Beef Stew
Low and slow comfort food. Tough, cheap cuts of beef (chuck, shin) become meltingly tender after 2-3 hours of braising. The secret is browning the meat properly first — that caramelisation is where the depth comes from.
Jamie's version. Generous, warm, family-sized. Classic technique.
Use chuck steak or shin — these cheap cuts have collagen that melts during slow cooking, creating rich, unctuous gravy. Don't use expensive steak cuts — they'll go tough.
Brown the meat in small batches in a screaming hot pan. If you crowd the pan, the meat steams instead of browning and you lose all that Maillard flavour.
Deglaze the pan after browning: splash of wine or stock, scrape up all the sticky brown bits. That's concentrated flavour.
A slow cooker or oven at 150°C both work. The oven gives slightly better results but the slow cooker is hands-off.
Cut 800g chuck steak into large chunks. Season with salt and pepper, dust lightly with flour
Brown the meat in batches in hot oil in a large casserole. Set aside
Add diced onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks. Soften 5 mins
Add 2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp tomato purée. Stir 1 min
Deglaze with 200ml red wine (or extra stock). Scrape up the brown bits
Return meat. Add 500ml beef stock, 2 bay leaves, sprig of thyme
Bring to simmer. Cover and cook in oven at 150°C for 2-2.5 hours
Add 2-3 potatoes (quartered) in the last 45 mins if you want them in the stew
Season to taste. Serve with crusty bread or mashed potato
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