A super tender beef and butternut squash stew recipe slowly braised in a blood orange juice gravy with hints of cloves and nutmeg!
Look at this festive blood orange beef and butternut squash stew I made us!
Take a second to check out those colors kids! That is real food right there.
Being a vegetarian for two weeks was not bad at all actually, considering that chocolate was allowed every day. Yes, I had to make up for the lack of meat somehow and celery sticks were just not gonna cut it.
But that is all in the past now, and today was the day to get back to being a carnivore, in style! With a big steaming pot of this beef and butternut squash stew!
I had to do it, because it is the end of October and my name is Florentina, so besides organic grass fed beef, slowly cooked until it melts in your mouth, this feast had to go down with some Blood Oranges.
Oh yeah! Blood Orange Beef and Butternut Squash Stew! How good does that sound?!
Butternut Squash Stew
Whenever a recipe calls for pumpkin I use butternut squash, it is the sweetest of them all with thin skin and a delicious nutty flavor. You can taste the perfection of fall in every bite. Add a few blood oranges to the mix and you are taking your taste buds on a trip to Paradise.
This is some super tender beef and butternut squash stew, If I say so myself.
Though I usually recommend browning the meat for a stew, pan searing it to a golden brown color, I have to insist that I have tried skipping this step, and haven’t really noticed a difference in flavor at all. The stew turned out incredibly tender and the flavors from both the blood oranges and butternut squash are shining through. So really, feel free to skip the browning process unless you absolutely enjoy doing it, in my opinion you are smoking the house for no reason.
Also, they (the experts) say browning meat is not good for us at all anymore. So I figured I’d give it a try skipping that step. Less work for me and didn’t have to sacrifice a bit of flavor, yay me!
Now let’s dive into this gorgeous steaming pot of tender beef and butternut squash stew, with subtle flavors of blood orange and clove to die for! ~ Florentina Xo’s
Beef and Butternut Squash Stew
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 5 cloves large garlic whole
- 2 lb organic grass fed Chuck Roast cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 lb organic Butternut Squash cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 cup blood oranges juiced ( 1 or so )
- 2 inch carrots sliced into 1/2 rounds
- 6 lemon thyme sprigs
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes + more to taste
- 3 cloves whole
- 1 tsp sea salt or to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
- 2 leaves bay
- nut meg -freshly grated
- 1/4 c Italian parsley -leaves only
- 3 tbs all purpose flour
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 5 cups water -filtered
- 2 blood oranges sliced
- 1 red chile pepper sliced
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Mix the flour and paprika together in a plastic bag. Season the beef with the sea salt and black pepper and transfer them to the plastic bag. Toss everything together to coat.
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Heat up 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium flame. Add the garlic cloves and sear until golden on both sides. Transfer to a bowl. Shake any excess flour from the beef and sear each cube for a couple of minutes until golden brown at the edges. Work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil in between batches if necessary.
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Transfer them all to the bowl with the garlic and cover with plastic wrap to keep warm.
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Add one more tablespoon of olive oil to the pot and saute the onion with a pinch of sea salt until translucent. Add the red pepper flakes and cook one more minute.
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Meanwhile save two strips of orange peel from the blood oranges and zest the rest and reserve. Squeeze 1 cup of juice from the oranges and add it to the pot together with the balsamic vinegar. Using a silicone spatula make sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom. Add the bay leaf, cloves, thyme sprigs and orange peels and allow to simmer for 3 minutes.
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Add the beef cubes with all the juices and the garlic back to the pot and stir to combine. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cover with a tight lid and transfer to a 350 F degrees oven. Let it cook for 2 hours.
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Add the butternut squash and carrots to the pot, give it a good stir, cover tightly with the lid and let cook in the oven for an additional 45 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender.
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Discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and gently stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the reserved orange zest.
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Serve hot sprinkled with the parsley, orange slices, red chile and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
Use chuck roast whenever making beef stew, it is one of the most flavorful cuts and the best for cooking slowly in some liquid.
You’ll Also Love:
Italian Beef Stew
Chicken Cacciatore
Easy Chicken Stew
Ricotta Meatballs
Gorgeous color and brilliant combination of flavors! I love your blog and look forward to reading more!
Thank you so much Miri !
OMG This looks so delicious. You have my taste buds dripping like I’ve been starving for years. and I just ate!
Lol, I love it !
WOW – this is one killer stew. It’s making my mouth water right now and I still have a ways to go for lunch time.
haha, in that case I think i did good! Thank you Eliana!
yuhm yuhm looks soooo good. I need to get my ladle out!
yes you do, I have a bowl waiting for you ha!
your recipes inspire me to do the wild and wonderful!
That’s awesome ! 🙂
yummmy! my mouth is watering already! can’t wait to make this!!
I made this today. It’s still in the oven and it smells delicious, but I was curious about the blood oranges. Mine were pretty small and gave me nowhere near one cup of juice. We ended up adding the juice from regular oranges to get to 1 cup. Does it really need to be 1 cup of juice, or is the juice of 4 blood oranges sufficient? (Basically, did we do something wrong?)
@Amber you did nothing wrong! Taste as you go and if you like a more intense orange favor add a little more juice and extra orange peel.
Didn’t know about the unhealthy aspects of browning meat. Though, I never brown the meat, its good information and your recipe is perfect for fall.
Though, I never brown the meat.., now I learn that browning the meat is not good. Your recipe looks perfect for fall dinners and I’m sure, adding the blood orange to the stew.., gives it a nice tangy touch.
I can only imagine what a fantastic aroma filled your kitchen when you were making this stew. All these ingredients… Yum!
Ooh this looks like the perfect Fall dinner!
What a creative way to use blood oranges. This is going on my must try list!
Oh my goodness I love butternut squash. This stew looks incredible and perfect for crisp fall weather.