Make-Ahead Beef Stew

Cook-Ahead Recipes, Make and Freeze for Later Use

Jul 28, 2009 Melody Mundawarara

By reorganizing your meal preparation and doing some of the cooking ahead during less rushed hours, you can have frozen tasty, nutritious dishes to use on busier days.

Making meals in advance and then freezing them requires coordination and planning, but if you take up the challenge, you'll be able to stock your freezer with from-scratch meals for everyday eating or for guests.

A basic make-ahead beef stew can be later made into three different meals.

Basic Stew Mixture

Ingredients:

• 2½ kilograms beef chuck or stew meat, cut into 3cm cubes
• ¼ cup cooking oil
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic,
• 1 teaspoon salt

Advance preparation:

1. Gently heat cooking oil over medium-high heat.
2. Brown a portion of the meat on all sides in the hot oil. Remove browned meat from pot; set aside.
3. Repeat browning until all meat is cooked. Return all of the meat to the pot.
4. Add water, chopped onion, crushed garlic and salt.
5. Bring to boiling. Simmer, covered, until meat is tender, about 1½ to 2 hours.
6. Cover and refrigerate. When cold, skim fat from surface. Pour stew mixture into three suitably-sized freezer containers, leaving a bit of space on top to allow for expansion during freezing.
7. Seal, label and freeze.

Shortcut Stew

55 minutes cooking time

Ingredients:

• 1/3 recipe frozen Basic Stew Mixture (from above)
• 230-gram can peeled tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 250-gram package mixed frozen vegetables
• 2 tablespoons plain flour

Before serving: In a large saucepan combine stew, tomatoes and ½ cup water. Cover and cook over low heat until thawed, 20 to 30 minutes. Add frozen vegetables; simmer, covered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Combine flour and ¼ cup water until smooth. Stir into stew; cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Serves 5 or 6.

Old-Fashioned Stew

55 minutes cooking time

Ingredients:

• 1/3 recipe frozen Basic Stew Mixture
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon ground paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 medium-sized carrots, peeled and sliced
• 3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
• ¼ cup plain flour

Before serving: In a large stewing pot, combine stew, 1½ cups water, salt, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and bay leaf. Cover and cook over low heat until thawed, about 20 minutes. Bring to boiling; add carrots and potatoes. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender - about 35 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Push meat and vegetables to side of pot. Blend ½ cup water with flour. Stir slowly into hot liquid. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Serve with rice or bread and a salad. Makes 6 servings.

German Beef Stew

35 minutes cooking time

Ingredients:

• 1/3 recipe frozen Basic Stew Mixture
• ¼ cup wine vinegar
• 1 beef stock cube
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• ½ cup crushed gingersnaps
• 1 cup shredded, peeled apple

Before serving: Combine stew, cup water, vinegar, salt and stock cube. Thaw, covered, over low heat, about 20 minutes. Add cabbage and apple; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add gingersnaps; cook and stir till thick. Serve over noodles, rice or potatoes. Serves 4 or 5.

More Make-Ahead Ideas

Here are examples of other dishes that can also be made ahead and frozen:

• Shepherd’s pie
• Meatloaf
• Chicken and noodle casserole
• Lasagna
• Swedish meatballs
• Chilli
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Swiss steak

The copyright of the article Make-Ahead Beef Stew in Recipes is owned by Melody Mundawarara. Permission to republish Make-Ahead Beef Stew in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Beef Stew