The best Spiced Beef Stew with Dumplings Recipe
A delicious beef stew with just the right amount of herbs and spices to top the chart of comfort foods. The perfect marriage between beef and dumplings, every bite melts in your mouth.
This hearty beef stew is a classic winter comfort food. The beef is slow-cooked in a flavorful broth with vegetables and spices, and the dumplings add a touch of lightness. This stew is perfect for a cold night, and it’s sure to become a new favorite.
Why Make Spiced Beef Stew with Dumplings?
Spiced Beef Stew with Dumplings is a classic comfort food that is perfect for a cold winter day. The beef is slow-cooked in a flavorful broth with vegetables and spices, and the dumplings add a touch of lightness. This stew is sure to warm you up and fill you up.
Here are a few reasons why you should make Spiced Beef Stew with Dumplings:
- It’s a hearty and filling meal.
- It’s easy to make.
- It’s a great way to use up leftover beef.
- It’s a family favorite.
- It’s perfect for a winter gathering.
The Ingredients
The ingredients for Spiced Beef Stew with Dumplings are simple and easy to find. You will need:
- Beef shank cut into cubes or small pieces: beef shanks are lean and perfect for stews and soups
- Lime to clean the meat
- Tomatoes: for a hint of acidity, flavor, and color.
- Onion: for flavor
- Leeks: for flavor and perfect for this recipe.
- Carrots: to make the stew and add healthy vitamins
- Red Bell Sweet Pepper: flavor and a great addition to the stew.
- Green Bell Pepper: for flavor
- Garlic cloves: to season the stew
- Fresh lemon or lime juice: to help break down the fiber in the beef.
- Bouquet garni parsley, thyme, and bay leaf
- Whole cloves: for an earthy flavor.
- Dried Coriander: for seasoning
- Hot pepper Scotch Bonnet or Habanero for a little bit of heat.
- Salt and Pepper to taste
For the Dumplings
- All-purpose flour
- Large eggs at room temperature
- Egg yolks
- Butter
- Salt and pepper
The simple way to make this Beef Stew recipe
You can only make this Spiced Beef with Dumplings recipe the old fashion way. By old fashion way, I mean using pots and pans—no need to use a crockpot or slow cooker. You certainly need a large Dutch oven so all the ingredients in the beef stew can cook evenly.
The first step is to marinate the meat with herbs and spices and then cook it. While the meat is cooking, the perfect dumpling recipe combines flour, water, dried spices, and salt. The dried spices include parsley, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper flakes.
Shape the dumplings any way you want, in small, medium, or large sizes. The dumplings will cook in the beef stew and will have more flavor.
The recipe must start the right way to achieve the flavors you want. It is best to buy a good cut of beef meat. The meat is seasoned well and then cooked on low heat until tender. The sauce is then prepared with the veggies, and the meat is added to absorb the flavors of the vegetables.
Dumplings are added last to make this meal a one-pot dish or meal. This is the perfect way to complete a beef stew and satisfy hungry bellies.
If you intend to serve this dish as a one-meal dinner, Spiced Beef with Dumplings is an excellent way to eat a full one meal. There’s no need to add potatoes. You can also serve it with a side salad or a side of steamed broccoli. The dumplings replace the carbs; meat is your protein, and the sauce is made with peppers, onions, leeks, carrots, and tomatoes, which you might say, is your veggie side.
Tips:
- Brown the beef in a cast-iron skillet for a richer flavor before adding it to the pot.
- Mix all ingredients together and chill for up to 24 hours to make the dumplings ahead of time. When you’re ready to cook, drop the dumplings by spoonfuls into the simmering stew and cook for 15 minutes or until they are cooked through.
- This stew is also delicious and served with rice.
- Use a good quality beef broth if you intend to use broth instead of water. The broth’s flavor will make a big difference in the overall taste of the stew.
- Don’t overcook the beef. The beef should be tender, but not falling apart.
- Don’t overcook the dumplings. The dumplings should be cooked through but still light and fluffy.
- Serve the stew hot. The stew will taste best when it is hot and fresh.
Spiced Beef Stew with Dumplings is a classic comfort food that is perfect for a cold day or rainy day. The beef is slow-cooked in a flavorful broth with vegetables and spices, and the dumplings add a touch of lightness. This stew is sure to warm you up and fill you up.
Here’s the recipe.
Spiced Beef with Dumplings
Ingredients
For the Meat:
- 2 1/2 – 3 pounds beef shank cut into cubes or small pieces
- 1 lime to clean meat
- 3 medium tomatoes peeled and seeds removed
- 2 medium onion sliced
- 2 medium leeks chopped finely
- 2 large carrots sliced
- 1 red sweet pepper sliced
- 1 green sweet pepper sliced
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 bouquet garni parsley, thyme and bay leaf
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon coriander dry preferably
- 1 hot pepper scotch bonnet or habanero
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Dumplings
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 2 whole eggs at room temperature
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup butter
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cut the meat into medium to large cubes and clean by rubbing/squeezing the lime onto each cube. Rinse with water and place meat into a large saucepan and cover generously with cold water and bring to a boil. Skim off the froth. Add onions, leeks, carrots, bouquet garni, cloves, coriander, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 hot pepper. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
- Prepare the dumplings. Mix the ingredients until a dough is formed. Leave aside for 20 minutes.
- Chop the remaining onions, peel and remove the seeds from the sweet peppers, then cook together in oil until brown. Add tomatoes. Season and allow to simmer. Form small balls from the dough and roll in flour. When the meat is cooked, sieve the sauce through a strainer. Cook the dumplings in this broth. Arrange meat on a serving plate. Add the vegetables and dumplings. Sprinkle with juice from 1 lime.
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
Corn Allergy:
Always choose ingredients without corn or corn derivatives.
Originally published June 14, 2014. Revised and Updated
