Beef stifado recipe

Our beef stifado recipe is slow cooked to produce tender meat with a rich sauce. It can be prepared in big batches and frozen if you want to be efficient with your time.

Bursting with rich Mediterranean flavours, this Greek beef stew can be enjoyed with crusty bread, rice, potatoes or pasta. We recommend preparing it ahead in big batches so you’ll only cook once and thank yourself when you can pull a portion from the freezer. 

Ingredients

For the marinade:

• 2-3 sprigs rosemary
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2tsps dried or 2 tbsps freshly chopped oregano
• 125ml red wine
• 2tbsps red wine vinegar
• 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 3-4 cloves
• 1-2 cinnamon sticks, broken into large pieces

For the beef:

• 750g-1kg  diced beef
• 6tbsps light olive oil
• 500g shallots or small onions, peeled
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 2tbsps tomato purée
• 1 beef stock cube
• Orzo pasta, to serve
• Oregano leaves, for garnish

Method

1. Make the marinade for the beef by combining the rosemary, bay leaves, oregano, red wine, red wine vinegar, garlic and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the diced beef and mix with your hands to ensure everything is evenly coated. Cover the bowl and ideally leave to marinate overnight in the fridge, or at least a couple of hours.
2. Turn the oven to 180C (160C fan, Gas 4). Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan and cook the shallots, or small quartered onions, for 7-10 minutes, until they start to turn golden, then remove them from the pan and set aside. Drain the beef as well as possible, reserving the marinade juices.
3. Heat 2 more tbsp of oil and cook half the beef until it's seared on all sides and starting to turn brown, then transfer it to a casserole dish. Heat the remaining oil, cook the rest of the beef and add to the casserole.
4. Pour the marinade into the pan and add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, the stock cube and 100ml water. Bring the mixture to the boil, then pour it into the casserole over the beef. Season. Cover the dish with a lid or tightly with foil and cook in the oven for 1 hour.
5. Add the shallots or onions to the casserole, re-cover and cook for a further hour, or until the meat is tender. Serve with extra oregano leaves, if you like.

Top tip for making beef stifado

When searing meat, don't turn it too much as that reduces the temperature of the pan. Allow one surface to brown, then turn, until seared all over. It’s also very important not to overcrowd the pan as you reduce the temperature of the pan and the meat tends to steam rather than sear. 

It’s more energy efficient to cook using a slow cooker compared to your oven and this beef stifado is a perfect recipe to make this way. Read food editor Jessica Dady’s Crockpot 3.5L Sizzle & Stew Manual Slow Cooker review if you want more reasons to invest. 

Crockpot Sizzle & Stew Slow Cooker 3.5L - View at Amazon

With a capacity big enough to batch-cook meals for four people, food editor Jessica Dady said there was still plenty of room in the pot when she cooked her classic chilli recipe which serves four adults with leftovers. The Crockpot Sizzle & Stew slow cooker comes with dishwasher-safe parts and is easy to use if you’ve never used a slow cooker before. 

For more comforting dinner ideas, try James Martin’s beef stew with dumplings or our beef hotpot. You might also like this simple beef cobbler which is perfect served with some sautéed cabbage or steamed green beans.