Beef Stew {gluten-free}

One of our most comforting soups of winter is this Beef Stew. It’s thick and rich and so satisfying you don’t even need to eat bread with it, although if you’re not gluten-free and you have a good hearty loaf, by all means, have at it. Just like chili, this beef dish is even better the next day so make sure to save some for leftovers!

A few notes about this recipe and how I make it. I confess, I don’t make beef bone broth. I don’t have an easy source for beef bones and the couple times that I did try to make it, it just turned out so bland. My feeling is that it needs to be made with more intention than the chicken broth I usually make. Made in the throw-in-the-pot/turn-it-on way. For instance, beef bones should be roasted, you should probably have some meat on the bones for flavor and they need to be simmered for longer than the chickens that I usually cook. Add to those points, that I couldn’t even eat beef for most of last year and it just hasn’t been a high priority on my list. So, in the meantime, I use organic, Better than Bullion, beef flavor. I use this so rarely that I figure the small amount of unmentionables that it has in it will go into my 20% category. You know, the 80/20 rule?

Anyway, I also use my own home-canned green beans in this. Adding them while the other veggies are cooking would only serve to make them mush, so I wait until the end and add them along with the water from the jar. This is often the only vegetable I can but if you have canned carrots or potatoes, you will want to add that after all the other veggies have softened and the beef is cooked through and tender.

Everyone has their own version of beef stew or beef vegetable soup. In my mind, the difference between the two is that beef stew has potatoes in it and often gets thick and creamy from the potato starch. With this version I help add to that creaminess by dusting the beef cubes in some gluten-free flour. It really brings it all together.

I’m sure I probably started making a version of this soup with a recipe but over the years I ditched the card and now I just wing it. It’s pretty simple so feel free to tailor it to your tastes. Here’s how we make it.

Beef Stew {gluten-free}

 

Author:

www.mrfarmersdaughter.com

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Ingredients

• 2 Tbls. butter
• ½ cup onion, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 2 tsp. garlic, minced
• 1½ cups carrots, cut into rounds
• 3 cups potatoes, cubed
• 1 cup tomato sauce, smooth
• 3 cups green beans, cut into 1" pieces (I use my canned green beans here)
• 1½ lbs. beef cubes, dusted with gluten-free flour (I use this ATK mix*)
• 10 cups beef broth (I use Better than Bullion)
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp. real salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. thyme
• fresh parsley to serve

Instructions

1. Heat butter in large stock pot.
2. Add onion, celery and garlic and cook until translucent.
3. While vegetables are cooking, brown beef cubes in some olive oil in a skillet.
4. If using fresh green beans, add them now.
5. Add carrots, potatoes, tomato sauce and beef broth to the stock pot and bring to a boil.
6. Add beef cubes to stock pot once they are lightly browned and return to simmer.
7. Add seasonings except fresh parsley and simmer on low/medium for about 45 minutes, covered.
8. If you're using canned green beans, add them now.
9. Serve with sprinkled fresh parsley.

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This recipe can be made with wheat flour too! Just substitute the gluten-free flour mix with all-purpose flour. Everything else in the recipe stays the same.