This Cheap Beef Stew Is All About Comfort | Easy One-Pot Recipe

Hearty beef stew with mash for just $6 per serve — real comfort food using simple, fresh ingredients.

In this video, I’ll show you what I bought, break down the cost, and cook the entire dish step by step.

🍖 Budget: Under $50
🍽️ Serves: 6
🧄 Dish: Rich beef stew with mashed potatoes

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Beef

1kg (2.2lb) – Beef Chuck Steak, Diced
2 Tbsp (16g) – Plain (All Purpose) Flour
Salt & Pepper

Gravy

2 Tbsp (40ml) – Olive Oil
2 – Brown Onions, Large Diced
2 – Carrots, Roughly Chopped
2 – All Rounder Potatoes, Chopped
5 – Garlic Cloves, Crushed & Chopped
1 Litre (4 Cups) – Beef Stock
1/4 Cup (60g) – Concentrated Tomato Paste
2 tsp (10ml) – Worcestershire Sauce
4 – Bay Leaves
8 – Thyme Sprigs
5g (0.2oz) – Flat Leaf Parsley
Salt & Pepper

Michelin Mash

1kg (2.2lb) – Yukon Gold or Dutch Cream Potatoes
200g 7.05oz) – Unsalted Butter, Cold & Cubed
1/2 Cup (125ml) – Full Cream Milk, Warmed
Salt & Ground White Pepper

Less Butter Mash

1kg (2.2lb) – Yukon Gold or Dutch Cream Potatoes
75g (2.6oz) – Unsalted Butter, Cold & Cubed
1/3 Cup (80ml) – Full Cream Milk, Warmed
Salt & Ground White Pepper

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I went to the markets this morning with a simple challenge. Take $50 Australian dollars with me and see what seasonal and bulk ingredients I can buy. And the dish we’re making today is a really delicious beef stew. It’s slowcooked, making that meat nice and tender. And I’m also going to show you how to make a Michelin starred mash. [Music] All right, we just got home and we have everything that we need. We even got a couple of bulk items as well that we can use for other recipes, so that’s always a bonus. We also have a couple of pantry staples that most people should already have at their home. All of this stays well within the budget. What we got was 1 kilo of chuck steak, $24.99. Two brown or yellow onions, $1.37. One bulb of garlic for $1. 2 kilos of carrots, for the amount we need, it’s only 60. The same with the potatoes, I got 5 kilos. and the amount we need is $280. A whole bunch of parsley, the amount we need is 21. Same with the bay leaves, which work out to be 23. And then finally, with the thyme, 43. Now, for the chuck steak, it’s 1 kilo or 2.2 lb. It’s perfect for slow cooking. Trim off any large bits of sineu or fat. And then cut this into evensized chunks, keeping those pieces uniform. It’s going to help them cook at the same rate and break down evenly for that melt inyou mouth texture. Place the chuck steak into a large bowl and add in two tablespoons of plain flour to coat. Followed up with a generous pinch of salt. Toss everything together so the beef is evenly coated. The flour helps create a golden crust when we sear it, adding a deep flavor to the stew. And later, it will help naturally thicken the sauce as it cooks low and slow. For the two brown or yellow onions, take off both ends. Slice it in half. Peel it. You know what to do. And chop the onion up into large pieces. It doesn’t need to be super fine or it doesn’t even need to be perfect for this recipe because everything is going to be cooked down. Crush five cloves of garlic to release the oils or the allisonin compound. Then give them a rough chop. We don’t need them to be fine, grated or even thinly sliced. You can leave them whole and then they’ll cook down and melt into the stew. Take off the tops from two unpeeled carrots and slice them into rough chunked pieces. You can keep the skin on. It adds extra flavor and saves time, but you’re more than welcome to remove that peel if you prefer. Just like the carrots, we’re going to chop up two unpeled potatoes into large chunks. Like I said before, you can peel them if you prefer. And if you wanted to, you can swap these out for extra carrots or even mushrooms since we’re already using the potatoes in the mash. Now, with four bay leaves, eight sprigs of thyme, and a small handful of parsley, about 5 g. Tie them all together with kitchen twine. And this is going to make a bokeh garni. And what this is is a French technique that adds flavor to slowcooked dishes. All we need to do is just drop it in, let it infuse, and then we pull it out right before serving. Now heat a pot over mediumigh heat and add in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Once it shimmers, add in the beef in a single layer. Don’t overcrowd the pan because this is going to allow our meat to steam rather than sear. And searing builds flavor through that mayard reaction. So let it brown properly before turning. And we want to cook this for a total of about 2 to 3 minutes or until golden all over. And then we can remove it and repeat with any remaining batches. Place that same pot back over a medium high heat. You can add a touch of olive oil if you need to. Add in the onions as well as a pinch of salt. And the moisture from the onions will start lifting the fond from the bottom. And we want to stir and sweat these off for about 3 to four minutes, picking up all of that flavor until they’re translucent and slightly golden. Add the chopped garlic and cook it for about a minute, just enough to take the edge off and let it release some of its aroma. And then next to go in is the tomato paste. This is about 60 grams or one quarter of a cup. Let that cook down for about 2 to 3 minutes. We want it to slightly caramelize and this is going to deepen the flavor and soften the acidity slightly. If the pan does get too hot, just slightly turn it down. We don’t want anything to burn. With the garlic and tomato paste cooked out, it’s time to load everything back in. Start with the chopped carrots and potatoes. Then add the seared beef along with any of its resting juices. Pour in one liter of beeftock, enough to cover everything, followed by two teaspoons of woristers sauce for a little umami touch. Drop in the bokeh garni and season with a good pinch of salt and a few cracks of black pepper. about 20 cracks worth. Give everything a gentle mix to combine and bring it up to a boil. Once that’s boiling, we can then reduce the heat to low. Cover with a lid and cook for two to 2 and 1/2 hours or until that meat is tender and falling apart. And if the liquid reduces too much, you can top it up with a touch more stock. Now, for the mash, this part is inspired by one of the most legendary chefs of all time, Joel Rubishon. He was known for elevating simple ingredients to perfection, and his mashed potatoes or pom puree are iconic. Robishan held more Michelin stars than any chef in history. And at his restaurants, his mash was buttery, silky, and rich. But I will admit, this isn’t going to be for everyone. It is incredibly rich. So, I will leave a more mild version in the description below. All we’ve done is peeled and chopped 1 kilo of potatoes, adding them into a pot, and then filling this up with cold water. We always start in cold water unless otherwise specified. And this is going to make sure that the potatoes all come up to temperature at the same time and cook at the same rate. You can also add a nice generous pinch of salt. And I like to place the lid on until that comes to a boil. When it is at a boil, what we’re going to do is cook these for about 20 to 25 minutes or until they’re fork tender. Then drain them through a colander and allow them to completely dry out. You can also place them over a medium high heat and just stir them until most of the moisture evaporates. Now, while the potatoes are still hot, we can start mashing. You can even use a traditional masher, a food mill, or a ricer, which is what I’m using to get them extra smooth. I’m also going to do one step further, and this is where you get that Michelin style mash. and placing it through a sieve just to make sure there is absolutely no lumps. Of course, I know people like different textured mash, so you don’t have to do this, but this is just a base guideline for you to follow or not. Depends how you like your mash. Now, the next step to do is add in 200 g of cold cubed unsalted butter. I know this seems like a crazy amount. Like I said, I’ll leave a toned down version of this mash in the description. Using the cold butter might sound odd, but it melts slowly and emulsifies as it mixes through, giving you that silkier, more luxurious texture than it was if you were just to melt it ahead of time. It is also a good idea to allow the first half to melt and then add in the second half. That way, you’re not adding too much at once. And we’re also going to do the exact same with half a cup of warm full cream milk, mixing that through, allowing it to mix through completely. And the warm milk integrates better and won’t shock the butter, which keeps that mash from splitting or becoming greasy. Once that’s done, we can then keep this warm until we’re ready to serve. Then going back to the stew, this has been cooking for just over two hours. It’s time to lift the lid. And straight away, you’re hit with that rich, deep aroma. The sauce has thickened, the beef is tender and falling apart, and that surface is glossy with flavor. We also want to remove that bokeh garni. Just make sure nothing has fallen out like what mine did. This can then be removed from the stove top. And for the best part, which is serving up, start with a generous spooning of that buttery mash. It’s soft, smooth, and ready to soak up all of that rich stew. laid all over the beef and gravy. Make sure you top it off with any of the vegetables. And you can see that tender, slowcooked chuck coated in the sauce that’s thick, glossy, and full of flavor. And I’m also adding a touch of flat leaf parsley. And what we’ve got is a dish that’s hearty, comforting, and made entirely from scratch. All within our $50 budget. Everything that you’ve seen in this video, the fresh produce, quality beef, herbs, pantry staples, came in under $50. We stuck to the budget, made every ingredient count, and ended up with six generous servings of rich, slowcooked beef stew with that creamy mash. Better still, we’ve got enough leftover ingredients to build another dish or two later in the week. Shopping seasonal, cooking from scratch, it doesn’t just taste better, it goes further. And the final cost per portion comes out to $6.13. There is only one thing left to do though, and that is, of course, we can then dig in. The flavor on that is next to none. The meat literally just melts in your mouth. You can even crush it with your tongue. The sauce has so much flavor. The veggies really add that nice little bit of depth. The mash just soaks up the sauce, making it even more flavorsome. If you enjoyed this video, please do hit that thumbs up button. Leave a comment. Let me know what you think of this recipe, what you want to see next, and consider subscribing. Thanks for watching.