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More Beef & Steak recipes
Steak & Sausage Stew
Steak and sausage stew is my kind of cold weather dinner – big, bold, and full of flavour. I brown off chunks of beef and sausages, then simmer them low and slow with tomatoes, red wine, and herbs until everything’s tender and rich. It’s a proper rustic dish that fills the kitchen with the kind of smell that makes people hover around the stove. Served with mash, crusty bread, or straight from the pot, it’s cosy food at its best.
Ingredients
- 400g Cumberland sausages
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 celery stalked, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 400g diced beef steak
- 3/4 cup red lentils
- 400g tin of diced tomatoes
- 500ml beef stock
- 185ml dry red wine
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- A sprig of rosemary
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, sear the sausages on each side until just turning brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, slice into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook for around 5 minutes or until the onion has turned soft. Next, add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the tomato paste and stir through the onion mix.
- Next, add the diced beef steak and sausages and stir through.
- Finally, add the lentils, tomatoes, beef stock, red wine and mustard powder and stir until well combined.
- Season with salt and pepper, and add the sprig of rosemary. Bring to a heavy simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer, covered, for one hour. After one hour, turn off the heat and stir the stew. Remove the lid and allow to sit for a further 15 minutes, to allow the beef to rest before serving with crusty white bread.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 382Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 719mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 23g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
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Steak and Sausage Stew Recipe
When Summer Forgets to Show Up
I don’t know about you, but whenever the weather turns moody and grey, my cravings shift immediately to slow-cooked meals and crusty bread. We’re meant to be in summer here in Scotland, but the skies have been throwing a tantrum for weeks now. Thick clouds, wild winds, and the sort of rain that soaks through three layers before you’ve even stepped off the pavement. Which brings me to my steak and sausage stew. Nothing warms me quite like a big bowl of this rich, hearty goodness. It’s proper comfort food. Made with tender beef, Cumberland sausages and a generous splash of red wine, this stew is everything a stew should be – deep in flavour, melt-in-your-mouth soft, and just the right kind of indulgent.
Now, I know stew has a bit of a reputation. It can be a bit, well… beige. And not in the minimalist, stylish way either. Just dull. But this one isn’t that, thankfully. I mean, it’s me – you know I don’t do boring! This stew is what happens when you take the classic stew and actually care about the details. Browned sausages. Proper meat. No floury sludge. And the flavour from the sausages? It leaches into the sauce beautifully, creating that rich meaty base that only gets better the longer it simmers. I think a lot of stew recipes forget that you’re building flavour, not just bunging ingredients into a pot and hoping for the best. This one? She’s a keeper.
And look, I’ve always had a thing for sausages. Growing up in Australia, my mum would cook extras just for me and keep them cold in the fridge. That sounds odd now, I know. Cold sausages?? But they were honestly my favourite snack. Or!! Bunnings sausages – if you know, you know. During my brief stint as a vegetarian (don’t laugh), my mum would still make sausages and leave them in the fridge just to tempt me. She was not very subtle about it, and eventually, I caved. Which was probably for the best, considering most of my veggie diet consisted of the very foods I now can’t eat – soy, corn, legumes, mushrooms. Honestly, it’s a miracle I survived!
These days however, I’m all about finding ways to enjoy the foods I love within the boundaries of what I can actually eat, and this stew does just that. Sadly, my pig of a husband means keeping a fridge full of cold sausages just for me isn’t really an option anymore – and the sausages here in the UK aren’t quite the same as a Bunnings snag anyway!
Sausage Nostalgia and Stew Redemption
You know how some people go misty-eyed over a roast dinner or get sentimental about their nan’s pavlova? I get like that about sausages. The smell of them on the barbecue, the snap of the skin when you bite into a freshly cooked one – absolute bliss. And yet, I cannot stand a soggy sausage. Those casseroles where the sausages are just boiled in a sauce and come out looking like waterlogged sadness? No thank you. I’ve never been into devilled sausages or curried sausages for that very reason. If you don’t brown the sausages first, it’s game over. The skin goes limp and rubbery, and the whole thing just becomes deeply unsettling.
I think that’s why I love this stew so much. The sausages are browned first – like properly cooked until the skin is golden and crisp and slightly caramelised. That adds so much flavour to the stew, and also means your sausages hold up and still have that satisfying texture. It’s all about the little things. You can’t just chuck raw sausages into a sauce and expect magic. You’ve got to show a little love. Same with the beef – it’s cooked slowly until it’s so tender it falls apart at the mere suggestion of a spoon. And all of it together – beef, sausage, wine, lentils – makes the kind of stew that sticks to your ribs and gives you that warm, cosy feeling like you’re safe from the world.
It’s funny because I never really set out to create a stew that would become part of my regular rotation. I made this one out of necessity, really. The weather was dreadful, I was craving something hearty, and I had sausages that needed using. And just like that, it became a favourite. Isn’t that always the way? The best meals are rarely planned. They just sort of happen when you’re cold and hungry and throwing together whatever you’ve got. But once I tasted it, I knew it was a winner and a keeper for dinner. And every time I make it now, it takes me straight back to that first time – rain pelting the windows, heating cranked up, and me standing in the kitchen with a glass of wine, stirring a pot of bubbling stew that made the whole flat smell like a hug.
Lentils, Wine and Why It Works
Right, let’s talk about lentils. I know they’re not the sexiest ingredient. They don’t exactly scream glamour. But in this stew? They’re the secret weapon. Instead of thickening the sauce with flour or cornflour, I use red lentils. They break down as the stew cooks, turning into this velvety, earthy base that gives the sauce body and richness without any fuss. Plus, they soak up all the flavour from the wine and stock and meat, so they’re basically little flavour sponges. And because they melt into the sauce, you don’t even realise they’re there – you just get this gorgeous, hearty texture that feels like it’s been cooking all day.
Now, let’s talk wine. I always go for a dry red, like shiraz or merlot. You want something with a bit of spice and weight to it – something that can stand up to the richness of the beef and sausage. Light and fruity reds, like pinot noir, just don’t have the same impact – they get lost. But a dry red adds depth and makes the whole stew feel a bit more grown-up. That said, if you’re not into wine, you can absolutely just use more beef stock. It won’t have the same complexity, but it’ll still taste great. Remember – recipes aren’t rules, they’re suggestions. Except when it comes to baking, obviously. Then it’s science and I don’t make the rules.
I’ve always believed that cooking should be about intuition. If you don’t have wine, use stock. If you hate lentils, leave them out and add some diced potato or carrot instead. Make it your own. The base of this stew is forgiving, and that’s what makes it such a great recipe to keep in your back pocket for cold nights or surprise guests or just when you want something to look forward to after a long day. It’s easy, it’s comforting, and it’ll make your kitchen smell like you know what you’re doing – even if you’re just winging it like the rest of us.
Ingredients Breakdown
For the meat, I go with diced beef – something like chuck or stewing steak that benefits from slow cooking – and good quality sausages. Cumberland sausages are my go-to here because they’ve got that perfect balance of herbs and fat. You want sausages with a bit of character, not something bland and rubbery. Brown them well, cook them properly, and they’ll carry the stew. No soggy skins allowed.
The base of the stew is simple but bold. Onions, garlic, and a bit of tomato paste for richness. Red lentils do double duty as both a thickener and a way to stretch the stew a bit further. Add a splash of dry red wine – shiraz or merlot are ideal – and a good amount of beef stock. I usually throw in some herbs, too. Thyme, rosemary, maybe a bay leaf if I remember. Nothing fancy. Just the kind of flavours that warm you from the inside out.
And of course, salt and pepper. Don’t skimp. Seasoning is the difference between a good stew and a bland one. Taste as you go, trust your instincts, and don’t be afraid to tweak things to suit your palate. That’s the beauty of a dish like this – it’s low effort, high reward, and endlessly adaptable. And honestly? It just makes life taste a little better when it’s stormy outside and you’ve got something bubbling away on the stove.
