Vegan Beef Stew Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a good substitute for beef in beef stew? ›

If you're like me and you love a good meat replacement, you can use a packaged vegan beef, soy curls, or chunks of seitan. As long as you use an appropriate amount of whatever you choose, the recipe should still work just fine.

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

The most important key to making stew meat tender is being sure to cook it for a long time. If you want super tender beef, you'll need to cook it on a low heat in a Dutch oven on the stove or a slow cooker for at least a few hours.

The Ideal Stew Ratio: Two Parts Meat, One Part Vegetable

Most meat-based stews call for tough, inexpensive cuts of meat, while vegetarian recipes include the same onions, carrots, and celery typical of a beef stew. Two parts meat to one part vegetables is the perfect ratio for a meaty stew.

If you're not actually vegetarian, things like worcestershire, fish sauce, or beef stock can add a lot of that flavor you're looking for without adding meat directly. For actual vegan options: mushrooms, miso, fermented black bean, smoked salt, nutritional yeast, kombu, marmite.

If you want to go vegetarian/vegan, try making a stock with dried porcini mushrooms and fresh portobello and shiitake mushrooms. It'll make a hearty stock which in most cases is a good substitute for a beef stock.

Cornstarch, potato starch, and chickpea flour are a couple of pantry-friendly ways to thicken soups, stews, and sauces in the slow cooker.

What are the essential spices for stew? - Quora. The most common herbs and spices for a traditional beef stew would be thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and black pepper. In some cultures, there are also spices like sweet paprika, oregano, cilantro (coriander), or basil.

Add onion, celery and carrot. Stir frequently, scraping the bottom of the pot until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the seasoning: Add the herbs and chili flakes and stir to combine, cooking for about 1 minute or until fragrant.

When to add vegetables to stew? ›

After about 1 1/2 hours of cooking, add roasted veggies and potatoes to the pot and finish cooking. Remove thyme and rosemary bundle and bay leaves, discard. Bring stew to the stovetop if you cooked it in the oven.

The choice becomes easier when you realize that simple baking soda can be an ideal meat tenderizer that helps to bring out all the aromas and flavors in every sizzling beef stew or charburger.

The best potatoes for beef stew are those that hold their shape and texture well during cooking, providing a creamy yet sturdy addition to the dish. Yukon Golds have a creamy texture and slightly waxy consistency that holds up well in stews without becoming overly mushy. They add a nice richness to the stew.

Simmering and Boiling

In the event that your goal is to keep moisture in—like when your pot of soup, stew, or sauce is already at the right consistency, but you want to keep cooking the vegetables and melding the flavors—leave the lid on to keep any more liquid from evaporating.

Go for the chuck

The most common beef used for stew is chuck steak, also known as gravy beef or braising steak. Beef chuck comes from the forequarter of the animal consisting of parts of the neck, shoulder blade and upper arm. It is easy to find and it's affordable, making it a great choice for your stew.

Round roasts, rump roasts, and pot roasts are also all good choices for stews. Buy the whole roast and cut it into pieces yourself. This is another bonus over buying pre-cut stew meat — you can cut the pieces into uniform sizes and also trim any gristle you come across.

The most popular meat alternatives are traditional substitutes which include foods like tofu, tempeh, seitan, lentils, beans, and chickpeas.

Stew meat is made from cuts of beef with lots of tough connective tissue, namely chuck and/or round. When you simmer it in a liquid, the connective tissue breaks down and becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender. That's why it's traditionally braised in stock and turned into beef stew.