Red Wine Beef Stew

Hunnie
Nov 1, 2024
5 min read

Updated: Mar 16

Guys, when I was coming up with this recipe, it was a JOURNEY. I started out with the intention of making hamburger soup, but then decided my boxed beef broth was not doing it for me, so I kept jazzing it up and we ended up with a much more flavorful thicker stew broth. So then we swapped out the ground beef and opted for some beef chunks. And then we had a late addition of some buttered egg noodles. (Noodles were a fantastic suggestion from my boyfriend.) I’m really happy with how this recipe turned out, I hope you guys enjoy it too!

HEALTH MOMENT: There are SO MANY veggies in this soup, it’s fantastic. And somehow this recipe is still hearty. I’m just going to pick two vegetables to discuss briefly and then we’ll get to the recipe.

*Disclaimer: Photos of my soup with the rosemary border was just to get the LEWK for the pretty food blog photo. Please do not think that I’m a psycho that eats rosemary by the branch.

Nutrition Information:

Is Eating Fresh Celery Allowed in Libraries? Or Too Loud?:

Celery appears to actually become healthier when you cook it. That is very Marvel superhero of celery to gain antioxidants when heated. Celery helps you stay hydrated because it is almost 95% made up of water. You get fiber, Vitamin K, and a little bit of vitamin C and A, calcium and iron when you eat celery. Celery can also help lower blood pressure. One thing I’ll say about the hype of celery juice – you’re missing out on the stalk if it’s juiced. And the stalk is where the fiber is. Fiber helps stabilize your blood sugar, lower cholesterol and maintain a healthy gut. So not a bad idea to keep the fiber intact to the food, whenever we can.

I’m Not Crying, It’s Just the Onions:

Onions are actually quite resilient at retaining their antioxidants when cooking too - 97.5% of their antioxidants stay intact. Researchers found that the highly toxic pollutant, dioxin, that can be found in your bloodstream can be cut in half by just eating one tablespoon of red onion. But it looks like you would need to keep eating that one tablespoon of red onion in each meal to keep your blood’s dioxin levels in check. Anthocyanins in red onions have been found to prevent fat accumulation in human liver cells in vitro studies (so studies in a lab petri dish, not in a human itself). Eating onions has also been associated with a lower risk of BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, which means having an enlarged prostate). Now why did I select a red onion instead of a yellow or white onion for this stew recipe? Because red onions have the most antioxidants. Red onions have 76% more antioxidant capacity than white, with yellow in between. Usually the more colorful, the more antioxidants the fruit or vegetable has. Keep that in mind when shopping in the produce aisle.

Red Wine Beef Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

½ cup whole wheat flour (all-purpose flour will also work)
32 oz beef broth
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb beef chunks
3 bay leaves
3 tbsp tomato paste
14.5 oz diced tomatoes
2 cups dry red wine
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 red onion, diced (you can use yellow, there’s just more nutrients in red)
4 celery stalks, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 sprig FRESH rosemary
2 sprigs FRESH thyme
1 golden potato, chopped with skin left on
10 oz cremini mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 zucchini, washed and chopped with skin left on
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tsp freshly grated black pepper, more as needed
Salt, as needed
Optional: egg noodles (with a little bit of butter) or any noodles of your choice

Recipe Directions

Ideally marinate your beef overnight. Next best option is to have the beef marinating for at least 6 hours. (Honestly if you don’t have time to marinate, the stew will still be quite flavorful. If you skip the marinating, the beef will taste beefier and your stew will have less subtle hints of red wine.) In a medium container, place your beef chucks, peeled garlic (not minced yet), and 3 bay leaves. Add the 2 cups of red wine. Refrigerate while marinating.
Prepare all vegetables as noted in the ingredient list above: red onion, diced; 4 celery stalks, diced; golden potato, chopped with skin on; cremini sliced mushrooms, washed and sliced; zucchini, washed and chopped; carrots, peeled and chopped.
Once the meat is marinated, in a large saucepan (I used my dutch oven) add 2 tbsp of olive oil and turn the stove top to medium heat. DO NOT THROW OUT anything in your marinated beef container components unless specified, including the red wine liquid. Fish out and discard the 3 bay leaves. Next, fish out the garlic cloves and beef chunks. Mince the garlic cloves. Add the garlic and beef chunks to the saucepan to brown the beef, turning the meat as needed. Once done cooking, remove the beef and place in a separate bowl.
Next we’ll work on the broth. Add in the balsamic vinegar, beef broth and the red wine used in the marinade to the saucepan. Slowly, whisk in the flour to thicken the broth.
Add in 1 tsp of black pepper.
Then add in the diced tomatoes and all your veggies (red onion, celery, potato, cremini mushrooms, zucchini, and carrots). It might look like you have an overwhelming amount of vegetables to your broth ratio, but trust the process. The veggies will shrink significantly when they cook and softened.
Hold the top of the rosemary sprig and slide your fingers down to strip the leaves off the stem. Chop the rosemary leaves and add to the stew.
Hold the top of the thyme sprig and slide your fingers down to strip the leaves off the stem. Add the thyme to the stew.
Cover saucepan and allow veggies to soften over medium heat (about 30-40 minutes or until softened). Stir occasionally, as needed.
Once the veggies have soften add the beef chunks back to your saucepan. Add salt or additional pepper, as needed.
Optional step: Prepare buttered egg noodles or any noodle of your choice. DO NOT ADD noodles to your stew once cooked, they will soak up that beautiful stew broth you made. Instead, add the noodles to the soup bowl when serving.