It's fall. It's chilly. Maybe you have friends or family coming over later. Beef stew is on the menu. It's tempting to spring for some steak to make your stew extra-special, isn't it? But, friends, save your pennies because slow-cooked stews are where cheaper cuts really shine.
It's totally counter-intuitive. You know you want tender bites of beef in your soup, so it seems natural to gravitate toward the tender cuts of meat. In fact, beautiful, well-marbled steak cuts quickly turn tough and chewy in a stew because their fat melts away into the soup.
What you want is the tough, lean cuts. These don't have as much fat, but they do have something called collagen. Connective tissue. This breaks down over long cooking, rendering the meat fork tender and oh-so-tasty. In fact, if you're making a stew and the meat still seems chewy, just let it simmer for a little longer. Keep checking it every 15 minutes or so, and eventually it will hit that magic point where it goes from tough to tender.
You want large cuts of meat from either the front shoulder or the rear end. These are the specific cuts to look for. Any of them can be used in beef stew or substituted for what your recipe calls for:
• Chuck, Chuck Shoulder, Chuck Roast, Chuck-Eye Roast, Top Chuck
• Bottom Round Roast, Bottom Eye Roast, Rump Roast, Eye Round Roast, Top Round, Round Tip Roast
• English Roast, Pot Roast, Stew Meat
I think I got them all! If you want to change things up, you can also buy the same cuts in lamb, goat, or venison.
What's your secret to a great beef stew?
• Recipe Template: How to Make Beef Stew
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i can never remember what cut to get for stews. thanks for this.
Bones. Either used to make the stock that is used as the base of the stew, or stewed right in there with the meat. I like to get a couple ox tails or shanks for the added marrow flavor.
The runner up secret: a cup or two of red wine.
The best beef stew I've ever made was with boneless short ribs -- amazing.
Bones, wine, brown your meat first, don't skip the bay leaf, and salt (if you do everything else right but under salt your stew it will still fall flat). Also, I LOVE whole radishes in stews, they taste like tiny little turnips and require zero chopping.
I would like to echo what jess13 and Aninhas said. Also- if you're using bones, add a bit of vinegar in. Helps extract minerally goodness.
My parents always went super easy explaining at the store: cheaper the meat is priced, tougher it probably is. Usually if not always true.
Beef shanks. Just be sure and strip the silverskin off. Cheap cheap stuff. Good for osso bucco too.
Stew meat, for me, is kind of hit and miss because it's usually the little bits of whatever was leftover. Usually it's a mix of the cheaper cuts for stews but occasionally it's the good stuff, which can turn to mush in a stew. It's honestly not that much more expensive (if at all) to go for a chunk of whatever is good and cheap and simmer it for a loooooong time.
I've tried many things, but I ribeye gives me the best stews and beef veggie soups. I know it's expensive, but the meat is also beefy (not liver like) and tender, not stringy.
We avoid industrial meat but I am not wild about a lot of grass fed beef. I've found bison is actually better in a low of stewed applications.
I like half shank and half short ribs. Flavor and meaty texture from the shank and richness and soft buttery texture from the short ribs. Perfect!
Stew meat. Yep, it's 'leftovers' as someone mentioned. But so many turn their noses up at it, it's often on sale at BOGO prices so I stock up. Cooked in the crockpot on low for 8 hrs, it's actually more tender than finer cuts and tastier. Ha - let em eat cake!
for me, the day i discovered boneless short ribs for stew was the day i never looked back.