Beef stew and dumplings with vegetables

Beef Stew and Dumplings: Easy Traditional Recipe

Written by on in Recipes, Recipes with Meat

During the winter months, one of our favourite meals is beef stew and dumplings. It is a tasty, hearty, filling dish that all the family loves. Beef stew is so easy to make, and we always make enough for second helpings or to have some leftovers to heat up the next day.

It is a recipe that is easy to adapt, as you can interchange the vegetables in the recipe with other vegetables to suit what you have in at home. We usually use seasonal winter vegetables when making it in the colder months. However, if you choose to make the dish in the summer, you can use summer seasonal vegetables.

The dumplings are also easy to adapt, and if you do not want to use our dumpling recipe, you can use an alternative to accompany your stew. Our chosen recipe is a traditional suet dumpling mix, as these are tasty, light, and fluffy. They will also get a bit of a crust across the top when you bake the dish in the oven. Here is our easy recipe for beef stew and dumplings.

Beef Stew and Dumplings: Easy Traditional Recipe
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Beef Stew and Dumplings: Easy Traditional Recipe

Recipe by Liz FlynnCourse: Recipes, Recipes with MeatCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

25

minutes
Cooking time

2

hours 

30

minutes
Gluten-free

NO

Dairy-free

YES

Vegan

NO

Vegetarian

NO

An easy recipe for beef stew and dumplings, a classic British dish that is fantastic for warming up on a cold day.

Ingredients for the Beef Stew

  • 550g braising steak, trimmed and cut into chunks

  • 2 medium onions

  • 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

  • 3 celery sticks, sliced

  • 1 can of tinned tomatoes

  • 500 ml beef stock

  • 100 ml red wine

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 3 sprigs of thyme

  • 2 tbsp plain flour

  • 1 tsp English mustard

  • 1 tsp dried parsley

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

  • Ingredients for the Dumplings

  • 9 oz/ 250 g self-raising flour

  • 4 1/2 oz/ 125 g shredded suet

  • 7 fl. oz/ 200 ml water

  •  Black pepper to season

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1 tsp dried parsley

Directions: How to Make Beef Stew and Dumplings

  • Add the oil to a large casserole pan and put over medium heat on the hob.
  • Next, add the onions, bay leaves, and thyme to the pan, and fry for approximately eight minutes while stirring occasionally.
  • Increase the heat, then add the beef to the pan to fry for a few minutes until the outside of the meat begins to brown slightly.
  • Add the wine to the pan and deglaze the pan by stirring to remove any browned bits from the bottom, then leave to bubble for a few minutes.
  • Reduce the heat, then add the flour and mustard and stir through.
  • Add the tomatoes and stock to the pan, then increase the heat to bring the mixture to a boil.
  • Next, add the carrots, celery, and parsley to the pan, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  • Lower the heat and cover the casserole pan with a dish.
  • Leave to simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 220 C.
  • While the beef stew is cooking, you can start making the dumplings.
  • Put the flour in a mixing bowl and stir in the suet, salt, and parsley, then season with black pepper.
  • Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in the cold water, a little at a time.
  • Stir the mixture together with your hand to form a soft dough.
  • Flour your hands and divide the mixture into 12 pieces, then hand-roll into balls.
  • Drop the dumplings into your stew, then put the casserole dish of beef stew and dumplings into the oven for the last 20 minutes of cooking. It will make the undersides of the dumplings soft and fluffy, while the upper side will have a slight crunch.

Additional Tips

  • You can make a smaller portion of the beef stew using leftover meat from a roast dinner.
  • If you do not like parsley in your dumplings, leave it out or replace it with a teaspoon of mixed herbs.
  • Serve the beef stew and dumplings with your choice of potatoes or seasonal vegetables.
  • If you prefer not to use alcohol in your cooking, omit the red wine.

If you are a fan of beef dishes, you might also like our recipes for beef massaman curry, braised steak, and Hungarian beef goulash.

Have you tried our recipe for beef stew and dumplings? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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