As the temperature drops in the winter, there’s nothing quite like a warm, hearty stew to bring comfort and coziness to cold days. Stews are the ultimate cold-weather meal—rich, flavorful and filling.
Plus, they’re a breeze to make, often requiring little more than a pot, some quality ingredients and a bit of time to let the flavors meld together. Whether you’re using a slow cooker, pressure cooker or stovetop, these easy-to-make stews offer the perfect way to create some comfort during the winter season.
Tips on Preparing Stews
Cooking stews can be made easier with kitchen appliances like slow cookers and pressure cookers that can help make the process more hands-off. Slow cookers keep a constant low temperature to stew meat over a long period of time, so you don’t have to keep an eye on a pot on the stove. Pressure cookers like Instant Pots® help to reduce the cook time significantly to help you prepare stews even faster.
Best Meat for Stews
Because they cook slowly over low heat, stews are ideal for cuts of meat with less fat and more collagen. This helps tenderize the meat over low, slow heat. Inexpensive cuts of meat like beef chuck, which comes from the cow’s shoulder, are ideal for stews. Other popular cuts of beef to use in stews are short rib, beef round and oxtail.
Stews aren’t just for beef, either—any type of meat you want will do, from chicken to lamb. There are even many popular vegetarian stews that don’t require any meat at all. Just be conscious of cooking times, adding in faster-cooking meats later in the process to ensure they don’t overcook.
Tips to Thicken Stew
A good, comforting bowl of stew should be thick, rich and delicious. If you find that your stew is a bit watery, there are a few methods you can try to thicken it.
For stews cooked in a pot or slow cooker, prop open the lid towards the end of the cooking time—once the meat is already tender—to let some of the moisture out and allow the stew to thicken naturally.
Adding ingredients that act as natural thickeners, like potatoes or breadcrumbs can also help absorb excess liquid. These also have the added benefit of adding more flavor and texture to your stew at the same time.
You can also thicken a stew with flour by creating a slurry with equal parts flour and cold water. Whisk the two together and add it to your stew, stirring constantly to prevent lumps, and then bring the stew to a boil for a few minutes. For a gluten free option, replace the flour with cornstarch, chickpea flour or arrowroot powder.
Easy and Delicious Stew Recipes
When you’re in the mood for a comforting, warm meal this winter, look no further than these delicious stew recipes to get you started. All of these recipes are versions of classic stews that you can prepare easily at home thanks to Minute Rice, which helps meals come together faster with less fuss.
Beef Stews
When it comes to stews, it doesn’t get more classic than beef stew for a winter comfort meal. Stewing the beef over a longer period of time, or in a pressure cooker, makes the meat tender and delicious. Some classic beef stew ingredients include onions, mushrooms, carrots and beef broth that help to build delicious, rich flavors.
For a quick and easy version of the classic dish, try this Easy Beef Stew with Rice, which comes together in just 30 minutes. This recipe is great to make ahead of time and freeze, then serve over fresh Minute Instant White Rice when you’re ready for dinner!
Alternatively, if you have a pressure cooker you can try this Instant Pot Beef Stew. After sauteing the beef, onions and garlic, all the ingredients simply combine into the pressure cooker, and it handles the rest.
Corned Beef Irish Stew is another classic beef stew that makes a great comfort meal, made with corned beef, carrots, cabbage and Irish stout beer. Serve over Minute Instant White Rice to soak up all the delicious flavors of this stew and enjoy!
This rich and creamy Classic Beef Stroganoff is perfect for a family meal and comes together in just 20 minutes. Beef, onions and mushrooms combine with beef broth, cream of mushroom soup, Worcestershire sauce and sour cream to create this classic comfort dish. Served over Minute Instant White Rice, this meal is sure to be a hit with the whole family.
Chicken and Lamb Stews
Stews aren’t just for beef—other meats work well in stews too and add their own unique flavors. This Quick Moroccan Lamb Stew is packed with warm spices that highlight the flavor of the lamb. Plus, using a pressure cooker and Minute Instant Basmati Rice, it’s a hands-off recipe—after browning the lamb and sauteeing the onion in the pressure cooker, all the ingredients are combined in the pressure cooker to do the rest.
Stew can be great for a versatile meat like chicken, as well. This Creamy Chicken Stew combines chicken breast and mixed vegetables to a rich base of chicken broth and heavy cream. Chicken cooks quickly, so this stew is also a great option for when you’re craving the comfort of a stew with only a little bit of time on your hands.
Vegetarian Stews
Stews can be a great option for a meatless meal, as they allow flavors to meld together and deepen to create rich flavor without meat. The key to a hearty vegetarian stew is to include an alternative source of protein to help keep it filling. This Slow Cooker African Peanut Stew uses chickpeas as the base, which are high in protein. Using a slow cooker, this stew is incredibly simple—just combine the ingredients into the slow cooker and let it simmer for three hours. Simply stir in Minute Instant Basmati Rice once the stew is cooked, and you’re ready to enjoy!
Beans are another great alternative protein source that takes on a lot of flavor in a stew, like in this Slow Cooker Tuscan Bean Stew. Wholesome vegetables like kale, tomatoes and onions combine with protein-packed cannellini beans in a slow cooker to allow flavors to develop and deepen over 3 to 6 hours. If you don’t have a slow cooker, this stew can also be made on the stove on low heat, stirring every 30 minutes for three hours.
Savor the Season with Hearty Stews
From classic beef stews to flavorful vegetarian options, there’s a delicious bowl of stew for everyone to enjoy this winter. With the speed and convenience of Minute Rice, you can cut down on prep time and serve up hearty meals that bring warmth and comfort to every bite. So, as the chilly weather sets in, let these easy stew recipes keep you cozy all season long.
