This hearty beef and mushroom stew recipe is the ultimate comfort food. I use a few secret umami ingredients that give this slow-cooked stew an incredible, complex flavour. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice or vegetables, for a fabulous dinner with friends or family. This is a stovetop recipe, but I’ve also included instructions for the Instant Pot and slow cooker.
Jump to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Ingredients | 📷 How To Make | 📹 Watch The Video | 👩🍳 Recipe Tips | 🍚 Serving Suggestions | 📝 Full Recipe Card | 🥘More Beef & Mushroom Recipes
Take a classic beef stew and make it 100 times better with this recipe!
- As well as budget-friendly beef steak (e.g. chuck, gravy, casserole), the stew features balsamic mushrooms, sweet onions and carrots. The braising broth is filled with flavourful umami ingredients such as fish sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and beef stock. These are not your typical stew additions but trust me, they make it extra special. Plus a little garlic and black pepper for those classic stew flavours.
- The texture is thick and saucy with super tender beef, which you achieve with slow-cooking the stew for almost 2 hours.
- This mushroom beef stew is nutritious and full of protein, iron, B vitamins and minerals. With added sides of veggies and carbs, you get a perfectly balanced meal!
- Overall, this recipe is budget-friendly although I did use a few extra ingredients for flavour. Most of those should be in your pantry already, and if not, you should get them as they can be used in many other dishes.
- It’s family-approved, perfect for a dinner party, great in winter but I also make it in summer on cooler days.
- Instant Pot and Slow Cooker methods are included below.
👩🍳 If you love a hearty recipe, you might enjoy one of these: meatball stew, mushroom stew, lentil mushroom Stroganoff, Moroccan chicken stew with spinach & sun-dried tomatoes, or the classic slow cooker chicken tikka masala.
What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need for this beef and mushroom stew recipe. Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
- Beef – cheap cut of beef is best for this stew as it’s slow-cooked; you can use something like chuck stew, gravy steak, casserole beef and so on. Want to use a more expensive rump? Go for it.
- Veggies – onions, carrots, mushrooms and garlic.
- For that incredible flavour – fish sauce and soy sauce for saltiness and umami, Worcestershire sauce for tang and umami, tomato paste for umami, sweetness and acidity, bay leaf and pepper for aroma, and beef stock for liquid and extra flavour. Speaking of stock, I used 2 beef stock cubes but you can use beef bone broth or packaged stock. The level of saltiness is different in stocks, so taste for seasoning right at the end and add extra salt to the stew if needed.
- Extras – flour and water for thickening the stew at the end; you can use regular flour, gluten-free flour, cornstarch or tapioca to make this more paleo/gluten-free friendly. And parsley for garnish.
How To Make Beef & Mushroom Stew
Find the full recipe and nutritional information below. Here are some handy step-by-step photos.
- Prepare the ingredients: Cut beef into large cubes, slice onions into half moons, cut mushrooms in half, and slice the carrot.
- Sear the beef: Heat a large pot over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp olive oil. Sear half the beef for 1-2 minutes on each side, remove to a bowl, and repeat with remaining beef.
- Sauté the onions: Add butter and onions to the pot, sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Combine ingredients: Return beef to the pot with onions. Add garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, bay leaf, pepper, and beef stock. Stir, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Pan-fry the mushrooms: In a separate pan, heat oil and butter over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms for 3-4 minutes without stirring, then stir and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Season with salt, cook for 3 more minutes, drizzle with Balsamic vinegar, and stir for 30 seconds. Set aside.
- Continue cooking stew: After 1 hour, add mushrooms and carrots to the stew. Cook for another 40 minutes.
- Make a flour slurry: Whisk 1 tbsp flour in 1/4 cup water until smooth. Stir into the stew to thicken. Taste for salt right at the end.
- Garnish and serve: Top with fresh parsley and extra pepper. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, quinoa, or with vegetables.
Watch The Video
Instant Pot Method
Sear the beef and sauté the onions on the Sauté setting, then add the beef, seasonings, sauces, and stock; pressure cook on HIGH for 30 minutes with a 10-minute natural pressure release. Pan-fry the mushrooms on the stovetop. Then open the lid, add the mushrooms and carrots, stir, and cook on the Sauté setting (Normal) for 10-15 minutes, stirring a few times. This will evaporate some of the liquid, thickening the stew. Add the flour slurry right at the end.
Slow Cooker Method
Sear the beef and sauté the onions on the stovetop or in the slow cooker dish if it’s heatproof. Add everything to the slow cooker, including seasonings, sauces, and stock (but not the mushrooms or carrots). Slow cook on HIGH for 4 hours, MED for 6 hours, or LOW for 8 hours. Then add the mushrooms and carrots and slow cook for 30-40 minutes on HIGH or a bit longer on MED or LOW. Alternatively, transfer the pre-cooked beef stew to a pot, add the mushrooms and carrots, and cook for 20-30 minutes on the stovetop. Add the flour slurry right at the end.
Recipe Tips
- I recommend using all those flavour additions as per the recipe. If you have to omit soy sauce or fish sauce, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If you have to omit Worcestershire sauce, add 2 teaspoons of Balsamic vinegar and a little salt.
- If you don’t have tomato paste, add 1 cup of tomato sauce (tomato passata) or canned tomatoes.
- This recipe can be adapted to use with ground beef. You won’t need to cook it for as long. I would say, cook ground beef and in the broth for 15 minutes, then extra 20 minutes with carrots carrots and mushrooms.
- Pan-frying the mushroom before adding to the stew gives them beautiful colour and removes some of the moisture so it doesn’t dilute the stew.
Serving Suggestions
- I usually serve this mushroom and beef stew with mashed potatoes – my perfect comfort food. It’s also great with rice, quinoa, polenta or couscous. Leftovers are great with a piece of toasted sourdough.
- For a low-carb version, make cauliflower mash, cauliflower rice or serve with a side of veggies.
- I will often make a side of greens such as pan-fried asparagus or garlic broccoli, or a simple side salad.
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Ingredients
For beef stew (main)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.8-2 lb chuck steak 800-900 grams, diced, you can also use gravy steak, casserole beef etc.
- 1 onion sliced in half moons
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic diced finely
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 10 ml fish sauce about 2 teaspoons
- 10 ml soy sauce about 2 teaspoons
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 500 ml beef stock 2 cups
- 1 tsp black pepper
For Mushrooms
- 320 grams mushrooms 11 oz, halved,
- 1 tbsp olive
- 2 tsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Other bits
- 1 large carrot sliced thick
- 1 tbsp flour for thickening
- 1/4 water
- 2 tbsp parsley for garnish
- Extra black pepper for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients. Cut the beef into large cubes, slice tte onions into half moons, cut the mushrooms in halves, and slice the carrot.
- Sear the beef. Heat a large, heavy pot or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and half of the beef, sear for 1-2 minutes on each side and remove to a bowl; repeat with the remaining beef.
- Saute the onions. Add butter and onions and saute for 2-3 minutes.
- Combine onions and beef. Add the beef to the onions and follow with all other ingredients listed under the beef stew main: garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, bay leaf, and pepper. Pour in the beef stock and stir through. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour, stirring a few times.
- Pan-fry the mushrooms. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Melt a little oil and butter and add the mushrooms. Cook for about 3-4 minutes without disturbing, then stir through, and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Season with salt and cook for 3 more minutes. You need about 10 minutes to get those mushrooms golden brown. Finally, drizzle with a tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar and stir for 30 seconds. Set aside.
- Continue cooking the stew. After 1 hour, add the pre-cooked mushrooms and carrots to the stew. Cook for 40 more minutes.
- Make a flour slurry. Once the stew is cooked, we need to thicken it ever-so-slightly. Whisk a tablespoon of flour in 1/4 cup water until smooth slurry forms. Stir this mixture into the beef stew and see it thicken right away.
- Garnish. Top the stew with fresh parsley and extra pepper and serve over my sour cream mashed potatoes, rice, quinoa or with vegetables.
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