Beef Bacon Bean Stew

Beef Bacon Bean Stew. Somewhere between a stew and a great chili, this hearty, budget friendly, comfort food meal is perfect to serve to a crowd.

Beef Bacon Bean Stew. Hearty comfort food.

Originally posted April, 2009.

Another winter warm-up recipe to take the chill out of your bones. It may not be winter where you are but it certainly still is around here.

There’s still plenty of snow around here and temperatures still hovering around the freezing mark. Not barbecue weather for sure.

I like to use a Chuck/Blade roast for braising in a recipe like this.

Winter comfort food cravings are almost daily occurrences for me when the winter chill is still hanging about. Meals like this one still fit the dinnertime bill perfectly.

This recipe starts out as I often start a good stew recipe. Browning the meat before oven braising it adds plenty of flavour. It is an important step and your first action in layering great flavours into the dish.

Browning the meat is an essential first step.

This stew is a smoky flavoured close cousin to chilli but with out the heat. Of course you can add the heat back in to make this a delicious chili too. I’ve added a couple of suggestions to the notes section below.

Beef Bacon Bean Stew. perfect with fresh baked rolls.

I like it just as it is and it is fantastic served with fresh baked rolls. Use our Homemade White Bread recipe to make the rolls if you like. The recipe is sufficient for a 9×9 pan pf rolls plus a loaf of bread.

Of course our recent and instantly popular Biscuit Muffin Bread takes only minutes to get into the oven if you are looking for a shortcut idea instead of rolls.

If not serving this with the rolls, we sometimes serve it on a bed of brown or basmati rice.

Like this Beef Bacon Bean Stew recipe?

You’ll find hundreds of other great ideas in our Slow Cooked Sundays Category and even more in our Beef Recipes Category.

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Yield: Up to 8 servings

Beef Bacon Bean Stew

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Additional Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes

Beef Bacon Bean Stew. Somewhere between a stew and a great chili, this hearty, budget friendly, comfort food meal is perfect to serve to a crowd.

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Ingredients

• 2 to 3 pounds of blade (chuck) roast, cut in 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 pound thick cut smoked bacon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 32 ounce can diced tomatoes (or use 4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes and 1 cup tomato juice)
• 2 cups plain tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups cup beef stock (low salt or sodium free version)
• 16 ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4 tbsp hot sauce (optional)
• 4 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 1/2 cups sweet corn (fresh or frozen)

Instructions

1. In a large heavy bottomed frying pan, cook the bacon until crisp and remove from pan.
2. Drain off the bacon fat and add the 3 tbsp olive oil.
3. Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper.
4. Over medium high heat, brown all of the beef pieces in small batches being careful not to overcrowd the pan.
5. Add the browned beef to a covered roasting pan.
6. Drain any fat from the frying pan and deglaze it with 1 cup orange juice, getting all the bits that stuck to the pan while browning the beef.
7. Add the liquid from deglazing to the roasting pan along with the beef. 
8. Add the onion and garlic and stir together.
9. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil and then the cover to provide a good seal. Roast in a 300 degree F oven for 1 to 1 ½ hours. Add all of the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the corn.
10. Increase the temperature to 350 degrees F and return the covered roasting pan to the oven without the aluminum foil.
11. Continue to cook for an additional 1 ½ to 2 hours or until the beef pieces are tender and the sauce is thickened. In the last half hour of cooking time add the sweet corn kernels.
12. Serve on its own or over rice or pasta.

Notes

• Wherever possible I use low sodium or salt free products in recipes like this. (bacon, stock, canned beans...) It is much better and easier to cut sodium in this or any recipe when you are able to control the seasoning yourself.
• It is easy to turn this recipe into a great chili version. Just add chili powder to taste (start with 2 tbsp and add more if you like) and maybe a little cumin if you like, about a teaspoon.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 455Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 101mgSodium 908mgCarbohydrates 30gFiber 6gSugar 11gProtein 40g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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