Rich and hearty One Pot Beef and Pumpkin Stew, packed with traditional Vietnamese classic flavors
Comfort food at its best.
That’s exactly what this Vietnamese one pot beef and pumpkin stew is. How could you say no?
Simple, delightful and perfect one pot dish to make on a chill weeknight, this dish combines perfectly some of the classic Vietnamese flavors. Lemongrass, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar to name a few ingredients that go into this hearty one pot beef and pumpkin stew.
Tender, fall-apart beef stew made on the stovetop! You heard it right. I know it takes a couple of hours and it does require some attention but you can throw the pan in the oven if it works better for you.
There are a couple of tips, I would like to share with you so you can get the most perfect, rich, hearty beef stew. No-one likes dried, tough meat or mushy veggies.
First step and the most important is choosing your beef cut. I always go with chuck. Have tried many recipes where it was stated that you can go with any cuts of meat because the long and slow cooking process will make it tender and so on. Well, it is not quite so. So, I’ll stick with chuck because I am getting each and every time melting tender beef. Yum!
I also like to add vegetables towards the end of the cooking time, with about 30 minutes time left. This way, they won’t fall apart and get mushy. That will totally be yuck.
Serve this amazingly fragrant one pot beef and pumpkin stew with a bowl of steamed rice or some toasted sourdough bread and a red wine glass. Preferably Shiraz. South Australian Shiraz. Barossa Valley my favorite 🙂 Luckily, I can still get it 🙂
- 2 lbs/ 1 kg boneless beef chuck cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 lemongrass stalk cut into big pieces and bruised
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 jalapeño chillies seeds removed and finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups fresh tomatoes chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 lb./ 450g butternut squash peeled and cubed
- 4 medium carrots peeled and cut in rounds
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- fresh basil and coriander leaves chopped to garnish
- salt and pepper
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In a large bowl, mix flour, lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar and minced ginger. Add the beef and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
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Over high heat, add oil to a large skillet or large Dutch oven and sear the beef quickly in batches, giving each beef piece enough room to get really browned. Set the seared beef aside and keep the lemongrass to add later in the stew.
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Add some more olive oil to the pan then chopped onion and chillies and fry for a couple of minutes.
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Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves and lemongrass and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add seared beef to the pan, beef stock and bring slowly to simmer.
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Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes, checking and mixing occasionally.
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With almost 40 minutes left into cooking time, add carrots and pumpkin cubes to the pan and incorporate into stew. Place back the lid and add some for beef stock, if necessary. Simmer for another 30-40 minutes until beef, carrots and pumpkin are tender.
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Remove bay leaf, lemongrass before serving warm with fresh basil chopped sprinkled on top.
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Enjoy!
Ooo, what scrumptious flavors for a beef stew. I’d love this. 🙂
this looks heavenly! i look forward to making this! hope all is well!
This looks delicious, hearty, and delicious! I love vietnamese dishes, so I will definitely be trying this dish soon. Thanks for sharing! Pinning this recipe for sure!
This is such a beautiful dish! You have my favorite colors and flavors going on in there. Gorgeous presentation too !
What a wonderful tasty looking dish.
Yum, I love the sound of this. I grew up eating stew (in Ireland), pretty much every sunday – but I love the asian twist on this!! Will have to give it a go now that the weather is finally cool enough to enjoy a good stew!
I’ve just started branching out and just tried my first Vietnamese ever, and it was amazing! I’m going to have to start trying more! This looks delicious!!
I love a good one pot, and a big gutsy Aussie red to stand up to it!
I would never have thought to put pumpkin and beef together. This sounds so amazing!
I imagine this taste fantastic. Love fresh pumpkin in a stew. It is such a great flavor to add to any kind of beef. Yum!
This looks cozy and comforting!! I love sweet potatoes in soups and stews.
This looks very comforting! Nommmm…. Lemongrass beef! I will need a huge bowl of rice to go along with this stew. 😀
This looks so delicious and comforting. I don’t eat beef, but I think, I can try this recipe with chicken 🙂 Thanks for sharing such gorgeous pics n recipe.
I love Vietnamese flavors, this stew sounds wonderful, perfect fall comfort food!
I made this today and it is one of the most amazing things i have ever eaten!! Thanks for the recipe!
Some modifications for added convenience and work around from missing ingredients, or just plain forgetfulness:
– We used the Ninja pressure cooker for searing, sauteing and pressure cooking.
– we did not have fresh tomatoes or tomato paste. We substituted with 2 cups of pasta sauce
– we added 1 big squirt (tea spoon) of sriracha sauce because we had no chili peppers.
– when cooking the meat we used pressure cooking for 15 minutes
– quick released the steam
– I added only 1 cup of vegetable broth, after cooking the meat, because the stew was already juicy. The broth was added along with the butternut squash cut in 2 inch cubes and the cut carrots to the stew to pressure cook for 5 minutes
– From prepping to eating it took about 1 hour.
And it was all super delicious!