Stifatho – Greek Beef Stew is a meal prepared traditionally during the colder months. It’s the perfect Winter dish!
From Lizz: Growing up, I have fond memories of my Godmother’s (Nouna’s) and my Aunt’s (Thea’s) Stifatho dishes. They would often cook this dish with quail or rabbit and it would typically be presented in a beautiful casserole dish and served with Cretan Pilafi. The main ingredient in a Stifatho, next to the meat, is an equal amount of onions.
Stifatho can be made with any type of meat, poultry, seafood, game, or another vegetable as the central ingredient. The onions, tomato, wine or vinegar, and a selection of spices—often including cinnamon and cloves—create a flavorful base. You can easily tailor this dish to your own preferences by adding or leaving out other ingredients, with the exception of the onions.
I like using beef for my Stifatho and two different types of onions. I start with a finely chopped yellow onion when I’m sautéing the beef and then add caramelized pearl onions so that I have an equal amount of meat to onion ratio. The beef and onions are simmered in some wine before adding a small amount of tomato sauce, and seasonings that include garlic, cinnamon and ground cloves. The final step is to allow the meat to simmer for at least two hours so that the meat will break down over the low and slow cooking period, leading to chunks of beef that are tender, and flavorful, not dry and tough.
Serve the Stifatho with our Cretan Pilafi.
Kali Orexi!
HOW TO MAKE STIFATHO – GREEK BEEF STEW
- It’s my strong recommendation that you use frozen pearl onions to make this dish. However if you decide to use fresh pearl onions and you don’t want to spend a lot of time peeling them, there is a shortcut. The easiest and fastest way to peel pearl onions it to par boil them, put them in an ice bath and then the outer skin will peel off easily. Here are the steps to do that: Find the end of the onion where the root is.
- Cut off the end of the onion where the root is.
- Don’t cut off too much. Just enough to remove the end of the root.
- Add the pearl onions to boiling water for 60-90 seconds. Remove the peal onions with a slotted spoon or mesh strainer and drop them into an ice bath so that they stop cooking. Once they are cooled off (2-3 mins), remove the pearl onions from the ice bath, drain well and peel off the outer layer of the onion by simply pulling on it. It should come off easily.
- Prepare and measure all other ingredients.
- Heat butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add finely chopped yellow onion and meat. Sauté until the meat is brown on all sides.
- Sauté until the meat is brown on all sides. Add 1/4 cup of the red wine and simmer for 5 minutes. While meat is simmering, add 1 cup of hot water to the 10 ounces of crushed tomatoes and stir together well. Incorporate the tomato mixture to the meat, onion, wine mixture and stir to incorporate. Cover and continue to simmer for 7-10 minutes.
- Add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a deep skillet and heat over medium heat. Incorporate the pearl onions and brown them so that they begin to caramelize.
- Add the caramelized pearl onions, chopped garlic, chopped fresh parsley, brown sugar, ground cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon stick to the meat mixture. Then the remaining 3/4 cup of red wine and stir to incorporate all ingredients. Cover and simmer slowly for 2 hours, stirring occasionally so that the meat does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Once the Stifatho is done, remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick before serving. Serve with our Cretan Pilafi.
Do I have to use Pearl Onions?
Whole pearl onions are the most commonly used onions in Stifatho but larger onions work as well. The key is that the quantity of the onions should be equal in weight to the main ingredient.
What is the best cut of beef to use for the Stifatho – Greek Beef Stew?
When making Stifatho, you want collagen-rich beef which will break down while it is simmering over a low heat for a longer period of time. The cuts of meat that are the best to use for Stifatho are chuck or round. As this cut of meat cooks, it breaks down and becomes more tender and flavorful.
Stifatho – Greek Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 lbs beef chuck cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 cup red wine
- 8 oz crushed tomato
- 1 cup water
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 lbs pearl onions fresh or frozen
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
- It's my strong recommendation that you use frozen pearl onions to make this dish. However if you decide to use fresh pearl onions and you don't want to spend a lot of time peeling them, there is a shortcut. The easiest and fastest way to peel pearl onions it to par boil them, put them in an ice bath and then the outer skin will peel off easily. Here are the steps to do that:
- Find the end of the onion where the root is. Cut off the end of the onion where the root is. Don't cut off too much. Just enough to remove the end of the root.
- Add the pearl onions to boiling water for 60-90 seconds. Remove the peal onions with a slotted spoon or mesh strainer and drop them into an ice bath so that they stop cooking. Once they are cooled off (2-3 mins), remove the pearl onions from the ice bath, drain well and peel off the outer layer of the onion by simply pulling on it. It should come off easily.
- Prepare and measure all other ingredients.
- Heat butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add finely chopped yellow onion and meat. Sauté until the meat is brown on all sides.
- Sauté until the meat is brown on all sides. Add 1/4 cup of the red wine and simmer for 5 minutes. While meat is simmering, add 1 cup of hot water to the 10 ounces of crushed tomatoes and stir together well. Add the tomato mixture to the meat, onion, wine mixture and stir to incorporate. Cover and continue to simmer for 7-10 minutes.
- Add the caramelized pearl onions, chopped garlic, chopped fresh parsley, brown sugar, ground cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon stick to the meat mixture. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of red wine and stir to incorporate all ingredients. Cover and simmer slowly for 2 hours, stirring occasionally so that the meat does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Once the Stifatho is done, remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick before serving. Serve with our Cretan Pilafi.
Made this and it was delicious!
So happy to hear, thanks Michele!
Delicious, rave reviews from my family, making again this week.
Thank you much!