Braised Beef with Carrots
All the pot-roast comfort, without the long wait.
Make this on a night when you want dinner to feel like a reset, but you do not have the energy for a full Sunday braise. It gives you the cozy flavor of braised beef with carrots in under 45 minutes by using bite-size beef and a covered simmer instead of a long oven stint. Expect tender beef, soft carrots, and a savory gravy-style sauce, not the fall-apart texture of an all-day roast. Serve it over mashed potatoes, rice, or buttered noodles if you want the most comfort for the least effort. This is the kind of dinner that feels reassuring, fills the house with good smells, and still leaves you enough evening to sit down.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb beef chuck — Cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 unit yellow onion — Chopped
- 3 unit carrots — Peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch coins
- 3 unit garlic cloves — Minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cup beef broth
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas — Optional, stirred in at the end
Method
- 1 Pat the beef dry and season with salt and black pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or deep skillet over medium-high heat, then brown the beef in two batches for 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Move it to a plate.
- 2 Lower the heat to medium. Add the onion and carrots to the pot and cook for 4 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until the vegetables look coated.
- 3 Slowly pour in the beef broth while scraping up the browned bits. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and thyme, then add the beef back to the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the beef is tender and the carrots are soft.
- 4 If using peas, stir them in during the last 2 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Serve hot with mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.
Variations
- Vegetarian swap — Use 2 cans of drained chickpeas or white beans instead of beef, and swap vegetable broth for the beef broth.
- Faster swap — Use thinly sliced beef stew meat or sirloin strips and reduce the simmer time to 10 to 12 minutes.
- Substitutions — Swap carrots for parsnips or celery, and use cornstarch mixed with a little cold broth instead of flour if you need a gluten-free thickener.
Notes
If your beef is still a little firm at 25 minutes, keep it at a low simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes with the lid on. For a thicker sauce, simmer uncovered for the last 3 to 5 minutes. This reheats well, and the flavor gets even better by the next day.
Equipment that helps
- Dutch oven or deep skillet with lid — It gives the beef enough space to brown well and then simmer in one vessel.
- Wooden spoon — It helps lift the browned bits from the pan so the sauce tastes richer.
Find more dinners like this
More like this
