A vegetarian friend of mine tends to go crazy around St. Patricks day because of the smells of beef/lamb coming from all directions as people devour steaming bowls of hearty Irish stew. So, I decided to find her an alternative that was just as good.

I hate Tofu. It’s tasteless, boring, and altogether sad to see as an “alternative” to a variety of meats – it’s not an alternative, not even close. I digress…

Seitan, however, is something I can get behind. It’s a wheat based product instead of soy based like Tofu. This means it has a tougher, stringier texture which might sound unpleasant, but it’s more like meat such as lamb than tofu can even dream of. Here is a tasty seitan recipe for beef stew that even meat lovers can get behind!

Recipe for Beef Stew – Ingredients

You will need:

• Approx 14 oz seitan, cut into thin strips
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp steak sauce, HP, A1 or similar (check to make sure what you buy is veg. friendly)
• 3 tbsp butter or margarine
• 1 Spanish onion, diced
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 12 oz bottles Guinness Stout OR 1 bottle plus 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Recipe for Beef Stew – Process

While it would be fine to use the same technique as we have listed on this site for a traditional recipe for beef stew, this works better for Seitan to impart a deeper and more “meaty” flavour.

Sautee the seitan in the olive oil and soy sauce until lightly toasted brown (should take about 5mins over med. heat). Reduce the heat slightly and add the steak sauce until the seitan is coated. Remove from the heat and set aside. It will cool while you prepare the rest.

In a large pot sautee the onions, celery, and carrots together (mire-poix), add the potatoes, garlic, and butter/margarine and cook everything together for 3-5 mins or until the celery tenders, and the onions soften. Reduce the heat again, and slowly add Guiness stirring gently to combine. Add flour, thyme, sugar, salt, pepper and stir well.

Add the seitan to the mix and any juices that might have collected.

Simmer on med-low heat for 40mins or until the Guiness has reduced and stew thickens.

Taste for salt and pepper. Serve.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Beef Stew – A Latin Seitan variation

Dumplings were originally used in stew as an alternative to other meats which may have been too expensive. Other meat alternatives throughout history have included barley, which also served to thicken the broth and make the stew more filling and hearty.

These dumplings can be used along with the beef or lamb in the dish itself, they offer a tasty addition to the vegetables and meat and add to the stew’s tasty and Wintery heritage.

Recipe for Beef Stew – Ingredients

You will need:

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup milk or water

Recipe for Beef Stew – Process

This addition really couldn’t be any more simple to make.

First, you will need to sift the flour and baking powder to aerate it and make it more light, this will add to the texture of the dumpling and ultimately make it taste better. Once the flour is sifted you will add the salt and water and mix well.

Be sure to mix the batter very thoroughly in order to avoid any lumps which will make for an unpleasant floury surprise in the middle of the dumpling.

Now, simply add a teaspoon of batter to the stew one at a time and let them boil along with the vegetables, meat, and broth. You will need to add the batter to the stew in the last 15 mins to avoid them overcooking and becoming tough.

These dumplings will add a delicious extra dimension to the stew and make it altogether more delicious!

**Tip**

Think those dumplings sound a little plain? Try adding extra seasoning to the mix before adding the water and you will have a more flavourful dumpling. Why not break with tradition and add some cayenne, chili flakes, or something else with a kick. Or, you can simply add some cracked black pepper and keep it simple. Make this your own recipe for dumplings and share it with your friends.

Enjoy!

Recipe for beef stew dumplings video

Thanks for checking out another recipe for beef stew.

We are always on the lookout for great stew ideas, and this one is certainly unique. While stew is famous for making its way out of Ireland, there are indeed other countries that use a similar method in their own histories.

The technique is usually always the same: meat and vegetables simmered in broth. Such a simple idea has a basis across many different continents and cultures – let’s take a look at Thailand’s recipe for beef stew using a crock-pot (electric slow cooker)

Recipe for Beef Stew ingredients

You will need:

• 2 pounds beef (tenderloin preferred), cut into 4 equal sized pieces
• 2 cups (1 x 1/4-inch) straw cut red or green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (packaged store-bought will work fine)
• 2 tablespoons rice or white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (sambal will work too)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (Asian cooking peanut butter is also a good choice)
• 6 cups hot cooked basmati rice (Jasmine is also acceptable)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
• 8 lime wedges

 Recipe for Beef Stew process

First, be sure there is little to no fat left on the outside of the tenderloin.

Add the beef, peppers, teriyaki sauce, vinegar, pepper flakes, and garlic to the crock-pot. Cook all the ingredients together on a low-setting for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, remove the beef and chop it coarsely (it should be falling apart with ease, if not, leave in the crock-pot until it is. Add the peanut butter to the mix inside the crock-pot and stir well – add the beef back in as well as any juices that may have seeped out.

Let the mixture cook for a further 20 mins on low-med.

Combine the stew and rice together in a large serving bowl, serve each dish with peanuts, and onions garnished on top. Add a lime wedge to the side. Serve.

Enjoy your tasty new recipe for beef stew!

Thai recipe for beef stew alternative

We’ve already mentioned on this site that beef stew was orginally made with lamb. What about before then, however? How did beef stew even originate?

Beef stew was originally a peasant dish dating back many years in Irish and, to a lesser extent, English history. Traditionally eaten by farmers in what we would now regard as the central counties (Offaly, Laois, etc.) it was also popular in working class pubs around Dublin.

The recipe for beef stew – always changing…but not by much

Such a simple dish to make, the recipe for beef stew never changed too much over time – except for the main meat of choice. Before lamb became the signature meat in the dish dumplings were the main ingredient of choice. Today, these plain dumplings are nothing more than a vegetarian option or often made into smaller sizes and added to a lamb or beef stew as an additional ingredient. Traditionally, meat was often expensive and out of the reach of the common labourers with whom the dish first originated – hence the use of flour dumplings (often infused with parsley or similar for added flavour).

Recipe for Beef Stew –  Today

Nowadays, we can also see a more French introduction into the humble recipe for beef stew with the use of a roux. The golden flour/butter(oil) combination creates the thick gravy-like texture of the broth and ultimately makes the dish even more hearty. In the original recipes, barley was often used to accomplish the same effect and is still used today – though this is mainly only in Ireland in the most rural and traditional locations. Perhaps the one ingredient that is most steadfast in its use across time has been the potato. In all recipes, all variations, and all countries, the potato remains in every single recipe for beef stew. Accomplishing the same effect as the barley, the potato was originally the source of thickening and oftentimes for the poorer citizens it was the only ingredient in the stew at all!

Indeed, across all countries and all variations on St. Patrick’s day there may be many distinct kinds, but they all share the genes with the original peasant heritage.

Click here for a basic recipe for beef stew video