French Beef Stew (Provencal Beef Stew)

Provencal beef stew or beef daube is a French beef stew with red wine that comes from the Provencal region of France. This French red wine beef stew (though white wine is sometimes used) is rich and delicious and the perfect French stew to make when the weather is cooler. Add it to cooked noodles, cheesy polenta or dip crusty French bread into this stew for the best experience.

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Total Time: 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

About this French Beef Stew

This provencal beef stew (beef Daube) is a French beed stew made up of cubed beef sirloin, red wine and vegetables that are cooked on the stovetop for hours until the beef is tender and the sauce thickens. As the name suggests, this French stew is from the Provencal region of France and it traditionally uses ingredients from that region, including the red wine.

Because this French stew is made up of onions, carrots, red wine, beef, mushrooms and a beurre manie (a French flour and butter thickener) it is loaded with so much flavor. You may have heard of other French stews like beef bourguignon but this French beef stew is my absolute favorite.

Making this French red wine beef stew is very easy and most of the cooking is the simmering of the stew on the stovetop. It is rich and delicious and the perfect meal to make when you are home and want a slow cooked stew.

I love making this French beef stew on the weekends and having leftovers for during the week.

Ingredients you will need

The ingredients in this Provencal beef stew are very straight forward. Most of the ingredients (aside from the beef and mushrooms) will cook down almost completely in the stew making a delicious rich sauce.

• Sirloin Beef. Cut into 1 inch cubes.
• Chopped tomatoes. I chopped my own tomatoes for the recipe but you could use canned diced tomatoes that are drained.
• Onion.
• Garlic.
• Olive oil.
• Carrots
• French red wine. Since this is a Provencal beef stew, a red wine from the Provencal region works best. I like the Côtes du Rhône wines from France for this recipe. You can also use Merlot, Cabernet or Barbera if you cannot find a this variety.
• Tomato paste.
• Bouquet garni. This is made up of fresh oregano, thyme and bay leaf tied together.
• Mushrooms.
• Beef stock.
• Kosher salt
• Softened butter and flour for the beurre manié which thickens the stew.

How to make

For this French beef stew recipe, I like to make it in a large dutch oven pot on the stovetop. If you do not have a dutch oven, any heavy bottom pot with a lid will work.

Just remember, that it simmers for a few hours on the stovetop so you want that lid to be nice and tight and not let the juices escape during the cooking process.

Here are what the steps look like:

1. Sear Beef: Sear the beef on all sides to get a nice golden brown outside then remove from the pot and set aside.
2. Add Vegetables and aromatics: In the same pot, stir in the onions and carrots and cook them until softened.

3. Add red wine: Once the carrots and onions are softened, you will add the wine and simmer it until it reduces by half.
4. Reduce: You want to simmer the red wine until it is reduced by half.

5. Mix: Now you can add the beef back to the pot with the onions, carrots and reduced wine and mix it all together.
6. Add Stock and Slow Cook: The last thing you do before starting the long simmering of this French stew is to add enough beef stock to almost cover the meat and the bouquet Garni.

Once the French beef stew has simmered for a a few hours, you can add the mushrooms and the beurre manie. The beurre manié which is a mixture of soft butter and flour will thicken up the stew beautifully.

Best Red Wines for this French Stew

This beef stew is best served with a nice French red wine from the region that this stew comes from like a côtes du rhône. If you cannot find this, a French burgundy wine will work perfectly.

Just make sure that the red wine you buy is one you really like to drink because that is the flavor that will go into the stew. If you cannot find a French red wine, a nice full bodied red wine from another region will work well too.

Maybe a Cabernet or Rioja.

How to Serve this French Beef Stew

This hearty French red wine beef stew makes a delicious meal on its own but it is even more delicious with fresh French baguette bread to dip into it.

The traditional way to serve this is wither with bread (my favorite way) or with wide noodles like egg noodles.

Sides that go well with French Beef Stew

If you want to add some side dishes to this beef daube recipe, here are some of my favorites. These are the sides I like to serve with my slow cooker beef bourguignon, my dutch oven beef stew and my vegetable cassoulet and they will go really well with this French beef stew recipe too.

• Spinach salad. This fresh spinach salad really helps lighten up this rich stew and makes the perfect side.
• If you want to make your own bread to dip in this French stew, homemade ciabatta is a great option.
• Radicchio and argula salad.
• If you are serving a group and want a full French experience, a classic French salad Nicoise is the perfect side.
• Yukon gold mashed potatoes.
• Egg Noddles.
• Fresh French baguette, biscuits, cheese scones or crostini.

Faqs

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