Cook this boldly flavoured Thai Beef Stew in the slow cooker, or in a stockpot on the stove. It’s a dump-and-go recipe: no need to sear the meat, or fry the aromatics, or anything complicated. Just add all the ingredients to the pot and come back in 4 to 8 hours!
In Thai cuisine, it’s not traditional to brown the meat before adding it to a stew. Which makes this Thai beef stew the perfect dump-and-go recipe. You don’t have to dirty up a frying pan and deal with oil splattering all over your kitchen.
Just because we don’t brown the meat, doesn’t mean it’s not full of intense beefy flavour. The secret is to use a cut of beef called the “digital muscle.” By using a juicy, succulent piece of beef with lots of collagen, we infuse the stew with tons of rich beef flavour and a beautifully smooth mouthfeel.
I also like to call this walk away beef stew. Just put all the ingredients into your slow cooker (or a stockpot) and come back in a few hours. That’s it!
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Ingredients + Substitutions
A few important notes on some of the ingredients in this Thai Beef Stew recipe:
Beef Digital Muscle: The full name of this cut is “super digital flexor muscle.” You can also find it under the names of “beef shank digital muscle” or “beef heel muscle.” If you cut it open, you’ll find a very unique cross-section webbed with lots of connective tissue (the white parts).
Connective tissue is made of collagen which gives slow cooked beef its luscious mouthfeel. Thanks to all the collagen, this cut of beef becomes unbelievably tender when you cook it long enough. Like, fall-apart, melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Look for beef digital muscle at your local Asian supermarket. If you can’t find digital muscle, substitute with beef chuck or stew meat chunks.
Onion, Garlic, Ginger, and Daikon Radish: These strong-smelling vegetables give Thai beef stew its traditional flavour.
Liquid Seasonings:
- Oyster sauce
- Soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce (adds colour to the dish; you can sub with more regular soy sauce if you don’t have it)
- Maggi sauce (can sub with Golden Mountain sauce, or more soy sauce)
- Fish sauce
Brown Sugar: Balances out the salty sauces and enhances the umami flavour. Cane sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar, or even plain old granulated sugar are all good substitutes.
Beef Stock: You’ll want to use just enough to cover all the beef chunks. That’s around 2–3 cups. You can use homemade beef broth, bone broth, or a shortcut like Better Than Bouillon Roasted Beef Base.
Spices
Here are all the dry spices you’ll be using:
- Star anise
- Bay leaves
- Cinnamon stick (don’t use more than 2 inches, or it’ll overwhelm the dish)
- Cardamom pod (optional)
- Coriander
- Black peppercorns
- White peppercorns
- Five spice powder (this is a Chinese spice mix, but it’s quite popular in Thai cuisine—made of star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and fennel)
We recommend putting the spices into a muslin spice bag or tie them up in a few layers of cheesecloth. That way, you can just discard the bag at the end of cooking. Otherwise you’ll be picking out whole spices from your beef stew between each bite. (We find that tea filter bags also work splendidly here.)
Notice there is no Thai curry paste or coconut milk in this recipe. There is no curry or coconut in a traditional Thai beef stew!
See recipe card for quantities.
Turn It Into Noodle Soup
Turn this into a Thai beef noodle soup recipe! A popular way to eat Thai beef stew is with noodles. You can use rice noodles, egg noodles, heck even udon noodles would work well.
The flavours are a bit similar to Vietnamese pho or Taiwanese braised beef soup. That’s because they share some of the same spices.
Cook your noodles and dish them out into bowls. Ladle hot Thai beef stew over the cooked noodles. Super easy!
Thicken It Up
In Western stews, you typically thicken up the slow-cooked meat juices into a thick rich gravy. Thai stews are different. At the end of cooking you should be left with a lot of liquid—it’s a combination of the beef stock and the protein-rich collagen from the beef that melted into the stew.
If you’re used to a Western-style texture with a thicker sauce, it just takes an extra step. Scoop out all the meat, then mix together one tablespoon of cornstarch with ¼ cup of water and pour this mixture into the liquid left in the pot. Simmer until thickened to your liking.
Directions
Step 1. Add all the spices to a small muslin bag or tie them up in a few layers of cheesecloth. We find that disposable tea filter bags also work splendidly here.
Step 2. Add the remaining beef stew ingredients to a crockpot or stockpot. Cover with beef stock. It’s okay if some of the daikon and onions stick out, as long as all the beef is covered.
Step 3. Push the bag of spices into the beef stock so that it’s fully submerged. Cover with a lid. Slow cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours).
Step 4. At the end of cooking, the beef should be fall-apart tender. Serve Thai beef stew over rice or noodles, with lots of fresh chilies and herbs.
Hint: Depending on whether your beef stock was low-sodium, you might want to add more salt.
Equipment
You can make this Thai Beef Stew recipe in a Crock-Pot (or similar slow cooker), a stockpot, or a Dutch oven.
You can also make it in an Instant Pot. Just pressure cook for 45 minutes on high pressure and manual release.
Storage
Fridge: Refrigerate crockpot Thai beef stew for up to four days.
Freezer: Thai beef stew can be frozen for up to three months.
Make Ahead: The spice packets can be prepped ahead of time. Really the most time-consuming part of this recipe is gathering all the spices together. We like to prepare five or six bags of spices in disposable tea filter bags so we can just grab one to use whenever we cook this stew.
Note: When chilled, Thai beef stew will congeal because of the high fat and collagen content. This is totally normal, just reheat it and it will look fine again. The top layer is fat that has solidified, you can scoop it off to reduce the fat but keep some of it in for flavour.
What to Serve with Thai Beef Stew
More Asian Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating or comment below to give me feedback and help out other readers.
Recipe Card
Thai Beef Stew (Stovetop or Slow Cooker)
Equipment
- Slow cooker, Dutch oven, or stockpot
Ingredients
Beef Stew
- 2 pounds beef stew meat cut into 2-inch chunks; see Note 1
- 1 onion chopped into wedges
- 1 small daikon radish cubed
- 1 head garlic smashed
- 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger root thinly sliced into coins
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon maggi sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce *optional
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 cups beef stock
Spice Bag
- 2 star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small cinnamon stick at most 2 inches
- 1 cardamom pod
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon white peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon five spice powder
For Serving
- Thai chili peppers
- Fresh cilantro and scallions
Instructions
- Add all the spices to a small muslin bag or tie them up in a few layers of cheesecloth. (We find that tea filter bags also work splendidly here.)
- Add all the beef stew ingredients to a slow cooker or stockpot in the order listed (2 pounds beef stew meat, 1 onion, 1 small daikon radish, 1 head garlic, 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger root, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon maggi sauce, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar). Cover with 3 cups beef stock. It’s okay if some of the daikon and onions stick out, as long as all the beef is covered.
- Push the bag of spices into the beef stock so that it’s fully submerged.
- Cover with a lid. Slow cook on low for 8 hours. If cooking on the stovetop, bring to a gentle boil then let it simmer on low heat for 3–4 hours.
- At the end of cooking, remove the lid and give the contents a stir. The beef should be fall-apart tender. Salt to taste (see Note 2) and remove the bag of spices.
- Serve over rice or noodles, with lots of fresh herbs.
Notes
- Beef Stew Meat: The best cut of beef to use is “beef digital muscle.” You can also find it under the names of “beef shank,” “beef shin,” or “beef heel muscle.” Find it at your local Asian supermarket. If you can’t find digital muscle, substitute with beef chuck or stew meat chunks.
- Salt: Depending on whether your beef stock was low-sodium, you might need to add more salt.
Nutrition
Food Safety
- Cook stew beef to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash your hands after handling raw beef.
- Store leftovers in shallow covered containers and refrigerate within two hours after slow cooker is finished.
- It's safe to leave the slow cooker unattended. Just make sure to leave it on a heatproof surface (such as granite or tile), and leave it somewhere children and pets can't access.
- Never put frozen beef in the slow cooker. Only use thawed ingredients.
Zahir says
This was simply scrumptious! Can't believe the depth of flavuor for how little effort it took.
Kelly Zhang says
Definitely a high reward-to-effort ratio!