Easy One-Pot Beef Stew

Introduction

Busy weeknights call for hassle-free meals that don’t skimp on comfort or flavor. This Easy One-Pot Beef Stew is just the answer—a deeply satisfying dish that fills your home with savory aromas and your bowl with tender beef, hearty vegetables, and a rich, luscious broth. Perfect for families or casual dinner parties, it requires minimal cleanup thanks to its single-pot preparation, making it as practical as it is delicious.

Why Easy One-Pot Beef Stew is a Weeknight Winner

What truly sets this recipe apart is its straightforward, all-in-one approach. Everything cooks in one pot, allowing flavors to meld beautifully for a stew that tastes like it simmered all day—even if you started less than two hours ago. The result? Succulent beef, perfectly cooked root vegetables, and a deeply savory broth that makes seconds irresistible. This stew is sure to be a staple in your meal rotation for both convenience and crowd-pleasing comfort.

Choosing the Best Ingredients for One-Pot Success

Opt for well-marbled stewing beef such as chuck for melt-in-your-mouth texture. Carrots, potatoes, and onions form the hearty foundation of this stew, while a touch of tomato paste, beef broth, and a handful of fresh herbs build irresistible depth. For added nutrition and color, frozen peas or green beans can be stirred in at the end.

One-Pot Cooking for Effortless Flavor

Brown the beef first for maximum flavor—those browned bits at the bottom of your pot are culinary gold! Sauté the aromatics, then simmer everything together. The one-pot method means easy prep, efficient cooking, and, most importantly, a deeply developed taste with very little effort.

Serving Suggestions to Elevate Your Stew

Pair your Easy One-Pot Beef Stew with a loaf of crusty bread or a batch of warm, buttery biscuits to mop up every drop of savory broth. For a lighter pairing, serve with a crisp green salad dressed simply in olive oil and lemon. This dish is tasty enough to stand alone, but even better when shared at the dinner table.

Nutritional Information and Serving Size

This recipe yields 4 generous servings. Each serving provides approximately 400-450 calories, depending on your choice of beef and added vegetables. It’s a protein-rich, veggie-packed meal perfect for nourishing your body and satisfying big appetites.

Easy One-Pot Beef Stew (Recap)

A reliable, flavor-packed classic brought up to date with a fuss-free, one-pot method—this beef stew offers the depth and satisfaction of all-day simmering in a fraction of the time, making it the perfect pick for home cooks.

💡Meal Planning Tip: Save this recipe to automatically generate an organized shopping list with all ingredients sorted by store section—perfect for efficient grocery trips and meal planning.

Instructions

1. In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the beef cubes on all sides, then transfer to a plate.
2. Add onion to the pot and sauté for 2–3 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
3. Return the beef to the pot. Stir in the carrots, potatoes, and tomato paste, mixing well.
4. Pour in the beef broth, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Add thyme, bay leaves, and season generously with salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 60–75 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is tender and vegetables are cooked through. Remove bay leaves.
6. If using peas, stir them in during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Garnish with fresh parsley just before serving, if desired.

Weekly Meal Planning

This Easy One-Pot Beef Stew is an excellent choice for advance meal prep and weeknight planning. Save and schedule this recipe to plan which nights to enjoy it, and generate intelligent shopping lists that combine ingredients across all your meals for the week.

Planning Benefits:

• Automatically calculates total ingredient quantities for all your planned meals
• Organizes your shopping list by grocery store section
• Avoids duplicates and forgotten items on busy grocery runs
• Streamlines prep so you stay organized all week long

Pro tip: When you add this stew alongside other recipes, CookifyAI ensures you’ll buy the right total amount of carrots or potatoes for all meals, making meal planning efficient and reducing food waste.

Cook and Prep Times

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 75 minutes
Total Time: 90 minutes