Spicy Beef Stew (Stove Top)

This beef stew is the perfect winter recipe. It’s hearty and filling and will help to keep you warm in those cold months.

This winter why not tuck into this delicious beef stew with added vegetables.  The beef is cooked until it is soft and tender and can be served with some rice for a hearty dinner. The beef stew is full of flavour with some spice which comes from the scotch bonnet. Not many beef stew recipes use scotch bonnet but growing up with Jamaican grandparents meant that many dishes I ate growing up contained some spice. Adding scotch bonnet to my stews is something I’ve always done and it never disappoints.

This recipe is straightforward, though to get the beef soft involves a long cooking time. What’s good about this is you can be getting on with things around the house while it is cooking.

Ingredients for Spicy Beef Stew

• 500g stewing or casserole beef – you can use beef for braising. Cut into cubes.
• 1 tablespoon reduced salt soy sauce – soy sauce is also optional but helps to give the stew a good colour.
• 1 small onion – slice the onions. You any type of onion though I use brown onions.
• 3 garlic cloves – finely chopped.
• ½ scotch bonnet pepper – chop into small pieces. Remove the seeds if you don’t want the stew too spicy. If you want it to be very spicy use the whole scotch bonnet.
• ½ teaspoon salt – salt is optional.
• ½ teaspoon black pepper – I use coarse black pepper.
• 1 teaspoon paprika – gives the stew flavour and a little colour.
• 1 teaspoon thyme – fresh or dried thyme both work well.
• 2 teaspoon onion granules – or onion powder.
• 2 teaspoon garlic granules – or garlic powder.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil – use can use any oil you prefer.
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup – the ketchup slightly sweetens the stew.
• 500ml hot water – dissolve the stock cube in water.
• 1 beef stock cube – I use low sodium or zero salt stock cubes.
• 2 medium carrots – chop the carrots.

How to Make Spicy Beef Stew

1. Add the cleaned beef to a medium or zip lock bag then add the soy sauce, chopped onions, chopped garlic, scotch bonnet, salt, black pepper, paprika, thyme, onion granules and garlic granules. Mix all the ingredients into the meat then place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour, preferably overnight.

2. Add the olive oil to a medium size casserole pot and heat on a medium heat. Once heated add in the meat including the chopped onions, chopped garlic and scotch bonnet. Brown the meat while occasionally turning until no pink is left on the meat. 

3. Mix in the tomato ketchup then dissolve the beef stock cube in the hot water and pour onto the meat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with its lid and allow the beef to cook for around 4 hours. You may need to top up the water occasionally if the water dries out too fast.  After 4 hours, add in the carrots and cook for a further 25 minutes or until the carrots are cooked. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving with some rice or potatoes.

Recipe Tips

• The gravy should thicken overtime. Towards the end of the cooking time, you want most of the water to have dried out and all left is the thickened gravy. 
• Remember to occasionally top up the water if it dries out before the beef is cooked.
• The longer you cook the beef the softer the beef will become. The cook time I give is a guide time. Depending on what beef you buy the time may be more or less so just cook it until you obtain your desired texture.

Nutrition

Nutrition based on 1 serving - Calories: 227kcal | Fat: 10.1g | Saturates: 2.7g | Carbs: 5.2g | Sugar: 3.8g | Fibre: 1.0g | Protein: 29.0g | Salt 0.76g

Storage

The cooked beef can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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