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Beef and Red Wine Stew with Dumplings in a cast iron pan served on a wooden board with sprinkled sprigs of thyme, large wooden spoon on the side and a green and flowery cloth in the back ground
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5 from 23 votes

Beef and Red Wine Stew with Dumplings

How to make a perfect British winter warmer of Beef and Red Wine Stew with Dumplings.
Diced beef aka stewing, chuck, braising or casserole steak with onions, carrots, swede, mushrooms, thyme, red wine and stock.
Slow-cooked in a cast iron pan or casserole dish in the oven for 2 hours. Finally, the beef stew is topped with English dumplings, which can be made with suet or without suet.
Prep Time25 minutes
Active Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 55 minutes
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: British, Irish
Keyword: beef and dumpling stew slow cooker, beef and red wine casserole, beef and red wine stew, Beef stew, beef stew with red wine and dumplings, braising steak, casserole, cast iron, chuck, dumplings, english dumplings, suet
Yield: 4 people
Calories: 766kcal
Author: Luke and Kay - Flawless Food

Equipment

Ingredients

Beef Stew Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon Plain flour
  • 600 grams ( 1.2 lb ) Stewing steak aka diced beef, brasing steak or chuck steak
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 tablespoon Olive Oil 2 tablespoon for the beef and 1 tablespoon for the vegetables
  • 2 Onions diced
  • 2 large Carrots chopped
  • 300 grams ( 10 oz ) Swede chopped into cubes
  • 500 ml ( 2 cups ) Beef Stock
  • 250 ml ( 1 cup ) Red Wine
  • 200 grams ( 7 oz ) Chestnut mushrooms chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Bay leaf
  • 3 sprigs Thyme sprigs (fresh) sub with 1tsp dried thyme

Dumpling Ingredients

  • 200 grams ( 1 ½ cups ) self-raising flour
  • 100 grams ( 7 tablespoon ) Suet can be substituted with butter, margarine, fat or vegetable shortening
  • 6 sprigs thyme only leaves needed, not stalks. sub with 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 10 tablespoon water
  • salt and pepper to taste
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Beef stew

  • Preheat the oven 150° / 300°F fan oven.
    Sprinkle diced beef with plain flour and season with salt and pepper.
    Chunks of stewing steak covered in plain flour and black pepper in a white and blue bowl
  • Heat the 2 tablespoon of olive oil, in a cast-iron dish/casserole dish on high heat. Add the stewing steak and sear until just browned on all sides.
    Browning off chuck steak cubes in a grey cast iron pan
  • Don't worry about bits that have stuck to the bottom of the dish we will soak these up later.
    Remove the cooked steak and place to one side in a bowl.
    Leftover fat and dregs of browned flour on the cast iron pan after browning off the chunks of stewing steak ready for deglazing
  • Add 1 more tablespoon of oil with the onions, carrots and swede to the pan and cook for 8 mins.
    Chopped onion, carrots and swede in a cast iron pan ready to cook
  • Next, add the mushrooms for 2 mins.
    Mushrooms added to the cast iron pan with the chopped onion, carrots and swede
  • Push the vegetables to the sides and pour the red wine into the centre of the pan.
    The wine will loosen the stuck bits off the bottom gathering all the flavours and flour ready for thickening your casserole. This is known as deglazing.
    Pouring red wine into the middle of the cast iron pan with the chopped mushrooms,swede,carrots and onions
  • Add beef stock and bring to the boil
    Pouring beef stock into the cast iron pan with the chopped mushrooms,swede,carrots and onions
  • Add Worcestershire sauce and return the beef back to the pan
    Pouring in a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce into the beef stock mixture with chopped onions,swede,mushrooms and carrots
  • Finally, add the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
    Stewing beef chunks, thyme sprigs and bay leafs have been added to the stew cooking in a cast iron pan
  • Put the lid on and transfer to the 150°C / 300°F oven for 2 hrs.
    Placing the lid on the cast iron pan to cook the beef stew in the oven

How to make dumplings

  • Place all the plain flour, beef suet, thyme leaves, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
    Self raising flour, beef suet and thyme leaves in a large silver bowl
  • Add cold water and mix together with your hands until the mixture forms a sticky dough
    Mixing together the dumpling mix by hands in a large silver bowl
  • Roll into 8, slightly larger than golf ball sized balls
    Rolling out a dumpling by hands
  • Take the casserole dish out after 2 hours, remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
    Place the dumplings on top of the stew and push down half way into the liquid.
    Replace the lid on the dish and put back in the oven for 20 mins.
    Pushing the dumplings into our Beef and Red Wine Stew in a cast iron pan
  • If you want a crispy top take lid off and cook for a final 10 minutes.
    If you prefer soft dumplings keep lid on for another 10 minutes.
    Beef and Red Wine Stew with Dumplings in a cast iron pan
  • Sprinkle with some more fresh thyme and you are ready to serve!
    Beef and Red Wine Stew with Dumplings in a cast iron pan served on a wooden board with a bowl of garden peas garnished with butter, sprinkled sprigs of thyme, large wooden spoon on the side and a green and flowery cloth in the back ground

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 766kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 274mg | Potassium: 1319mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 7749IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 5mg