How do I make my stew taste better? - Mama Coops Kitchen UK (2024)

Have you been making stews and found that they’re a bit bland or watery or not quite as flavoursome as you’d hoped? If so here are some tips for making your stews tasty and have your family begging you for more!

Choose your ingredients wisely

Whilst having lean meat is all the rage, it can be useful to pick meat that has a small percentage of fat as that’s where a lot of the flavour lies.

For beef stew you need either diced stewing steak or braising steak or something like skirt. These tend to be slightly cheaper, chewier cuts of meat and need a longer cooking time to make them tender.

Start off with a good flavour base.

Most casserole and stew dishes start off with the same base of onions, celery and carrot, sauteed gently to release the flavours.Sauteed means cooked gently and stirred often until the sugars wake up in the vegetables, allowing them to release their full flavour.

You could add a little crushed garlic if you like that. You could use leek in place of the onion (or use both!) If you don’t like (or don’t have) one of those ingredients it’s ok to leave it out. The best thing to do is experiment and see what you like and what you don’t like! Feel free to play with flavour combinations, you absolutely DON’T have to stick rigidly to the recipe.

Add vegetables

Casseroles and stews are ideal for using up any root vegetables you may have lurking in the vegetable rack. Things like swede, parsnip, carrots, celariac, potatoes etc are great in stews.

Add flavourings to taste

You can alter the taste of the stew by adding things like:

Tomatoes (chopped tomatoes, tinned cherry tomatoes, or pasatta which is smooth)

A generous squirt of tomato puree

A splash of worcestershire sauce

Add Herbs and/or Spices

For Beef: Rosemary and Thyme work well. You could use mixed herbs or herbs de Provence

For Chicken pick something like Thyme or Sage. Rosemary also works well with chicken

For Lamb: Rosemary works very well

Spices: (Optional)

Add a small piece of chopped, de-seeded chilli or half a teaspoonful of hot chilli powder

Paprika. Use regular or hot paprika if you want a little warmth and Smoked Paprika if you’re after more of a barbeque style smoky flavour.

Chilli and paprika work well with tomato based dishes where as herbs work best with gravy based stews.

Add stock or wine/beer

Stock – either homemade or using a stockpot or stock cube dissovled into water. I normally have chicken, beef and vegetable stockpots to hand. You can get all kinds of stockpots and stock cubes these days but I find those three to be the most useful.

Wine: Red wine works well with beef and lamb, white wine works well with chicken. Rose is best drunk whilst you’re cooking and not used actually IN the dish itself!

Cider goes well with pork or chicken dishes

Beer: Ale goes well with beef. It’s important that you use beer NOT lager.

Add thickeners

There are many different ways of thickening your stew. I love gravy granules because they’re quick, cheap and easy. You can get these in chicken, beef, vegetable or onion flavour. Unless they’ve specifically got ‘with meat juices’ written on them chances are they’ll actually be vegetarian which is worth knowing if you have a resident vegetarian! Double check the packet!

You can also thicken stews by using seasoned flour as you seal the meat before adding to the dish or by adding a blend of cornflour and water towards the end of cooking. Experiement with different methods and see what you prefer.

It is also possible to put powdered mashed potato into the stew to thicken it (apparently, I’ve not tried it because it sounded a bit grim!)

Seasoning is key

Always double check the seasoning before serving. It may need a little salt and freshly ground black pepper or ground white pepper to the dish. If you’re cooking for small children, leave the seasoning to the very end, portion out their share THEN season it with salt and pepper

Serving Suggestions

Serve the stew with lashings of mashed potatoes or some hot buttered cabbage and peas. Or cook off some part-baked bread rolls and serve the stew in big bowls with the freshly cooked bread and lashings of butter.

How do I make my stew taste better? - Mama Coops Kitchen UK (2024)

FAQs

How do I make my stew taste better? - Mama Coops Kitchen UK? ›

Add Vegetables For More Flavour

Try baby marrows, diced carrots, red onions, cauliflower, and sweet potato for a hearty stew flavouring with a lot of personality. In this Beef and Red Pepper Stew we used red pepper for sweetness, but any pepper will add flavour to your stew recipe.

What can you add to stew to give it more flavor? ›

Add Vegetables For More Flavour

Try baby marrows, diced carrots, red onions, cauliflower, and sweet potato for a hearty stew flavouring with a lot of personality. In this Beef and Red Pepper Stew we used red pepper for sweetness, but any pepper will add flavour to your stew recipe.

How to fix a bland stew? ›

A squeeze of lemon juice can brighten a soup or stew and even a grilled or seared steak. If you'd like to always have juice or zest on hand for seasoning, try freezing in small portions, such as in an ice-cube tray. You can toss the frozen juice or zest straight into a hot soup or stew. Don't overlook vinegars, either.

How do you make stew meat more flavorful? ›

Sear the meat well.

Searing meat takes a long time, and it's tempting to skip it. Don't. Searing the meat until it develops a dark brown crust and a sticky “fond” starts to glaze over the bottom of the pan are both key to creating the kind of rich, caramelized flavors that make stews irresistibly good.

How do you make store-bought beef stew taste better? ›

You can add many vegetables to your beef stew to balance out the meatiness of the dish. On top of the list, of course, are potatoes, carrots, and onions. But you can also toss mushrooms, winter squash, and cauliflower into stew recipes.

How do you deepen the flavor of stew? ›

Paprika. Use regular or hot paprika if you want a little warmth and Smoked Paprika if you're after more of a barbeque style smoky flavour. Chilli and paprika work well with tomato based dishes where as herbs work best with gravy based stews.

Which herb might you use to give extra flavour to a casserole or stew? ›

There are two ways to use herbs for flavouring soup and stews: At the beginning: Add robust herbs like oregano, Italian parsley, bay leaf, rosemary, sage and thyme at the beginning of cooking so that their earthy, aromatic flavours become milder and infuse the dish.

What makes stew more flavorful? ›

Rosemary. Rosemary makes a popular pairing with hearty cuts of meat by adding a delicate balance of bitter and sweet. With choices from dried leaves to fresh sprigs of rosemary, there are a number of ways to add a bittersweet flavor to your beef stew.

What not to put in stew? ›

Your onions will be fine, but mushy potatoes and carrots are a no-no. Instead, add them about 20 minutes before the end of cooking. When they're tender, the stew is done.

How do you get the bitterness out of stew? ›

Spices mask bitter flavors, so don't be shy. Add some spicy peppers or powders to your cooking, or sprinkle some onto your dishes for a little bit of extra heat. Black pepper in particular has compounds that counteract bitterness. Some other great spices include cayenne, red pepper, paprika, and chili powder.

What is the secret to good stew? ›

"Soups and stews really need to simmer for long periods to allow the ingredients to meld together. Taking that a step further, most soups and stews are better if you prepare them the day before serving. Allowing them to cool and then reheating them really helps bring out the flavors and textures."

How do you make stew more tastier? ›

To make the stew tastier you can add a dry bay leaf. Explanation: Here they are talking about making the stew tastier than it already is so they are comparing the stew with bay leaf with stew without bay leaf.

Does cooking stew longer make it taste better? ›

Don't Stew the Stew Too Long Either

It might seem that cooking your beef stew on low for 8 hours will make it even better, but that is not true at all.

What can I add to tasteless stew? ›

It is a good idea to always taste the stew before serving. Adding a bit of sauce, some herbs, some seasoning or even brown sugar or honey can just lift the taste.

What gives beef stew depth of flavor? ›

Coating the meat in flour and searing adds incredible color and flavor to the beef, which is then infused throughout the stew. It also creates browned bits on the bottom of the pan, and when we deglaze those with red wine, it takes the flavor to new heights.

How to add richness to stew? ›

No matter what type of cut you choose, be sure to select a tougher, cheaper cut of meat with more connective tissue and marbling. These cuts will hold up well during the long cooking process and will break down, adding flavor and richness to your stew.

What ingredient and taste that you would add to enhance the flavor of a bland stew without adding more salt? ›

5 Ways to Add Flavor Without Adding More Salt
  1. Stir in herbs and spices. The obvious way to enhance a dish's flavor is to, well, give it more flavor. ...
  2. Add a splash of vinegar. ...
  3. Squeeze or zest citrus. ...
  4. Sprinkle in some cheese. ...
  5. Add aromatics like garlic, onions, and shallots.
May 1, 2019

How to brighten up beef stew? ›

It's easy to forget to add some sort of wine, vinegar, or yes, even lemon juice, to brighten things up. Adding some fresh thyme in the last 30 minutes of cooking can help brighten things up as well. But a squeeze of lemon juice at the very end can do wonders.

How to enhance beef flavor? ›

Beef tastes great when seasoned with oregano, rosemary, sage, garlic or a combination of these seasonings. Poultry gets an added burst of flavor with spices like paprika, lemongrass and saffron. Fish can be made more flavorful with dry mustard powder, thyme and turmeric.

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