Braised Beef with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes
I know, this isn’t my normal recipe! It’s not vegetarian! Well, Dan does eat meat, and he loves beef. In fact, after eating this the first time he said, “I think I’ll become a cow-atarian”. He loved it so much, it was part of our Christmas Eve Meal, and it’s a fairly healthy dish (if you eat meat), so I thought I’d share it. And, I admit, it smells fabulous while it cooks.
We first made this Braised Beef with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes for Christmas Eve Dinner. Dan asked if I would please make my Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes with Onions instead of simply buying jarred Sun-dried tomatoes. Making the tomatoes isn’t much work, so that was a request I could go for, and I suspected he was right that the homemade ones would give more flavor to the dish. Basically, everything including the tomatoes cooks down and becomes this lovely thick sauce over the tender beef.
This really smells awesome while it cooks, even to this vegetarian. My husband loved it! And, he’s made it twice now, so it must be good!
The beef stew meat at my store is already cut into cubes, so it saves me some time. Look around for that, or if your store has a butcher, you can ask them for cubed stew meat. The recipe calls for 1-inch cubes. Really the most important part is that the cubes are roughly the same size, so they all cook at the same rate; the larger the cube, the longer the cooking time will be. I also like the idea of beef stew meat because it’s a relatively inexpensive cut of meat.
For the wine, we used Pinot Noir. It’s a nice dry neutral red wine, not overly heavy or sweet. It’s also the same wine that I used in the Lentils with Winter Veggies.
When it comes time to simmer the beef, it simmers at a high simmer, or a low boil. It was a bit more activity than we expected, but each time it was the same. So, that’s normal, and just let it cook away. Dan loved it when it cooked for a little over 2 & 1/2 hours, so that it was so tender it was falling apart.
And, like several of my other recipes, I’ve written this one to use the dry ingredients first so your measuring spoons stay clean and dry until you need to get them wet.
I’ve served the Braised Beef with a side of Mashed Potato Casserole. This Potato Casserole has a crunchy bread crumb and Asiago topping that’s super yummy. I’ll post this here.
Braised Beef with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes Recipe
Braised Beef with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 pound beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 medium onion vertically sliced
- 1 cup Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes with onions or sun-dried tomato halves
- ½ tablespoon all-purpose flour
- chopped chives for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium bowl or a 4-cup Pyrex measuring dish, mix together first 10 ingredients (garlic powder through red wine). Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, add cubed beef, cooking until well browned on all sides, about 10-20 minutes per batch. Remove beef from pan once it is browned.
- In the same Dutch oven, add sliced onions to beef drippings, and cook until onions are caramelized, about 20 minutes, add in a couple tablespoons of water if the onions appear to be burning or cooking too quickly.
- Once the onions are nice and caramelized, add browned beef back to the pot. Stir in the flour, and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth mixture and Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 1 hour. Uncover and simmer 30-60 minutes or until beef is very tender. Discard bay leaf. Sprinkle each serving with chives.
Recipe Notes
For Printing: Find the Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes with Onions here: https://lifecurrentsblog.com/balsamic-roasted-tomatoes-onions/
Adapted from Cooking Light
Robin Rue (@massholemommy) says
January 8, 2015 at 6:48 amThat sounds like a nice, hearty winter meal. Absolutely delicious.
burlapandblue says
January 8, 2015 at 7:05 amThis looks AMAZING!! Love a good hearty meal in the Winter. Thanks for sharing.
Moore or Less Cooking Food Blog says
January 8, 2015 at 7:05 amIt’s amazing dishes like these that made me go from being a vegetarian for years to eating red meat. Just the smell of it alone is intoxicating! Hubs would go crazy for this dish!!
Dan from Platter Talk says
January 8, 2015 at 7:31 amUnbelievably delicious; no wonder your husband Dan loves this one! This Dan does as well!
Mike Benayoun says
January 8, 2015 at 7:54 amGreat Job Debi. This really looks very appetizing. The picture reminded me of the rendang I published a couple weeks ago.
Angela says
January 8, 2015 at 7:56 amWhat a stunning hearty and delicious looking recipe!!! Sounds absolutely perfect and family pleasing! Thanks so much for sharing this!
Lovefoodies says
January 8, 2015 at 7:57 amok, so first I am teased with this delicious looking beef recipe.. oh boy! I need it! and then I spot the potato casserole….. I am patient 🙂 ……
Hurry with that recipe too! It’s killing me to wait!
Loriann Cargill Bustos says
January 8, 2015 at 8:20 amLooks amazing!
Culinary Ginger says
January 8, 2015 at 8:28 amWhat a great comforting, tasty dish. I need to try this.
peter @feedyoursoultoo says
January 8, 2015 at 8:36 amThis looks totally awesome. Perfect for the winter.
kristi@ishouldbemoppingthefloor says
January 8, 2015 at 8:38 amThis looks delicious…and so warm and hearty for these cold days! YUM!
Cindy @ Hun... What's for Dinner? says
January 8, 2015 at 9:09 amThis looks fabulous! I can almost taste the melt in your mouth beef.
April J Harris (@apriljharris) says
January 8, 2015 at 9:43 amThis sounds SO good and it looks delicious too. Love the idea of the balsamic roasted tomatoes and the spices in this recipe are fantastic.
Kelly Hutchinson says
January 8, 2015 at 12:15 pmThis is a perfect dish for this terribly cold weather we are having. I think I will put this on the weekends menu!
Sophia @ NY Foodgasm says
January 8, 2015 at 1:31 pmAbsolutely gorgeous and mouthwatering! BEAUTIFUL work Debi!
Michele says
January 8, 2015 at 4:40 pmThat really sounds like something I would enjoy eating–I am an omnivore-no doubt about it! I don’t thoink I would make that for just me-but maybe if I was having guests.
vegetarianmamma says
January 8, 2015 at 5:50 pmThis looks great, I can’t wait to share the recipe with my mother in law. I think she will really love it!
grabaplate says
January 8, 2015 at 5:54 pmLooks like a keeper! I can practically smell it from here!
Simply Sated says
January 9, 2015 at 5:38 amI LOVE this recipe, Debi. It is not only gorgeous, it sounds amazing and I look forward to trying it. Great job!
Mary says
January 9, 2015 at 8:13 amLooks like a Seahawk game day recipe for me! Both look like winners!!!!!!
Debi says
January 9, 2015 at 9:54 amGo Hawks! I look forward to celebrating their wins! 🙂
Caitlin says
January 9, 2015 at 10:01 amYum!! You had me at balsamic tomatoes! I’ve never heard of or seen anything like it! Sounds and looks super delicious!!
Holly @ Woman Tribune says
January 9, 2015 at 1:08 pmWow, how delicious does that look! Love a good, hearty meal, especially with all this snow and below 0 temperatures we’re having here in Pennsylvania.
GFCookingMama (@GFCookingMama) says
January 9, 2015 at 2:24 pmThis recipe looks wonderful. I will be making for my family. Do you mind if I repost on my blog for my gluten free followers … of course I will link it back to your site.
Debi says
January 9, 2015 at 2:36 pmGF, Cooking Mama, it would be fine if you’d like to repost the pick with a link back (but not the full recipe). But, it isn’t GF, as it does have 1/2 T flour in it. So, I’d suggest replacing that with Potato Starch, corn starch, or GF flour of some kind to make it GF.
Kristin says
January 9, 2015 at 8:09 pmThat looks so amazing! Can’t wait to see the potato recipe!
Liz Mays says
January 9, 2015 at 9:00 pmThat looks absolutely incredible! I can’t wait to try it, so I pinned it!
Onica {MommyFactor} says
January 10, 2015 at 3:09 amThis looks like a great and filling meal. Perfect for someone who likes meat.
Melanie says
January 12, 2015 at 11:04 amMy hubby would really like this for dinner!
Stephanie Keeping says
January 12, 2015 at 12:07 pmThis sounds amazing and easy. I bet my family would love it.
Shauna Smart says
January 12, 2015 at 5:42 pmThat looks so good! I know my husband would be a huge fan, too!
triedandtasty says
January 12, 2015 at 9:39 pmOh wow, this looks delicious!
naptimecreationsemily says
January 12, 2015 at 9:47 pmwow, that looks really hearty and delicious. How perfect for these cold winter evenings. pinned.
Meagan says
January 12, 2015 at 9:50 pmYes, please! This looks wonderful. What a great Sunday dinner. I’ll have to add this one to my list for my family.
dishofdailylife says
January 12, 2015 at 9:57 pmI’ve got some stew meat in the freezer and I was thinking about making beef stew this week! Your recipe looks really good! Pinning!
Debra says
January 12, 2015 at 10:18 pmThis sounds so amazing! Delicious!
Britney says
January 12, 2015 at 10:50 pmSounds delicious! What a great dish for my family!
Jillian {Food Folks and Fun} says
January 12, 2015 at 10:53 pmAbsolutely delicious! This is the best comfort food for winter!
sevenalive7 says
January 13, 2015 at 8:50 amOh my! This looks tender, hearty and yummy! I have never braised my beef but I’m going to try it now! Totally pinning for dinner this weekend!
eglover0616 says
January 13, 2015 at 9:18 amThis looks like a delicious meal! We will have to try this out!
savoryexperiments says
January 13, 2015 at 6:55 pmMy family would LOVE this recipe!!! I shared it all over!
Stephanie Pass says
January 14, 2015 at 9:00 amThis looks like such a hearty and delicious meal! I love the beef with the roasted tomatoes is just wonderful!
Rory Singh (@rorysingh) says
January 19, 2015 at 9:42 ammmm, that beef dish is making me hungry right now. Thanks for the recipe.
KC the Kitchen Chopper says
January 23, 2015 at 3:28 pmThose tomatoes sound unbelievable. I’ve got to try roasting them like that. This combo looks divine! 🙂
Ashley Bee says
January 24, 2015 at 1:40 pmMy fiancé has been bugging me for a good beef recipe, this is great inspiration! I love the flavors here.