My Favorite Pantry Staple Recipes — Mom’s October Beef Stew

October. The month of Halloween, cooler evenings (San Diego's version — 68 degrees, which I still consider summer), and the specific energy that comes from both kids being in school and the house being mine for four hours a day. The cookbook is progressing. Seventy recipes tested. Thirty to go. Ava photographed the enchiladas this week — the green chiles glowing under the kitchen window light, the cheese bubbling, the plate styled with nothing but a fork and a napkin because military wife food doesn't need garnish. 'This looks like a magazine,' Ava said. 'It looks like Tuesday dinner,' I said. 'That's why it's good. Nobody wants to cook magazine food. They want to cook Tuesday food.' Tuesday food. The food people actually make. The food that doesn't require a trip to a specialty store or a culinary degree. That's the cookbook. That's every recipe. That's the whole point. Pri and I celebrated our one-year recipe-swap anniversary. Fifty-two Fridays. Fifty-two recipes exchanged. My recipe box now has an entire Filipino section — adobo, pancit, lumpia, kare-kare, sinigang. Her collection has pot roast, fried chicken, enchiladas, and Mom's banana bread. 'Next year we should publish OUR cookbook,' Pri said. 'The Military Wife Recipe Swap. I'd read it.' 'You'd WRITE it.' Maybe someday. The military wife recipe swap cookbook. Two women, two cultures, one table. Made Mom's beef stew tonight. The October stew. The hearty, grounding food that says the year is turning.

After fifty-two Fridays of recipe swaps, a cookbook seventy recipes deep, and an October evening that finally felt like the year was settling into itself, I needed the one recipe that has never once let me down — Mom’s beef stew. It lives squarely in the “pantry staple” category: nothing you can’t already find in your kitchen, nothing that requires explanation or apology, just the kind of food that makes a house smell like someone loves you. This is Tuesday food at its most honest, and honestly, it’s everything right now.

My Favorite Pantry Staple Recipes: Mom’s Beef Stew

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 45 min | Total Time: 2 hrs 5 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 cups beef broth (low sodium)
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 3 medium carrots, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 cup frozen peas

Instructions

1. Brown the beef. Pat beef cubes dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the beef on all sides until deeply browned, about 3–4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
2. Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion to the same pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
3. Build the base. Stir in the flour and tomato paste, coating the onions evenly. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture darkens slightly and smells nutty.
4. Add liquid and return the beef. Pour in the beef broth and water, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaves, and the browned beef along with any resting juices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Add the vegetables. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, and celery. Re-cover and continue simmering on low for another 45–55 minutes, until the beef is fork-tender and the vegetables are cooked through.
6. Finish and adjust. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the frozen peas and cook 3 minutes more. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. If the stew is thinner than you like, simmer uncovered for 10 additional minutes.
7. Serve. Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread or over egg noodles if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 410 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 620mg