broth, the can of condensed Cream of Mushroom soup, and bring to a boil. (Hint: Stir thoroughly at this stage to make sure the condensed soup dissolves from its original, clumpy state.)

When the mixture comes to a boil, add your spices, to taste—more salt and pepper, rosemary, thyme, and garlic powder. The rosemary in particular really "makes" this recipe. (Hint: If you're not comfortable eyeballing it, simply add seasonings in small increments and taste frequently until you hit just the flavor you want.) Turn the heat down to low and simmer, covered.

Thought I forgot about the potatoes, eh? This is where they come in. Once the potato-free stew has been simmering for about 15 minutes, peel 1 or 2 medium to large Yukon potatoes, cut into rough chunks, and carefully stir them in. Potatoes cook more quickly than carrots and celery, which is why they're added at a later point in the process.

Now all you have to do is sit back and let the stove do its thing! (Okay, you want to check on the stew and give it the occasional stir every 10 minutes or so, but that's hardly back-breaking labor.) If you find that the stew is getting too thick or is sticking to the bottom of the saucepan, you can simply add more broth or water to thin it out. Too watery? Slowly add flour, lentils, or unflavored oatmeal to thicken it up.

After about 45 minutes to an hour of simmering, you're all set! Now all you need are some stew dumplings or buttery biscuits for dunking, a nice glass of red wine (check out tips on pairing food and wine), and a snowy winter night by the fireplace!

Serves 4-6

Meal Tips:

Stew tends to thicken after spending a night or two in the fridge, so you might want to anticipate that and leave it a tad on the thin side as it comes off the stove.

Think outside the box and serve your stew in a hearty bread bowl or over cooked barley, lentils, or rice.

Peas, green beans, and spinach cook in no time at all and make great stew additions.