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Table Of Contents
- Tuscan Beef and Bean Stew
- A Few Quick Announcements
- Where to Find High Quality Meat
Like my bean soup for the Instant Pot, beef and bean stew is a favorite in our house, especially for large gatherings! This Tuscan stew will win over any crowd.
I know it’s pretty standard to serve a big old hunk of meat as the main course if you’re hosting a holiday dinner, and I admit the last time we hosted Christmas Day dinner at our house, we served a grocery store ham.
I’m not sure if I could do that in good conscience anymore, and I’m also not sure I could fork over the dough for a pastured turkey or crowd of well-raised chickens to share with family. (I bet there’s an appropriate word for more than one chicken. I bet someone will help me out with that one.)
I’m the queen of eating out of the box – metaphorically, not literally at all, since boxed food has yucky stuff in it – and hosting a holiday dinner is no different. I don’t really follow the rules.
When we last hosted Christmas Eve dinner, we went for an easy, can-prepare-ahead-of-time main course. We served chili (Recipe available in The Everything Beans Book) and cornbread. The pot sat in the garage while we were at Mass and went right on the burner when we arrived home. It couldn’t have been simpler, or more delicious.
Find this recipe, updated and with even more frugal tips and transformation options, along with 29 other bean recipes and a ton of information on cooking dry beans, the health benefits of beans, and ideas for bean haters in The Everything Beans Book, available now at Kitchen Stewardship®!
I recently tweaked an old recipe that I threw together over a year ago with ingredients I needed to use up, and it’s gotten its share of “oohs” and “aahs” this week. I would definitely consider it as a main course for a holiday gathering, for a couple of reasons:
- It’s amazingly, restaurant quality delicious
- It stretches the meat, thereby stretching the budget when serving a crowd
- It’s easy to double
- It could sit on the stovetop for an extended period of time, either waiting for people to arrive or allowing a long, leisurely dinner, with second helpings
- It can even be made in the slow cooker so no one has to be bustling around at the last minute
- It includes mushrooms that are good for you
Tuscan Beef and Bean Stew
Tuscan Beef and Bean Stew
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 1 review
- Author: Katie Kimball
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Main Course
- 2 Tbs. each olive oil (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!) and butter
- 4–8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3–4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1–2 lbs. beef for stew or venison roast, cut in 1-2” pieces
- 2–3 c. beef or bean broth
- 2 Tbs. tomato paste (in glass jars, no BPA!)
- 15-oz. can diced tomatoes (in glass jars, no BPA!) with juice
- 2 cans white beans (or 3–4 cups cooked dry beans)
- 3–5 carrots, sliced
- optional veggies: 2–3 cups spinach or kale, 4-8 oz. fresh or frozen green beans
- 1/2 tsp. salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase)
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1–2 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1–2 Tbs. fresh parsley
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried
- shredded Parmesan, to serve on top
Instructions
- In a large pot, sauté mushrooms and onions in olive oil and butter until onions are translucent and mushrooms are nicely browned.
- During the last minute, add crushed garlic to the mix.
- Add meat pieces and toss until browned as well, then put all the other ingredients except the fresh herbs in the pot.
- Bring to a boil and simmer on very low, covered, for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender and practically falling apart.
- Five minutes before serving, add the fresh herbs.
- Top with shredded or shaved Parmesan to serve.
- Makes 4-8 servings.
Notes
Options:
1. Substitute 1/2 cup of the broth for red wine; add it first after sautéing the onions and browning the meat to deglaze, then add the broth and other ingredients.
2. Add 8 oz. of cream cheese or yogurt cheese after removing from heat and before serving.
3. Slow Cooker/Crockpot option: Brown the beef and onion in a pot, then throw everything in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours. Make another similar dish in the slow cooker by following this recipe.
Where to Find High Quality Meat
Having trouble finding good quality meat locally? Would you like to fill your freezer with local and pastured options?
If you’re in the US Midwest, Chicago to Milwaukee to Detroit to New York, and select cities across the country, check out TruLocalUsa.
If you’re west of the Mississippi, check out Wild Pastures.
If you live in any of the 48 contiguous states, I recommend US Wellness Meats and Butcher Box!
I’m grateful that there’s an online source of incredibly high quality meat that I can always count on. A subscription from Butcher Box includes grass fed, organic, pastured, and free range = all the labels important to your family’s health! And I’ve got a special deal for you!
They almost always have great deals for new customers. Claim your free gifts, and see what bonus they have going on right now. Don’t miss out!
(free shipping too!)
I’m very pleased to be part of the Whole Foods for the Holidays Progressive Dinner, hosted by Stephanie at Keeper of the Home today. Find other fancy and practical main dishes there! See all the participants and past courses here. You can still add your recipes to the linkys at the other posts, and we’ll be highlighting our favorites at the end of the round up!
A Few Quick Announcements
- If you’re prepping a dish to pass for a party, you’ll love my two simple appetizer dips. Get the videos and PDF recipes by signing up for either the sourdough eCourse or Fundamentals, and learn traditional cooking styles in the comfort of your own home. I’m a teacher in the sourdough course, but I am always blown away by the recipes the other two teachers have to share.
This week includes corn fritters and cornbread, and last week was sourdough pasta! I’ve made the chocolate cake twice in the past week, and even my husband, the sourdough skeptic, agrees that not only is it really good, but it actually gets better with age. Best. Cake. I’ve. Ever. Made. And I was afraid to try it because I didn’t want a sour cake! I’ve got to learn to stop being afraid of these recipes; Wardeh and Erin wouldn’t steer us wrong! Sign up for the adventure here. - How is your greening up going? Be sure to reference the natural body products master list, the Top 10 Green Gift Guide (both updated yesterday!) and the green cleaners master list.
- My son said last night: “My throat is sore, I need to gargle with salt water.” Has he been reading KS? If you’ve got a cold or that tell-tale tickle, you’ll want to read my 4 simple solutions for sick kids (kind of 5), all of which use stuff that’s already in your kitchen.
Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.
Category: Real Food Recipes
Tags: beans, beef, carrots, garlic, holidays, kale, main course, mushrooms, onions, Real Food Recipes, slow cooker, spinach, tomato paste, tomatoes, vegetables, Whole Foods for the Holidays
