Get the Recipe: Braised Beef Stew with Cranberries
Delicious cubes of beef, braised in red wine and flavoured with cranberries. A great use for left over cranberry sauce (or quickly make some from fresh cranberries!)
Ingredients
Homemade Cranberry Sauce (or use left over cranberry sauce):
- 1 /2 cup water
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
For the stew:
- 3 Tablespoons Cooking oil, divided
- 2 lbs stewing beef cubes
- 2 small onions, thinly sliced
- 1 1/4 cups red wine
- 1 1/4 cups beef or chicken broth
- 1/4 cup cranberry sauce
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, for thickening, if necessary
- Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- For the cranberry sauce (if not making your own): Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until most but not all of the cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened. Remove to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately. (Left-overs can also be frozen).
- For the stew: cut the stewing beef in to 1-inch chunks if not already that small. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Add 1/2 of the beef cubes. Cook, stirring, until evenly browned on all sides. Remove to a plate. Add another 1 Tbsp. oil to the pan and the remaining beef cubes. Cook until browned and remove to the plate.
- Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in the same pan. Add the onions and cook, stirring regularly, until golden. Return the beef to the pan. Add the wine, stock 1/4 cup of cranberry sauce and the thyme leaves. Bring to a boil, stirring well with a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook covered at a gentle simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
- Remove the cover at 1 1/2 hours and check that the meat is tender (if not, cover and cook a bit longer). If so, add a further 1/2 cup of cranberry sauce. Stir to combine. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed. If the cranberry taste seems too subtle, add a bit more and stir in. Cranberry taste should be present, but not over-powering the beef. Simmer for a further 5 minutes. If sauce needs thickening, spoon out 3 Tbsp. of the stew broth and combine with 2 tsp. cornstarch. Add mixture a bit at a time back in to stew and cook, stirring, until sauce reaches desired thickness.
- Serve with a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley. Especially nice over mashed potatoes. If desired, flavour mashed potatoes with a few teaspoons of horseradish for a lovely complement to the stew.
Notes
Be sure to read the notes above this Recipe Card, for more tips, options, substitutions and variations for this recipe!
Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 469 kcal, Carbohydrates: 39 g, Protein: 41 g, Fat: 11 g, Saturated Fat: 4 g, Cholesterol: 117 mg, Sodium: 264 mg, Potassium: 467 mg, Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 32 g, Vitamin A: 135 IU, Vitamin C: 6.8 mg, Calcium: 21 mg, Iron: 4.1 mg
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