This easy Dutch Oven stew is hearty & will bring you back to your childhood! Packed with tender beef and vegetables it’s the perfect dinner or camping meal.
I was new to the whole idea of a dutch oven but saw one on a cooking show and was intrigued. I LOVE my cast iron skillet so a cast iron pot had to be amazing. I have made a few things in it so far and this dutch oven stew was a huge hit last night (even with my teenager)!! The first recipe I made in it was this dutch oven whole chicken and seriously that is probably the moistest chicken ever packed with flavor (even the vegetables were more delicious than in a regular pan). (affiliate links present)
So why a dutch oven?? Well if you don’t have one you can check out the one I have here. Cast iron in general cooks or bakes everything more evenly than a pan that has hot spots, and it maintains great flavors the more you use it. You see you don’t want to scrub scrub this pan or pot. You merely rinse it off and over the years it becomes “seasoned” as they say. My pan was my husband’s grandmothers and it still looks great (as opposed to my Teflon pans that are totally shot after a few years).
If you’re around my age (40ish) you surely had stew growing up, beef stew is most common. Crockpots were big “back in the day” and I remember many many stew dinners cooked in that. That was good but seriously this dutch oven beef stew is WAY better!! I can’t give you the scientific reason as to why this is but I’ve had enough of this meal to say I probably will never make it another way again. It is super easy to throw it in your cast iron pot too!
You literally throw everything in except the potatoes and mushrooms if you choose to add those, add them halfway thru, stir and serve! No need to thicken the sauce at the end, it is plenty thick and hearty when you take the lid off at the end of 3 hours total. Throw in some rolls and wahhlahhh, you’ve got yourself the perfect comfort food ever!
Here’s what you’ll need to make this dutch oven stew
- Dutch oven – this is the one I have
- Stew meat
- Small red potatoes – I buy the bag of baby ones that is about 1.5 lbs. at the store, quarter them, and use the whole thing
- Carrots – buy the mini snackable ones and just halve them
- Flour – as a thickener
- Diced tomatoes – I like the petite version
- Tomato sauce
- Onion
- Spices – I gently season and then add a bit of salt when served because everyone is different
What is also great about dutch oven recipes is that you can use the pot when you’re camping!! They are great to cook just about everything over a campfire….here are some other easy camping recipes if you’re looking for that.
- 1 lb stew meat
- 1 onion sliced
- 3 carrots cut
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes 15 oz.
- 12 oz beef broth
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1/3 c flour
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
- 1-1.5 lbs baby red potatoes quartered
- 1-2 c mushrooms halved, optional
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt or more, may add additional when serving
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Put stew meat inside your dutch oven with onions, carrots, salt, oregano, w. sauce, and diced tomatoes.
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Pour beef broth on top ensuring all beef is covered and most veggies too, add a bit more than 12 oz. if you are adding more ingredients.
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Whisk together your flour and tomato sauce in a small bowl and pour it on top of your mixture in the dutch oven, stir until combined and coated.
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Put lid on and put into your oven at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.
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Take out, add quartered potatoes and mushrooms if you're adding those.
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Recover and cook an additional 90 minutes.
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