4 Incredibly Hearty Winter Stew Recipes

If you’re anything like us at Everten, winter is all about stews. Whether you’re feeding a big family or using those long cooking times to force yourself to sit down and study or get some work done, a perfect winter stew is just about as fundamental and wonderful as a thing can be. Even the word “stew” can be traced back about as far as Western civilization itself.

Of course, any stew requires the right tools. For us, a beautiful and well-built French oven is the kind of stew-making machine we keep going back to. It’s sure to get you stewing. But in case you need any more inspiration, the team here at Everten has put together a list of our top four best winter stew recipes sure to get you through even the coldest and dampest days of winter. Because when your home smells like beef curry, who can worry about the temperature? Certainly not us.

1. Traditional Irish Beef Stew

One of the beauties of slow-cooking meat is that it can turn those tough cheap cuts into tender morsels that melt in your mouth. That’s why the Irish have spent centuries developing this signature stew. Lucky for us, the days of Anzacs trying their best to make some bully beef edible are long over, and we don’t have to rely on cheap meat anymore. But there’s still something to be said for transforming something rough and tough into something tender and delicious.

Of course, sometimes you don’t have time to watch over your gently simmering pot of goodness, so having an automatic slow cooker to stew while you’re out, or even a pressure cooker to dramatically cut your cooking times, can help. If you like to have options, a 5-in-1 multicooker can let you make stew the way you like it.

But however you’re making your stew, it all starts with great ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need for this traditional Irish beef stew.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 kg stewing beef, cut into cubes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• 18 button mushrooms, left whole
• 3 carrots, cut into quarters
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp chopped thyme
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1.8 cups red wine
• 1.8 cups beef stock

For the roux:

• 50 g butter
• 50 g flour

METHOD:

1. Begin by browning the beef in the olive oil in a cast iron casserole or heavy saucepan.
2. Remove the meat and toss in the onions, mushrooms and carrots, one ingredient at a time.
3. Place these back in the casserole, along with the herbs and garlic. Then, cover with red wine and stock and simmer for one hour or until the meat and vegetables are cooked.
4. To make the roux, melt the butter in a separate pan, add flour and cook for two minutes.
5. Bring the remaining liquid to the boil and add one tbsp of roux. Whisk until the roux is broken up and the juices have thickened, bringing the soup back to a boil.
6. Remove the bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and serve with steamed rice.

Thanks to the BBC for this recipe!

2. South African Curry Beef Stew

A classic beef stew is a beautiful thing, but sometimes you need to spice things up a bit. This South African beef curry brings the kind of bright and vibrant flavours that winter afternoons just scream for. From turmeric and fresh ginger to mustard seed and mango chutney, there’s plenty in here to tantalize your senses and make you feel like you’re far away in a tropical paradise.

Though one of the trickier elements of this recipe is browning all of that minced beef. If you’re cooking in a tall pot, you might not have enough space to do it all at once. Or, worse, it might not distribute the heat very evenly for good browning. That’s where a versatile stainless steel casserole can come in handy. It’s got space for browning a lot of meat at once, as well as the liquid capacity to cook the rest of the stew right in there. That means faster food and less cleaning up.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.3 kg fat-trimmed minced beef
• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup curry powder
• 2 tablespoons mustard seed
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground dried turmeric
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup mango chutney
• Salt
• Pepper

METHOD:

1. Rinse beef, pat dry, and cut into 2cm chunks. In a casserole combine beef, onions, and 1 cup water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Uncover, turn heat to high, and stir often until liquid evaporates and meat and onions are lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Add the curry powder, mustard seed, garlic, and turmeric to pan; stir until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add stock, tomatoes, cayenne pepper and ginger and stir. Return to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer until meat is very tender when pierced, for about 3 hours.
3. Add ½ cup mango chutney before serving and stir.
4. Ladle the beef curry over freshly steamed rice and enjoy!

Thanks to MyRecipes.com for the recipe!

3. Hearty Chicken Stew

Nothing brings back fond memories of winters past quite like a nice hearty bowl of chicken stew. This recipe has all the ingredients you love: carrots, celery, potatoes, and onions for those classic flavours that never seem to get old.

A classic dish calls for classic tools. Scanpan’s impact stewpot brings together features you’ve used and loved for ages, like a clear glass lid, along with advanced new elements like an impact-bonded steel base with an aluminum core. That means evenly distributed heat and no more accidentally burned garlic or chicken. It’s the perfect companion for this classic stew recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1.8 kg chicken portions
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 2 brushed potatoes, peeled, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• Salt and pepper

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in casserole. Add the chicken and cook, in batches, for 3-4 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate when done.
2. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and potato to the pan. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until liquid has almost evaporated. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the stock, tomato paste and herbs to the pan and stir to combine. Return the chicken to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
4. Serve in large bowls with a side of crusty bread.

Thanks to Taste.com.au for the recipe!

4. Seafood Stew

What’s the point of living in between the crystal clear waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans if you’re not going to take advantage of the seafood? For everyone who loves to make a delicious seafood stew when they’re missing summer days at the beach, this recipe is perfect. With fish and prawns coming together with some surprising ingredients like sweet potato and cumin, this soup brings the familiar together with a fun twist.

If your winter plans have a lot of seafood in them, you’ll want to consider a pot that can handle a stew like this along with tasks like steaming fish. The Woll Concept Casserole has an utterly unique lid, with three settings that allow you to do more than your typical casserole dish. With special settings to keep in condensation, cook pasta, or just simmer a sumptuous stew, it’s a real kitchen workhorse.

INGREDIENTS:

• 250 g skinless fish fillets (we recommend sea bass)
• 170 g prawns, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 sweet potato, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ cup red wine
• ½ cup fish stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
• Crusty bread to serve

Method:

1. Rinse fish and shrimp; pat dry. Cut the fish into 2cm pieces. Cover and chill fish pieces and shrimp until needed.
2. In a large casserole, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, carrot, sweet pepper, and garlic in hot oil until tender.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, fish stock, wine bay leaves, dried thyme, cumin, and chilli flakes. Bring the mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
4. Gently stir in the fish pieces, shrimp, and fresh thyme (if using). Cover and simmer about 5 minutes more or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and shrimp are opaque.
5. Remove the bay leaves before serving with crusty bread.

Thanks to Diabetic Living for the recipe!

Sharing the Winter Stew Recipe Love

What are your favorite winter stews and what makes them your go-to recipes? We’d love to know how you welcome the season, so please share your top stew recipes and stories in the comments below.

And, when you try one (or a few) of our recipes, please share some photos of your stew masterpieces. We’d love to see how everything turned out!