Imagine the aroma of smoky chipotles filling your kitchen as you create this fuss-free, one-pot wonder – my Chipotle Beef Stew! This deeply flavored sauce is evident in every bite. Tender, melt-in-your-mouth beef (thanks to a clever yogurt marinade and slow cooking magic) simmers alongside potatoes and carrots for a truly satisfying meal. Perfect for a cozy night in or feeding a crowd, this soulful homemade stew is guaranteed to become a new favorite. Ready to experience pure comfort in a bowl? Try this Chipotle Beef Stew recipe today!
The best meals are those that hold memories of pure comfort and this delicious beef stew is one of them. Food that transports you in time through taste, and for you, perhaps through smell too.
The inspiration for this recipe came from our cold winter days right now and making lots of beef stew! We love comfort food in the winter and adding chipotle marinade to the beef was such a delicious 'on the spot' idea! All that smoky flavor, add a little tomato paste to balance and a couple spoons of plain yogurt, I had a marinade on top of a marinade!
Leaving it overnight did enter my mind, but time was not on my side, so I got to cooking immediately and look at the results. One pot of comforting chipotle beef stew!
What Is Chipotle Marinade?
Essentially chipotle marinade comes from a jar of chipotle peppers.
So what is chipotle peppers? It's smoked and dried jalapeño peppers with unbelievable smokey flavors and very good, also very hot!
What Makes This Beef Stew Good?
Adobe Marinade Imparts a smokey meat-like flavor on its own before adding it to the beef, aromatics and rich red wine sauce, so together the flavors deepen!
Ingredients the ingredients work well together so add them as per the recipe card below, and for example, where the recipe says 'add half the wine and let cook down for a minute' then pour the remaining wine, it's not for nothing, it's all about the flavors welcoming each other and sort of melting in together, like a partnership. Therefore season in layers as you go because even one pot meals need love.
The Oven Now listen, if you follow this blog and my newsletter, you know that I've fallen in love with the instant pot and air fryer because they are the most convenient kitchen appliances, it's true! However, perhaps I'm old school but my goodness, the oven cooks your food like no other appliance can. Each have their own advantage.
In a nutshell, if you have the time to make this recipe, you will be rewarded with the very best beef stew with chipotle marinade.
What You Will Need, Ingredients
Please find the full recipe card below, but here is an idea of the key ingredients.
- Beef I used a combination of beef cubes and short rib but you can use any beef. Chuck is also a great beef option.
- Chipotle marinade You can buy a jar of chipotle marinade or you can make your own, both work. The advantage of making your own, is that you have it to add to so many other foods.
- Yogurt Plain full fat Greek yogurt was used here but you can use any full fat plain yogurt.
- Oil and butter
- Spices and seasoning which include, Involtini and smoked paprika.
- Tomato paste
- Beef stock
- Water
- Tomatoes
How To Make The Best Slow Cooked Chipotle Beef Stew
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Season: Season the meat generously with salt and pepper, and add the yogurt and mix it in. You can use a spoon or your hands to get the yogurt into the meat pieces. Add the remaining spices.
Chipotle Marinade: Add your favorite meat spices, chipotle marinade and tomato paste. At this point, you can leave it covered in the fridge for half hour to overnight in the marinade. Or, cook immediately.
Searing/Browning: In a Dutch Oven or any oven friendly pot with a lid, heat enough oil to cover the base of your pot. Add the meat and brown it all around. Once the meat is browned, set is aside and cook the onions.
Add The Onions: The pot will have sticky parts at the bottom after searing the meat, add the onions and add a dash of the beef stock to help deglaze. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bits up. Let the onions cook, the dash of stock will cook down very quickly.
Add The Butter: While the onions are cooking and the stock is almost cooked down, add the butter to coat the onions.
Return The Meat: Return the meat to the pot, stir it into the butter and onions. Add the liquid.
Simmer: Bring the stew to a boil (bubbly simmer). Turn the heat off, place the lid on and transfer to the oven. Cook on 160°C/ 320°F for 4 hours.
Add the Veg: Carefully remove the pot from the oven and add the potatoes and carrots, check to see if you need a dash more water, if so add. Continue cooking for another hour or until your veggies are just over the fork tender mark.
Recipe Notes
- Adding the vegetables into a slow cook beef stew at the end as opposed to the beginning, gives you really soft vegetables but not overly cooked that they taste like sauce.
- Use a thick pair of gloves as you carefully transfer the hot pot from the stovetop to the oven.
- I like the sauce in a beef stew so I added about a cup of water with the veggies.
- Don't forget to taste for seasoning.
- Meat: I've used a combination of beef cubes and beef short rib. Cut the short rib into cubes to match the size of the beef discarding any unnecessary bones and fat.
- It will take a couple of minutes to sear the meat, but it's so worth the flavor so be patient
How To Cook Beef Stew in a Slow Cooker
This same recipe can also be made in the slow cooker. I often use this method since it doesn't heat up the whole kitchen, which is not a bad thing in the winter but it is more cost effective than running the oven.
Slow Cooker Method: Turn the slow cooker on the high setting when you start, because when they named this appliance slow cooker, they meant really slow! So I like to start on high and then lower but first you need to get the ingredients in.
Prep The Meat: Season meat with salt and pepper
Add liquid: (stock or water) and no, you don't need to drown the meat in water, it just needs about a quarter way up.
Here's my Tip For the Slow Cooker
To make this faster, warm up the stock on the stove before adding it to the slow cooker.
Add The Remaining ingredients: Add any other spices you may want to use, and tomatoes, tomato paste and the rest of the ingredients accept the veggies.
Timer and Cooking: Cook it for 6 hours on high OR if you going out for the day, or to sleep for the night then cook it on low for 10 hours (overnight).
How to Thicken The Liquid in Beef Stew?
Mix one teaspoon of Maizena or flour with one tablespoon of room temperature water. Wh
When to Add The Vegetables to a Slow Cooker Beef Stew?
Add the vegetables in the last hour to hour and a half to the slow cooker.
How To Cook Beef Stew in an Instant Pot
This is the same method although a different recipe but in order to give you the gist of the idea of how to cook beef stew in the instant pot, take a look at this recipe here. Below is a synopsis:
Can I brown the meat all at one time or in batches?
It's best to brown the meat in batches to get a good sear all round. Overcrowding the pot will only result in the meat steaming instead of browning.
Cuts Of Meat Are Used For Beef Stew
There are a few cuts of meat that you can use to make beef stew and it's not so much which is the most popular as opposed to your preference. You can use chuck, ox-tail, short rib or shank. In this Beef Stew South African Recipe (stove-top) I used bone-in short rib.
What To Serve With Chipotle Beef Stew
The beef stew is already the star of the show so whatever you serve it with, will be wonderful as a side but also not critical. This is stew is what's critical, it's so delicious!
- Rice White, brown, basmati, long grain, short grain, any rice
- Noodles These are very versatile and there's many options!
- Bread You know I won't leave without talking about bread! Possibly the best way to serve any stew! Dunk homemade crusty bread into it!
- Quinoa Another great idea is a bowl of quinoa, fluffy quinoa, white, red or mixed?
- Mashed Potato The most popular way to serve stew is with mashed potato and I have the most delicious fluffy buttery mashed potatoes right here for you.
- Salads and Veggies Beef stew is more of a comfort food for us which means we will generally be serving just carbs on this day!
Please rate this recipe if you love it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
More Comfort Food Recipes
I think you may like these other recipes, so if time permits, do take a look at them.
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Carrot And Ginger Soup
- Instant Pot Lamb Shanks In A Rich Red Wine Sauce
- Braised Lamb Shanks In Red Wine
- Slow Cooked Short Rib Ragu (Oven)
I would love to hear from you, so if you like the recipe and try it, please rate and comment below and if you share it to Instagram, show me by tagging @anosmickitchen or use the hashtag #anosmickitchen.
⭐Last Step: Rate My Recipe
Please leave a review and rating, I love hearing from you and it helps my blog grow. Thank you!
Chipotle Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 500 grams beef cubes
- 1 kg beef short rib
- 3 tbsps. plain yogurt
- 1 cup chipotle marinade in a jar
- 3 tbsps oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 50 grams butter unsalted (4 tablespoons)
- 2 tsps. Involtini spice
- 2 tbsps tomato paste
- 500 grams beef stock
- 3 tbsps smoked paprika
- 1 cup water
- 410 grams chopped tomatoes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Prep the meat: Cut the meat to more or less the same size and remove some bones and fat if too much from the short rib. Place all the meat in a large enough dish and pay it dry with kitchen tissue paper. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper. Add the yogurt and chipotle marinade. Use your hands to combine it all.
- Brown the meat: Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or any oven friendly deep pot. Add the meat and brown it all round. You will have to do this batches so as not to overcrowd the pot and get a nice sear. Make sure the heat is on medium high however, all stoves are different so lower your heat and feel free to remove the pot from the heat until you've managed to stabilize a medium heat without burning the pot. Each batch will take about 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat. No need to cook the beef through now, it will cook finish in the oven, we just want a sear for flavor. Transfer the browned meat to a bowl/dish and set aside covered with foil or a lid.
- Cook onions and garlic: Add the onion to the pot and a small dash of stock (like a couple tablespoons) this will help the pot deglaze and the onions cook without burning. Add minced garlic and butter, stir and cook for a minute.
- Make the sauce: Return the meat and paprika, stir in with the onions. Add the tomato paste, taste for seasoning, add stock and tomatoes and water.
- Oven: Bring the pot to a light boil, place the lid on, place the pot into the oven and drop the heat to 160 degrees Celsius. Cook for for 4 to 5 hours.
- Serve: It will be very hot so allow to cool down before serving and taste for seasoning.
Comments
No Comments