If you think beef stew needs hours to simmer, you’re wrong! Skillet Beef Stew uses tender Certified Angus Beef® sirloin to make a quick, easy, and perfect for winter stew you can make any night of the week.

This post is sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef ® brand in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own.

The weather has been brutal lately. Today I ran my typical errands and about froze my tail off. Of course, it didn’t help that I moved my gloves to my other coat and forgot there weren’t any in the one I put on today.

When the temperature drops as low as it has been this past week, then comfort food is the only thing I want for dinner. That means fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, chicken and walnuts, egg rolls, stuffed cabbage rolls, and beef stew. Yes, that is a rather eclectic series of dishes for comfort food cravings, but it’s what I grew up eating.

There’s one common theme to these recipes. Can you guess what it is? None of them are quick meals to make. Fried chicken takes at least an hour if not more if you soak it in buttermilk before dredging. Chicken and dumplings – true chicken and dumplings – starts with cooking a whole chicken. Then you have to make the dumplings. We’re talking at least 2 to 3 hours for that one.

Don’t even get me started on the stuffed cabbage rolls which usually requires homemade pierogies or the homemade egg rolls. I really should share that recipe at some point. Hmm…

Then there’s beef stew.

With is simmered all day flavors, hearty root vegetables, and comforting herbs and spices. I’ve made a few beef stew recipes on my blog. Of course, they simmered for hours on end. Definitely not something you can easily whip on a weeknight.

Oh, if there was only a way you could have that all day cooked flavor but still have delicious beef stew on a weeknight. Well, who says you can’t? Once you make this Skillet Beef Stew, you’re never going to go back to that other stew that takes all day to cook.

The trick is to use a top quality beef broth.

I usually make my own from the leftover bones of my Certified Angus Beef® brand rib roasts. Not only do they make an amazing roast beef dinner, but the best broth with the bones. So, whatever you do, do not throw them out!

Of course, if you don’t have bones from a rib roast, you can make beef broth with whatever bones you can get your hands on. And if you can’t do that, then make sure you get a top quality beef broth. That will make or break this whole recipe.

Now, once we get our broth set, we need to choose the beef. Do not, under any circumstances, get stew meat. Yes. I know. It’s a stew recipe, but in order to make it weeknight friendly, you need to select a more tender cut of meat.

You see, you’re not going to simmer the beef in the broth for this skillet beef stew. Which means you need a tender cut. I purchased some Certified Angus Beef® sirloin from my local Weis market. It’s great for broiling, marinating, sautéing. You see? Sautéing! That’s pretty much what we’re going to do with the beef in this skillet beef stew.

And since it’s Certified Angus Beef® sirloin , you know it’s going to be tender and have amazing flavor. Why, you ask? Well, because Certified Angus Beef® brand has 10 quality standards that is used to select which cuts will bear the seal of Certified Angus Beef® brand . It’s not just about the marbling, but that helps. If you’re wondering where you can get this amazing beef, check out their locator.

I headed out to my local Weis market and purchase so much beef! They were having a great sale. We went there to purchase our bone in ribeye roast for Christmas dinner, which was amazing. But while we were there, I bought sirloin for this skillet beef stew, London broil because it was buy one get one free – HELLO!? Who wouldn’t snatch that up! And we bought a chuck roast for amazing slow cooker pot roast.

So much Certified Angus Beef® brand meat!!

While we were there I chatted with the butcher about getting custom cut steaks when the weather gets warmer. He even cut, trimmed, and tied our rib roast. And I didn’t even ask him to! I have to tell you, it pays to get to know your butcher at the grocery. They can really help you make good choices and might do a little extra special for you if you do befriend them.

Now, back to this skillet stew. See how rich and delicious that looks? This all came about from a subscription meal service. They had a recipe that was similar with beef, a few vegetables and a gravy. It was pretty good and quick.

That got me thinking, “What if I add stew vegetables, add more broth, and make it a stew you can eat weeknights?” And there ya have it! A recipe was born. Sometimes, that’s just how my brain thinks.

You can easily swap out the vegetables. I have turnips, carrots, parsnips, celery, and onion in this one. I’ve tried it with rutabaga and pearl onions. That’s not too bad. If you want to add potatoes, you can. Since I served this over egg noodles, I chose to skip the potatoes. I’ve served it over mashed potatoes, too. Now that’s a good bowl of comfort right there!

Now, I have a mission. To try to figure out how to shortcut comfort food recipes I love into weeknight recipes I can whip up in under 30. I know. It’s a pretty hefty mission, but I think I’m up for it. When it results in meals like this skillet beef stew, then it’s truly worth it!

What’s your favorite comfort food? Do you have a quick, weeknight version of a beef recipe?

Want to see some more delicious Certified Angus Beef® brand recipes?

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Skillet Beef Stew

If you think beef stew needs hours to simmer, you're wrong! Skillet Beef Stew uses tender Certified Angus Beef brand sirloin to make a quick, easy, and perfect for winter stew you can make any night of the week.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds Certified Angus Beef brand sirloin steak
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups diced turnips
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup diced parsnips
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup dry, red wine
4 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup cold water
1 1/2 tablespoons flour

Instructions

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the steaks 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
Add the vegetables to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Sauté the vegetables until they begin to soften; about 7 to 10 minutes.
Pour the wine over the vegetables to deglaze the plan. Use a spoon to scrap any caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the garlic, herbs, and beef broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.
Combine the water and flour in a small bowl with a whisk making sure to remove any lumps. Set aside.
Slice the beef into bite sized pieces and add to the simmering stew. Slowly pour the flour mixture into the stew and simmer until the sirloin is cooked to your desired temperature and the stew has thickened.
Serve the stew with crusty bread or pour over noodles for a hearty, quick meal.