Recipes Using Stew Beef Cubes (2024)

FAQs

How to make stew meat cubes tender? ›

The most important key to making stew meat tender is being sure to cook it for a long time. If you want super tender beef, you'll need to cook it on a low heat in a Dutch oven on the stove or a slow cooker for at least a few hours.

Versatility makes these cuts ideal ingredients for dishes such as burgers, tacos and meat sauce. Perfect for breakfast, dinner and everything in-between.

Beef stew meat doesn't have to be for stew only! Here Glenn shows you how to marinate it to perfect tenderness and enjoy it stir fried with rice. The wine and vinegar in the marinade tenderize the meat and add a ton of flavor making for a sensational stir fry.

Vinegar can add depth of flavour to soups, sauces, and stews. Especially great for tomato-based recipes, you can add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar towards the end of the cooking process to amplify the flavours of your other ingredients.

The fat; either natural in the beef, or oil from the marinade; will help you against dry and chewy. When slow cooking: If you sauté before slow cooking it is unusual to get dry and chewy, even with the worst cuts. Maybe your slow cooker does not get hot enough or you don't cook for long enough.

The choice becomes easier when you realize that simple baking soda can be an ideal meat tenderizer that helps to bring out all the aromas and flavors in every sizzling beef stew or charburger.

Stew meat is made from cuts of beef with lots of tough connective tissue, namely chuck and/or round. When you simmer it in a liquid, the connective tissue breaks down and becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender. That's why it's traditionally braised in stock and turned into beef stew.

The secret to tender beef stew lies in slow braising short ribs and marbled chuck roast in a red wine and beef broth. This gentle simmer transforms the meat into incredibly tender pieces that practically fall apart with a fork. Tender root vegetables, like carrots and potatoes, complete this hearty dish.

The essential ingredients for stew -- meat, vegetables and broth -- are healthy stuff. The problem is that traditional recipes call for massive portions of fatty meats paired with super-salty canned broths. Don't be turned off by recipes that use wine; a large portion of the alcohol and calories cook away.

While there are several ways to velvet, a pound of meat needs about two teaspoons of cornstarch and two teaspoons of oil, says Leung. You may also include two to three tablespoons of water. For beef, add a 1/4-teaspoon of baking soda for tenderizing. Additional seasonings are optional and vary from recipe to recipe.

Can you fry diced stewing beef? ›

Take a large, heavy based frying pan, and add a few drops pomace or vegetable oil. Fry the diced stewing steak on all sides in small batches then transfer to the casserole dish.

This is because the acid from the lemon cuts through the fat and balances out the spices. Using lemon zest on top of each bowl is also a great garnish that provides a zesty punch in every bite.

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

All you need for tender meat in a stew is to cook it for a long time on a low temperature. For better flavor, brown it in a skillet first, then place in the pot with your stew vegetables and cook for at least an hour on no more than medium heat.

Whisk together 2 eggs and the can of evaporated milk in a bowl. Place the cube steaks in the milk and turn them to coat them in the mixture. The soaking time depends according to how tough the steaks are and how tender you would like them to be.

The collagen, a connective tissue, is in high supply in these tougher cuts of meat. When cooked in moisture, the collagen dissolves into a gelatin and the meat fibers separate more easily. The higher the cooking temperature, the tougher the meat fibers become; a boil produces rubbery, chewy stewing beef.

Test Kitchen Tip. For proteins with an ample amount of exposed surface area, there's no need to allow it to soak for more than 15 minutes when using baking soda to tenderize meat. In fact, over-soaking can yield mushy meat.