Summer Beef Stew
This is a luscious, tender, summer inspired beef stew that the whole family will love! Even my kiddos gobbled this up with a side of cornbread for dunking. It’s not too spicy but just right with the addition of Mexican inspired spices like cumin and chili powder. I used fresh summer veggies that I’m sure a lot of you are swimming in at home. Corn, zucchini, summer squash, jalapeño peppers and fresh tomatoes. This beef stew is lighter than its winter companion and tastes like summer in the best way!
I hope you all love this easy soup as much as we do! You can definitely do this in a slow cooker if you want! The recipe below is for the oven.
Summer Beef Stew
Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time: 3 hours Serves: 4-6
- 2 1/2 pounds stew beef
- 3 Tablespoons arrowroot powder (or all-purpose flour)
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons beef tallow or olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 jalapeño peppers, seeds removed and minced
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 1/2 cups beef bone broth or stock
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 teaspoons chili powder
- fat pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 medium size zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 medium sized summer squash, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 2 ears of fresh sweet corn, kernels removed (about 1 heaping cups worth of corn kernels)
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes (about 2 cups)
- cilantro for serving
- white rice for serving
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Toss the stew beef with the arrowroot powder and a hefty pinch of salt and pepper. Heat the beef tallow or olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the stew beef (you may need to do this in batches) and brown on all sides. Remove from the pan and keep to the side.
- Add a touch of broth to the pan to help deglaze it (it's okay if there's lots of brown bits on the bottom) toss in the onion, garlic, jalapeño peppers, and tomato paste. If need be add a touch more oil to the pan. Cook, stirring often for about 2 minutes. Add the beef back to the pan along with the broth, spices and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat.
- Place the pan in the oven and cover with a lid. Cook for 2 hours.
- Remove the pan from the oven, add the zucchini, squash, corn, and tomatoes. Return to the oven for another 45 minutes or 1 hour until the beef is tender.
- Serve with rice or corn bread and plenty of fresh cilantro.
Notes