Mushroom and beef stew is loaded with tender cubes of beef, pillowy gnocchi, and baby bella mushrooms swimming is a luxuriously thick and silky both.

My ideal comfort food is a big bowl brimming with meat and vegetables swimming in a silky gravy-like broth. For me personally, the broth basically transforms the dish into an intoxicatingly delicious condiment as I use it to sop up endless amounts of fresh-baked bread rolls or baguettes. The meat and mushrooms are supposed to be the star of the show, but there is just something about dipping artisan breads in stew that I cannot get enough of.

Reading: When to add mushrooms to beef stew

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Mushroom and Beef Stew

Mushroom and beef stew is comfort food at its finest. Hearty, richly flavored, and incredibly satisfying. It is everything you want on a cold winter’s day. Not your mom’s classic beef stew recipe, this stew is brimming with bite-size cubes of chuck beef, sliced mushrooms, and gnocchi in a thick and silky gravy-like sauce flavored with wine and fresh herbs.

Reheating Mushroom and Beef Stew

This recipe does reheat well for leftovers, and will still have good flavor, however, I think it is best enjoyed when first served. Otherwise, the gnocchi soaks of a lot of liquid from the broth, thickening the soup considerably. Feel free to add additional liquid to it when reheating to thin it back out some.

How to Make Mushroom and Beef Stew

This mushroom and beef stew recipe calls for 8 ounces of gnocchi, which is the exact size packing you can find in the grocery store. However, if you feel ambitious, you can make gnocchi from scratch by clicking the link.

I use my Dutch Oven when crafting stews (affiliate link), however, there is no reason you cannot use a large soup pot instead. I like the Dutch oven because its wider opening allows for better evaporation.

You can brown the meat, and saute the vegetables in the Dutch Oven, however, for time efficiency I often dirty multiple pans and saute onions, mushrooms, and (brown) beef separately. If you do this, it is best to deglaze each pan to ensure you don’t leave any flavor behind.

How Long to Simmer Beef Stew

I find it takes 2-3 hours to transform tough cuts of beef into tender morsels. As the beef simmers, it will continue to get more and more tender, and the stew will continue to thicken up as liquid evaporates. If you get to a point where the stew is thickened to your liking, but the beef is not tender yet, you can put the cover on your pot to limit the evaporation happening. If your stew gets too thick you can thin it out to your desired consistency by adding water or beef broth.

How to Customize this Mushroom and Beef Stew Recipe

Mushrooms! Yes, I know this recipe already has mushrooms, it is literally in the title, but you can add an exciting twist to this stew by using any variety of dried wild mushrooms found at your local market. There is no reason you need to restrict yourself to baby bella mushrooms.

The wine is the next thing you can modify. Honestly, I wanted to make this recipe with brandy, but I already had wine on hand and I didn’t feel like dropping $20 for a bottle of brandy if I already had something I could use. Feel free to play around with the alcohol and swap out wine for brandy, beer, or even bourbon. Beer would make it similar to my Guinness Beef Stew. Do a little at a time to test out the flavor, but keep in mind the flavor will slowly meld into the stew as it simmers.

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Source: https://www.foxvalleyfoodie.com/mushroom-and-beef-stew/