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One of the easiest dishes you can make is a simple vegetable beef stew, and this delicious dish is hearty, warming, and really satisfying. It’s a mouthwatering combination of beef, vegetables, barley, herbs, and seasonings. Whether you pair yours with crusty bread or another favorite side, you’re going to find it a full-flavored dish that leaves you wanting a second helping! This is the best beef vegetable stew ever.

A bowl of vegetable beef stew with tender chunks of beef, carrots, celery, and tomatoes, garnished with fresh herbs. A green pepper, parsley, a wooden spoon, and a green cloth are placed around the bowl.

This bold and hearty beef stew with vegetables makes a very satisfying dinner. Homemade stew is such a cozy and tasty example of homestyle comfort food.

Also try creamy meatball stew, classic beef bourguignon, Italian beef stew, poor man’s stew, or perhaps one of these hearty stew recipes.

A bowl of hearty vegetable beef stew with carrots, celery, tomatoes, and tender beef chunks. A wooden spoon is placed in the bowl. Fresh parsley and a green cloth are on the side.

Why You’ll Love It

Easy: Stews are one of the first things a lot of us learn to cook and that’s because they are really simple. You just brown the meat over a medium high heat, add the remaining ingredients, and just let it simmer gently over a medium heat until it’s done!
Satisfying: This is a hearty, filling and very satisfying stew recipe. A bowl of this for lunch will keep you full until dinner time, while a bowl at dinner time will keep your tummy happy until breakfast time.
Flavorful: Meat and vegetables already boast delicious flavors, but add in barley, Worcestershire sauce, fresh herbs, and beef gravy mix, and you have a very flavorful meal to enjoy!

A close-up of a bowl of beef stew with vegetables, featuring chunks of beef, sliced carrots, barley, and various herbs, with fresh greens partially visible in the background.

Beef and Vegetable Stew Ingredients

A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below

Beef stew meat: This affordable cut of beef needs to be cooked low and slow in order to tenderize. But when it does, it’s fantastic! You can use any kind of stewing beef or ask the butcher for their recommendation.
Vegetables: Nutrition, color and flavor are covered with the addition of onion, garlic, carrots, celery, bell pepper, and tomatoes. Add a little tomato paste for a bolder tomato flavor or some green beans.
Herbs: Bay leaves, fresh thyme, and fresh parsley add subtle and aromatic hints to the stew.
Olive oil: For browning the beef. Use another kind of oil if you want to.
Beef broth and beef gravy mix: These ingredients fortify the rich and robust beef flavor.
Worcestershire sauce: Another highly tasty ingredient.
Pearl barley: A delicious grain that’s always beautiful in stews. It’s a little chewy and a little tender.
Canned tomatoes: Tomatoes add another flavor to the stew. Use petite diced, regular diced or whatever cut you prefer.

Various ingredients including diced tomatoes, sliced carrots, celery, green bell pepper, barley, broth, and seasonings arranged in bowls on a white marble surface for a chunky veggie beef stew.

How to Make Beef Vegetable Stew

For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card

Brown the beef: Sauté the beef with the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet until the meat is just browned.
Simmer with the other ingredients: Transfer the browned beef mixture into a large pot, adding the carrots, celery, broth, tomatoes, bell pepper, barley, Worcestershire sauce, gravy mix, bay leaf, and thyme, and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon, scraping any browned bits off the pot bottom (the brown bits are where the flavor is!)
The finishing touches: Discard the bay leaf and thyme from the stew. Check the seasonings, adding more kosher salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot with fresh thyme and parsley as a garnish.

A bowl of beef vegetable stew with chunks of beef, carrots, tomatoes, and herbs sits on a marble surface next to a yellow-green napkin and wooden spoon.

Substitutions and Variations

Gluten-free option: If you want a gluten-free version, ensure your beef gravy mix is gluten-free, and also the beef broth. Pearl barley does have gluten, so sub rice.
Other vegetables: Mushrooms, parsnips and rutabaga are also tasty additions to the soup, so feel free to mix and match as you wish. Frozen veggies can also be added, perhaps add frozen peas or root vegetables simmered until tender-ish, so they can finish cooking in the stew. Add potatoes too if you like.
A different meat: Stew is really customizable, so if you want to use pork stew meat or another kind (perhaps game) go ahead. You can swap the beef gravy mix for another kind.
Another grain: Not a huge barley fan? Sub in white or brown rice or just omit the grain altogether. If you often make beef vegetable soup, you probably don’t add grains, but one in here makes it more substantial.
Change the seasonings: You might like to add some red pepper flakes for a bit of a kick or swap the dried beef gravy mix for beef stock powder or beef broth granules. As these are all different, make sure you taste the stew as you go, so you can adjust the seasonings as you need to. You can use dried thyme in the stew in place of the fresh. If so, you don’t need to remove it afterwards (like with the fresh). Oh, and you might also like to add a splash of red wine to make it a truly great recipe! Or Guinness beer as your secret ingredient!

A bowl of beef and vegetable stew with pieces of beef, carrots, celery, tomatoes, and grains is stirred by a wooden spoon.

Serving Suggestions

Appetizers: Begin your meal with cowboy caviar dip or chips with beet hummus.
Side dishes:
This is an all-in-one type of dish, as you have beef, barley and veggies in there. If you do want something on the side though, consider one of these easy bread recipes. What could be more mouthwatering than homemade stew served with home-baked bread! Potatoes are good too. Maybe add half to the stew and serve the rest on the side.
Dessert: Still hungry after this tasty stew? Unlikely, but if you want to round off the meal with a sweet treat, you might like brownie bite truffles or carrot cake.

A bowl of beef and vegetable stew with carrots, tomatoes, and other vegetables garnished with herbs, placed on a marble surface with a wooden spoon and green bell pepper nearby.

How to Store Beef and Vegetable Stew

Store: Leftovers will keep for up to 4 days in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Freeze: Freeze it for up to 3 months. Just make sure it’s in a sealed container or freezer bag.
Thaw: Defrost overnight in the fridge.
Reheat: Warm it back up in a pan on the stove, giving it a gentle stir every minute or so. You can also microwave it.

A close-up of a wooden spoon holding a serving of hearty vegetable beef stew with meat, carrots, celery, and other vegetables over a bowl filled with the same delicious stew.

Top Tips

Brown the beef: Browning the beef might be considered an optional step but honestly, it’s worth doing! Browning your meat helps seal in those wonderful juices and it just tastes better in the finished stew. If you don’t want to dirty a second pot, just brown it with the onion and garlic in the soup pot you use to cook the stew instead of using a skillet.
Taste and season: Before serving the stew make sure to stir it really well so it’s perfectly combined. Taste a little and determine whether or not it needs any more salt and pepper. Adjust salt and pepper if and as needed.
Stir, stir and stir again: Stirring occasionally is a good idea, otherwise the stew will overcook at the bottom of the pot and might stick to the pot. Just give it a thorough stir every 10 minutes or so while cooking and ensure it’s simmering gently, not boiling.

A bowl of vegetable and beef stew with chunks of beef, carrots, tomatoes, celery, and fresh thyme sits on a marble countertop beside a green cloth and a wooden spoon.

Beef Stew with Vegetables FAQs

What exactly is pearl barley and why it is good in this recipe?

Pearl barley is a type of grain. It’s barley that’s been processed to remove the outer hull and some or all of the layer or bran. It cooks quicker than regular unpolished barley. If you want to use that instead, just extend the cooking time (and you’ll probably need to add more liquid at some point too).

Can you make this vegetable beef stew in a crockpot?

Oh yes, the humble slow cooker is just perfect for recipes like beef stew! Brown it with the onion and garlic, and then transfer everything into your crockpot. Give it 3 to 4 hours on low or 8 to 9 on high, or until the beef is tender and the veggies are done.

How about ground beef – can you use that instead of beef stew meat?

Well, yes you can, although you’ll get a much finer texture with ground beef. Also, it won’t take as long to cook and will be done before the barley is tender. For this reason, I’d recommend using chopped stew meat. Keep in mind stew meat might not be tender after 45 minutes either. The cooking process will tenderize it, but you might need a slightly different cooking time. That’s just how beef stew meat is!

Close-up of a savory vegetable beef stew with chunks of tender meat, sliced carrots, tomatoes, and onions in a rich broth, garnished with small green herbs.

Vegetable Beef Stew Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Vegetable Beef Stew

This bold and hearty beef stew with vegetables makes a very satisfying dinner. Homemade stew is such a cozy and tasty example of homestyle comfort food.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 8

Ingredients 

  • 1 Pound beef stew meat
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 Clove garlic, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 1 Stalk celery, sliced
  • 6 Cups beef broth
  • 1 Can diced tomatoes, 14½ Ounce Can, petite, not drained
  • ½ green pepper, diced
  • Cup pearl barley
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Package gravy mix, beef, powder
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 or 4 Sprigs fresh thyme
  • fresh parsley and thyme, for garnish, optional

Instructions 

  • Add the beef stew meat, diced onion, minced garlic, and olive oil to a large skillet. Cook over a medium-high heat until the stew meat is just browned.
  • Transfer the stew meat mixture to a large soup pot. Then add the sliced carrots, sliced celery, beef broth, petite diced tomatoes, diced green pepper, pearl barley, Worcestershire sauce, beef gravy mix, bay leaf, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme to the pot.
  • Bring the stew to a boil, then reduce to a medium-low heat. Allow the stew to simmer for 45 minutes.
  • Remove the bay leaf and thyme from the pot once finished simmering. Serve with freshly chopped thyme and parsley.

Notes

Brown the beef: Browning the beef might be considered an optional step but honestly, it’s worth doing! Browning your meat helps seal in those wonderful juices and it just tastes better in the finished stew. If you don’t want to dirty a second pot, just brown it with the onion and garlic in the soup pot you use to cook the stew instead of using a skillet.
Taste and season: Before serving the stew make sure to stir it really well so it’s perfectly combined. Taste a little and determine whether or not it needs any more salt and pepper. Adjust salt and pepper if and as needed.
Stir, stir and stir again: Stirring occasionally is a good idea, otherwise the stew will overcook at the bottom of the pot and might stick to the pot. Just give it a thorough stir every 10 minutes or so while cooking and ensure it’s simmering gently, not boiling.

Nutrition

Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 751mg | Potassium: 533mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2705IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 3mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

If you’re a fan of vegetable beef soup but you want something a little thicker and heartier, meet your new favorite comfort food dish: beef and vegetable stew! Many families have their own beef stew recipe that’s been passed lovingly down the generations. Whether you have one or not, or if you just want to try something different, try this easy vegetable beef stew. You will love how hearty and delicious it is. This really is the best beef stew if you want to impress everyone at the dinner table!

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Bella Bucchiotti

Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.

 

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Recipe Rating




5 from 5 votes (2 ratings without comment)

3 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I’ve been on a soup kick, and this was everything I wanted. It was so cozy and hearty and perfectly seasoned.