What are your favorite ingredients to add to stew?

I have found myself being able to slap together a decent basic stew these days and am feeling adventurous as of late.

What are some of your favorite additions to add to stew?

My stew ingredient list is very similar to this photo.



My personal favorite basic beef stew recipe comes from AllRecipes.

Thank you in advance!

I'm a fan of both cooking it on the stovetop or utilizing a slow cooker. They both come out with a wonderful product. I have recently received a large cast iron dutch oven and I'm itching to break it in with a nice beef stew. I still have some stew meat form the quarter cow I obtained the past year. I'm thinking tomorrow I'm going to get my hands on some veggies and make a nice pot of stew.

What inspired me to make a beef stew was taking a look at historical recipes.

Mine is just beef or deer dusted with wheat flour and browned on all sides. Also, a big onion sliced, floured and browned. That all goes in a kettle with water and cooked until meat is tender, and juice is deduced to a gravy consistency.  Then goes in carrots, potatoes, celery, more onion and just a little garlic, all to cook a little more. And salt to taste and a small dose of rosemary. I serve it with a skillet of cornbread and cottage cheese on the side. Peas can be added to the stew, but I cook them separately and add when serving because I think they taint the other flavors if cooked together.

Pretty much the same - I use powdered stock though,  and sometimes beer.   Othertimes leave off the tomato paste and add "left-over" red wine -  this  extracts as the glutinous bits - like the white wine that goes into a rich bolognese sauce.   Summer - slow cooker;  Winter - on top of the woodstove.
For pale meats - chicken and pork, then leeks replace the onions, and milk for the liquid.    It's not unknown to use curry spices,  but not pre-made ones - the do-it-yourself ones give a result more liked by my tastebuds - i.e I can go easy on the chili.   Depends on the mood really.

I like to add corn towards the end of cooking

Sweet potato, garlic, winter squash, peanuts, miso, hot chiles, cumin.

I would miss off the celery - my husband dislikes all tastes in that family, although I probably could get away with a little. Definitely a little worcestershire sauce, I'd use marmite rather than salt. probably a tin of tomatoes....I might use a beef stock cube if beef is in the stew, but more likely a veggie one, Rolling the beef cubes in flour and browning them first gives a nice thickness to the sauce as it cooks.
Other than that, anything goes!


Ooh - dumplings !


another recipe

Since learning of the myriad benefits of capsaicin, we even have the kids used to peppers in everything. I would not make anything without, at least, some roasted poblanos. Most any pepper will work.

You really get used to the spiciness quickly.

Watch the link below if you are interested. Capsaicin is the point of the video and he uses Cayenne to highlight it.

It depends on the stew. Here is what I normally use in stews.
Lamb stew sweet or regular potatoes, carrots, broth, whole peppercorn, bay leaves, onions or leeks and fresh parsley in the end.
Chicken stew peas, carrots, green beans, celery thyme and garlic
Beef stew, tomato paste, sweet or regular potatoes, pumpkin, winter or summer squash, bay leaves, whole pepper corns, carrots, parsnips, parsley, rosemary and sage.
Borscht beef, beets, cabbage, carrots, onions or leeks
I also very often toss in some spinach or collards finely chopped.

Over the years my meals have become 30 minutes or less.

I cannot stand up much longer than that.

Hamburger meat, can or two of tomato sauce, a can of mixed vegetables enables stew to be 30 minutes or less.

Otherwise, mine used to look like that first picture.

add "left-over" red wine

Jill I have to ask where you get this product?
I have not seen it anywhere!

John C Daley wrote:

add "left-over" red wine

Jill I have to ask where you get this product?
I have not seen it anywhere!

Hilarious. I used my apple today. Please someone give this man an apple.

Since stew is usually made with the toughest cuts of meat, I like to add red wine. That softens the tissues right up and make the meat a lot more tender. If I have the time, I like to soak the stew meat in red wine.
When making stew, slow and easy does it: It should simmer, not boil.
At the other extreme, when you are really pressed for time, do like my hubby: Pressure cook the darned thing, then add your veggies.
Otherwise, yes, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and spices.
Something else that we don't often think of adding is parsnip.
Parsnips really sweeten the stew.

Reconstituted dehydrated mushrooms and the liquid that the mushrooms were soaked in add a great flavour.

If any of your family don't like mushrooms, grind the mushrooms to a powder so you just get the flavour.

Sweet potato, onion, carrots, celery if I have it, sauteed. Homemade veggie broth and coconut milk, plenty of yellow curry powder. Big handful of chopped greens for last few minutes.

Sometimes bacon, and sometimes smoke sausage
Either added along with the recipe at the top
Bay leaf
And biscuits or dumplings

I like to roast the root veggies or fry them in butter while i sear the meat. I leave out potatoes and add parsnips when I have them. It adds a touch of a different type of sweetness.  I love to add red wine as well and whatever else I have on hand. I usually add shredded kale or cabbage for a dark green veg and everything I make starts with having a sprinke of black pepper and turmeric while cooking. I count on it for some health bennies as well. If I make a big roast and have leftover meat, the next day I do a stew with it. I also like to top some sour dough bread with a scoop of stew and it's gravy. Now I'm hungry. Enjoy!

Megan Palmer wrote:Reconstituted dehydrated mushrooms and the liquid that the mushrooms were soaked in add a great flavour.

If any of your family don't like mushrooms, grind the mushrooms to a powder so you just get the flavour.

Yes, pretty much all of the vegetables already described, but as Megan notes, mushrooms add a great flavor.  In fact, mushroom buillon ooncentrate, either homemade or purchased, is a great marinade for vegan faux beef pieces to boost their flavor.  If there is much leftover from a very large stew, I will thicken with a bit of all purpose flour and use as filling for a pot pie.

I usually do my stews in the oven. And the house smells yummy when fish stew is baked.

I'm in the Nancy camp with marmite, especially with fish. I've been eating Arctic char stew for a week! Before packing up last night and freezing my leftovers to keep until March, (when I return up north), I drained off 3 cups of broth which really needed a tablespoon of marmite to taste, and drank the juice for supper. Broccoli goes quite nicely in stews in my opinion, by the way. Mine has someone's discarded black beans in it too, slowly baked first in spaghetti sauce and water, because they were too crispy. There were split red lentils in there too.

With meat of winged critters, usually powdered masala goes in the pot. I have a ton of masala, and it's great with red meats too.

Onions go in everything and usually garlic too, parsley by the handful (super food) or carrot tops as a substitute, frozen Swiss Chard stems, golden beets, squash, occasionally frozen cucumbers, black pepper and chili pepper, a little good quality sea salt, and often things like frozen whole cherry tomatoes and other stuff I didn't get a chance to preserve "properly".

I also cheat with my carrots: they go in whole and I use a masher on them once they're cooked to save time. If I scored dried up parsnips reduced at the store, they're perfect in anything, and Hamburg rooted parsley roots will do the trick if some are left from the garden, stored in sand.

When all is done I often add sweet potatoes (and peppers if I have them) and cook a while longer.
To serve, things like a sprinkling of diced green onions or if things are growing outdoors, things like radish pods, garlic tips, etc

I also keep bagged frozen baked yellow peas on hand at all times, and when things need thickening up, I add some when finished

I start all my soups with bone broth that I have made and
preserved.
For beef bone broth I roast the bones, in the oven with tomato paste then put the bones in the slow cooker, I use Madeira wine and deglaze the roasting pan, add that to the pot with onions, garlic, celery, carrots, TBSP peppercorns,
2 hot peppers, sea salt, tumeric and 1/2 a handful of bay leaves.
This makes a great base for soup.

For me, a big part of making a stew super hearty is having a nice joint to throw in first.  All that connective tissue makes the broth so rich.  
For veggies I like to have chunks of celeriac, sunchokes and turnips.  They add a nice texture.    

Of course, a heavy dose of onion, garlic, ginger and celery to round out the palette.

I think a stew is a nice place to add medicinal or tonic herbs.  Maybe start with a medicinal mushroom tea as the broth.  Reishi and Chaga are mild tasting.  
Nettle makes a good solid base too.

Hunting camp each fall will see a variety of people joining our family.
We tell them to bring food items for stews, soups, lunch items and breakfast items.
My big cast iron pot will see a large variety of items in it for the stew and it will keep being added to over a few days.  Always good.  

In addition to the ingredients pictured I love rutabaga some red wine and loads of onions. Just a couple of minutes before serving I add a cup of frozen peas.
I looove stew!

Happy stewing and gardening!

Nancy Reading wrote:


Ooh - dumplings !


another recipe

Definitely dumplings!

j souther wrote:Sweet potato, onion, carrots, celery if I have it, sauteed. Homemade veggie broth and coconut milk, plenty of yellow curry powder. Big handful of chopped greens for last few minutes.

Coconut milk is great in a vegan stew!

Our hiking guide in Jamaica made us the most wonderful vegan stew. Before the hike, we went to the market and bought fresh tomatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, onions, and peppers. Then we went to a kiosk and bought a can of coconut milk. He took us through a maze of unmarked trails to a spring, where he half-filled his pot with water, boiled the vegetables over a fire, and added the coconut milk at the end. My wife and I make this stew several times a year--the ingredients vary depending on what's fresh.

My favorite quick stew is a Hungarian lecso. The main ingredients are so simple and so delicious: fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers, lots of paprika, and salt. All of this sauteed together. In Hungary, they have peppers called lecso peppers, and they come in two varieties: spicy and sweet. You can't find those peppers in the US, so we make do with what we find (my Hungarian friends would tell me that it's not a lecso without lecso peppers). For protein, you can add sausage or scrambled eggs if you want. You can eat it plain, on rice, on pasta, or on fry bread. It takes a half hour to make beginning to end,  including the slicing.

I spend about $50 a few times a year for beef brisket that I cut down into one pound servings for the two of us.  It gets cooked in the crock pot. What else that goes in it depends upon what I had for breakfast, the last song I heard, and the phase of the moon.   Looking at the OP, I sometimes substitute homemade catsup for the tomato paste, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. The Bay Leaf always makes its way in.

Randy, are these the same as Hungarian wax peppers?

Ra Kenworth wrote:Randy, are these the same as Hungarian wax peppers?

According to Wikipedia, yes. I'm honestly not sure. Long ago, I found seeds through a mail-order catalogue, but I only got a couple small peppers to grow (for some reason, I've never been able to grow any peppers). I've found reasonable substitutes for lecso peppers at farmers markets both in Chicago and Salt Lake, but they weren't exactly lecso peppers.

Unless I'm making a "spiced" stew like curry or chili, I really like adding a sheet of kombu (dried kelp) to my stew, whether beef, chicken, whatever.  The kombu in the stew gets taken out just before serving, julienned, and put back in--unorthodox I know, but I like to eat it as well as season with it.  

My stews are made with what I have at the time.
Always garlic.
I still have scallions growing in a bucket. Pulled them before the big freeze and put them in a bucket with dirt still on.
I mulched the heck out of my carrot crop and have them fresh in the middle of winter now, just got to uncover them and dig.
I still have potatoes in the bottom of the bucket so some of those.
I might start frying the tatos and carrots in butter like suggested, before adding.
From the freezer: sweet corn and red peppers.
Got some dried golden oyster mushrooms from the back yard.
Just a couple dried cheyanne peppers from my garden.
Throw in some red lentils to kind of make it less watery.
Did some work for a guy who raises good pork so I added that to the last one. Doesn't have to be beef to be stew right?

I add other stuff to the bowl after it's served: Salt, black or white pepper, nutritional yeast.
I am sort of surprised that others listed worcestershire. It's one of my gotos. Since Rupert Murdoch bought into heinz/lea and perrin.
I've been enjoying Portandia worsestershire sauce from azure standard, it's a little chunky, so shake it up before pouring.

We tend to have lots of different soups and stews so it's always dependant on mood and what's on hand.
One thing I have done is mostly given up on celery. Lovage is such an easy and dependable perennial that now I just let it grow and a few leaves give all the flavour that a stick of celery would. Much less hassle! It is pretty strongly scented when raw but mellows nicely when cooked.

Garden grown hot peppers...all kinds...all temps...all the time.
"I'll eat anything.. as long as it's hot!"

Interesting to see so many different ideas for stews!

So now I understand 'stew' is not the same we call in Dutch 'stamppot'. Stamppot is made of only potatoes and vegetables cooked together (with some salt) and then mashed.
The meat that goes with it is not cooked in the same pot. It can be baked, or made like those 'stews' mentioned here (but then only beef meat with onions and stock, called 'hachee' in Dutch). Vegetarians can have it with 'fake meat'...

Okay, this is not 'my favourite'. I often make something like this with any mixed vegetables I have (from my garden) together with potatoes. It's easy and cheap.

I will try your different stews to see which one is my favourite!

BTW I love to have some kind of sellery in my mixed vegetables. My favourite is what's called 'celeriac' in English. One of those is plenty to add to several meals during the week (or even longer)!

We generally use the slow cooker and since we buy a 1/4 beef each year (used to be a 1/2 with two teenage boys around), we've always got stew beef on hand.  We do cheat a bit and use one of the prepared mixes which includes corn starch.

To me, beef stew is a winter comfort food that is always based around root vegetables.  Onion and garlic go in almost everything around here, potatoes, carrots and beets are typical.  If we have them, turnips or rutabaga.  Diced tomatoes are generally in the mix and She Who Must Be Obeyed likes to have some wax beans involved.  Peas will occasionally be used.

For the liquid to mix with the spice mix, I prefer to use red wine - as we are preparing this first thing in the morning to cook all day, the rest of the bottle is set aside for consumption with the stew.

To me, pork and poultry are generally quite tender, so I don't see the need to stew them as a cooking method.  I have had a very nice chicken / tomato / chick pea stew, but I haven't been able to replicate it very well.

We have started to experiment with making vegetarian stews based around beans of some sort.  We don't have that to a routine at this point.

Smoked paprika

I like turnips better than potatoes, but I know it's unusual for people not to love potatoes. I just don't. I find turnips lighter an sweeter and more appealing to eat, especially when cooked with meat.

Stew or soup is always a great place to use dried vegetables if I have them.

Rebecca Norman wrote:I like turnips better than potatoes, but I know it's unusual for people not to love potatoes. I just don't. I find turnips lighter an sweeter and more appealing to eat, especially when cooked with meat.

Stew or soup is always a great place to use dried vegetables if I have them.

From a texture perspective rather than a flavour view, I've always mashed at least some of my potatoes in a stew to soak up the liquid.  I prefer a thicker soup as well (one with substance rather than just liquid).  I'm weird and I know it....