For budget-conscious domicile cooks, using stew meat in recipes is a great way to stretch a dollar!

From soups and stews to stew meat is cooked depression and slow until fork-tender. It's perfect for endless recipes but how exercise you know what meat is the best?

A steak and cubed stew meat on a cutting board.

What is Stew Meat?

Stew meat generally comes from the tougher, larger parts of animals similar cows, elk, deer, or pigs. Beefiness stew meat typically comes from the large shoulder of a cow, more commonly called "chuck". But roast, top and bottom round, tips, and fifty-fifty steak can exist used as stew meat.

When purchasing beef stew meat at the store, it can often exist a mixture of bits and pieces left over from cutting up larger cuts of meat into steaks and roasts.

Many home cooks adopt to use chuck because information technology is consequent in cooking time and texture and the results are tender and juicy!

What Kind of Meat For Beef Stew?

For beef stew, there is no meliorate cut of meat than chuck! Purchase a thick chuck pot roast and cutting information technology into chunks for the best tender flavor.

Chuck roast is a tougher cut of meat than sirloin or rib roast which really benefits from pressure cooking or slow cooking making the all-time beef stew! Force per unit area cooking or dull cooking breaks down tough fibers and so the beef pieces go melt in your mouth tender.

Stew Meat is also a expert option for the decorated and budget-witting melt. As beefiness stew meat tends to be a mixture of bits and pieces some bits tin accept a unlike texture when stewing.

In the image below, the meat on the left is chuck and has consistent texture and marbling throughout, the meat on the right is purchase stew meat of which some is very lean. I definitely detect that chuck is the best for a stew recipe.

Stew meat cubed on a cutting board

How to Melt Stew Meat

Browning in flour adds to the flavour and tenderness of stew meat.

  1. Cutting pieces of stew meat into fifty-fifty-sized portions. Remove any large pieces of fat.
  2. Place them in a basin with seasoned flour and toss to evenly coat.
  3. Saute them in a little oil or butter (bacon grease adds extra flavor) until browned.

Tips for Browning Stew Meat

  • Utilize butter or oil to coat the pan.
  • Brown beefiness in small batches for best results.
  • Exercise not overcrowd the pan or the juices will proceed the beefiness from forming a crust.
  • Do not stir the beef, allow a deep crust to class before turning.
  • Add together liquid to scrape whatsoever chocolate-brown bits (deglaze the pan) and add them to your recipe. These brown bits are full of season.

How to Make Stew Meat Tender

Most beefiness stew meat comes from the tougher cuts, but that doesn't hateful it has to turn out tough!

Low and slow is the name of the game here. Be sure to take adequate liquid in the pot, casserole dish, crockpot, or Instant Pot and cook it for the required time outlined in the recipe! This will ensure the all-time texture and flavor.

If your stew meat is tough, it nigh often needs MORE time.

Recipes using Stew Meat

  • Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
  • Beef Tips & Gravy
  • Hungarian Goulash
  • Crockpot Beefiness Stew
  • Beef Stroganoff Soup
  • Easy Bootleg Beefiness Stew
  • Beef & Guinness Stew

Stew Meat on a cutting board with writing

Close up of Stew Meat with writing

beef Stew Meat on a cutting board with a title

before and after cutting up beef for Stew Meat

Holly is a wine and cheese lover, recipe creator, shopping enthusiast and self appointed foodie. Her greatest passion is creating in the kitchen and making deliciously comforting recipes for the everyday home melt!

More Posts by Holly