Stovetop Beef Stew for 50 Football Fans

Yesterday was my turn to cook for the weekly Monday Night Football event at our local dive bar. With $140 for food cost and a donation of my time, I made beef stew and cornbread for about 50 people following the recipe included here.

The beef stew also happens to be both gluten free and dairy free for anyone who needs to accommodate a large group of people with diverse dietary needs.

Beef Stew Ingredients List

You will see that some of the ingredients below are listed as optional. I did not end up using corn starch when I made this because the broth seemed to be thick enough already. Use your best judgement on whether your broth is the consistency you are aiming for. I originally purchased peas to include and forgot them at the end–the stew still tasted great, so I am considering those optional as well.

Serves: 50 people

Beef Stew Seasoning Mix

• 12 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 8 teaspoons of granulated garlic
• 8 teaspoons dried crushed rosemary
• 8 teaspoons dried thyme
• 8 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 8 teaspoons paprika

Beef Stew Ingredients

• Vegetable oil as needed
• 13 pounds beef brisket or other meat for stew
• 4 white or yellow onions, diced
• 16 ribs celery, chopped
• 12 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tubes or cans of tomato paste
• 3 bottles of red wine (a low-cost blend, Cabernet, Zinfandel, or Merlot)
• 16 cups low-sodium beef broth (4 32oz boxes)
• 8 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 6 bay leaves
• 8 pounds of yellow and red potatoes (sometimes called “creamers”), halved
• 24 carrots, peeled, halved, and chopped into bite sized pieces
• 3 pounds of frozen peas, no need to thaw (optional)
• 1.5 cups fresh Italian parsley
• 2 cups water (optional)
• 16 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)

Beef Stew Cooking Instructions

One of the considerations I made in preparing this stew was the environment where people were eating. Most of the stews I make use large chunks of meat, carrots and potatoes. I knew we were serving in disposable soup bowls with plastic spoons for people to eat with. Large chunks don’t work well in that setting. If you’re unsure on size, consider whether your meat pieces, carrots and potato halves will work with your serving utensils.

The instructions also assume you will divide all ingredients between two 8-quart sauce pans. If you have a larger pot, like a 20-quart stockpot for canning, you can place all ingredients in a single pot. I find two pots to be easier for transportation.Combine all ingredients in the seasoning list into a small bowl. Be sure to stir them so they are thoroughly blended.  

1. Cut meat into small cubes. To keep costs down, I purchased one of the vacuum sealed briskets at Costco. These come untrimmed with all the fat still attached. 16 pounds turns into about 13 pounds after trimming the fat.
2. Heat vegetable oil in the largest skillet you have at a medium high heat. Add as much beef to the pan as you can without overcrowding – all meat in the pan should touch the surface of the skillet. Sprinkle some of the spice mixture over the meat and sauté the beef until nicely browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beef to a dish and set aside. Once all meat is removed from the pan, pour any juice in the pan into a separate container to use later. Repeat as many times as necessary until all beef is browned. Add additional oil as needed before adding more beef and season each batch with some of the spice mixture. You should have some spice mixture left after all beef is browned, this gets added in the next step. Be sure to save all the juices from browning the meat – they add a ton of flavor to your broth.
3. In two 8 quart stock pots, add vegetable oil to each pan and heat to medium-high. Divide the onion, celery, and garlic in half. Add onion to each pan, then add celery, and lastly add the garlic. Sprinkle some of the seasoning mixture over the contents of each pan. Stirring occasionally until all vegetables are soft. Add one tube/can of tomato paste to each pan and stir until it’s mixed in. Add 1.5 bottles of red wine to each pan. Increase the heat under the pot to bring the mixture to a boil. Add half the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, remaining spice mix and 3 bay leaves to each pan. Divide the beef and meat juices equally and add them to each pot. Bring both pots to a boil. Reduce heat to LOW, cover, and simmer for 90 minutes.
4. Add half of the potatoes and carrots to each pot. Raise the heat under each pot to bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to LOW, cover and simmer for another 40 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender. Stir in the frozen peas and parsley. 
5. If the stew is not thick enough to your liking at this point, combine the water and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir a little bit at a time into each pot of beef stew. Continue cooking, uncovered, until thickened to your desired amount.
6. Be sure to discard the bay leaves before serving.

Serving

Serve the stew in 12-16oz paper bowls to make it easy to carry without spilling over the side. When I made this, I served Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread, but any bread that can soak up the extra broth works great.