How can I speed up beef stew?

Beef stew made with beef chuck or stew meat must braise or simmer for 3 to 4 hours. The connective tissue in stew meat is tough and gristley and needs low slow moist heat to break down. The collagen in the meat will break down to lovely tender gelatin in 3 or so hours. To make stew any faster than that, you must use a tender cut of beef, or use ground hamburger meat instead for a shortcut.

Should you brown meat for stew?

Absolutely. Browning the meat gives you something called "fond" which enriches the stew considerably. Fond is a French culinary word for the tasty caramelized bits on the bottom of the pan when food is browned. Fond is very flavorful, creating and capturing it is the difference between a bland and rich flavored dish. To get good fond you need heat, oil, and as little moisture as possible. In this recipe we do this by heating oil on high heat and then browning the ground beef. The wider your soup pot, the more fond you’ll get. After the meat has browned take it out, and you’ll see the tasty caramelized bits of fond on the bottom and along the sides of the pot.

Quick Beef Stew (with Hamburger)

Name: Quick Ground Beef Stew
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons avocado oil or organic canola oil, divided; 1 pound lean ground beef, preferably 92% lean; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 onion, diced; 2 teaspoons paprika; 1 ¼ teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon dry thyme; pinch red chili flake, optional; ½ cup dry red wine; 4-cup box beef broth or stock, divided *see note; 2 medium Yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and diced; 2 carrots diced,; 2 stalks celery diced; 1 cup peeled and diced parsnips; 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; chopped parsley for garnish

Description

If you think it takes hours to achieve great-tasting beef stew, think again! This Ground Beef Stew is filled with hearty vegetables, quick-cooking hamburger meat and rich stew in 45 minutes or less! Read below for step-by-step photos, a how-to video and my top secrets to get the slow-simmered flavor in a fraction of the time.

Ingredients

Units Scale

2 tablespoons avocado oil or organic canola oil, divided
1 pound lean ground beef, preferably 92% lean
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
pinch red chili flake, optional
1/2 cup dry red wine
4-cup box beef broth or stock, divided *see note
2 medium Yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and diced
2 carrots diced,
2 stalks celery diced
1 cup peeled and diced parsnips
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
chopped parsley for garnish

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Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the bottom of a large heavy bottom soup pot over high heat. Add beef, and cook, stirring occasionally and crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon until it is no longer pink, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the meat to a bowl, along with any juices from the pot, and cover with foil.
Return the pot to the stove and reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pot. Add garlic and onion, and cook stirring until the onion starts to brown in spots, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika, salt, thyme and red pepper flake if using, and cook, stirring until the spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine, increase heat to high and cook, stirring until the wine has almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add 3 ½ cups broth, potatoes, carrots, celery, parsnips and Worcestershire and stir well. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to medium to maintain a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Stir the remaining ½ cup broth with cornstarch, and stir into the simmering stew. Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer, stirring. Stir in the beef and return to a simmer. Remove stew from the heat and ladle into bowls. Top with parsley.

Notes

To speed this recipe up even more. While you brown the meat in step 1, bring the 3 ½ cups broth used in step 3 to a simmer in a separate pot or in the microwave. Once it is added to the pot in step 3, the whole stew will come to a simmer more quickly, shaving 7 minutes off your total time. Just make sure not to pre-heat the ½ cup that’s mixed with the cornstarch in step 4.
Take time to brown the garlic and onions in oil, reducing the heat to medium. This way the onions will cook more slowly and release their liquid, deglazing the fond a bit.
Make it healthier by adding more vegetables.
If you prefer not to cook with alcohol you can skip the wine altogether, or substitute it for non-alcoholic wine, more broth, or grape juice.

This recipe also appears on A Dish of Daily Life!

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Category: Soup
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Serving Size: 2 cups
Calories: 366
Carbohydrates: 35 g
Fiber: 5 g
Protein: 28 g