# What vegetables would you put in a beef stew? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 16, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904 "2026-10-16T22:55:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/21 "2026-10-17T01:16:24Z")
Always add a bay leaf. (Ok, technically it’s not a veg.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/22 "2026-10-17T01:18:48Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > AS for seasonings: Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Remember me to one who lives there. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/23 "2026-10-17T01:37:16Z")
I always use 2, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/24 "2026-10-17T01:39:15Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > No love for swedes? Me, me! I love 'em. They taste like a cross between a potato and a turnip, and I always buy one to dice into my beef stew. Or into a mixed vegetable soup, for that matter. I love chunks of celery in beef stew, but Mr. brown hates hates hates celery, so I always have to forego it. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/25 "2026-10-17T01:42:05Z")
Such a timely thread. Mrs. J. is going to make her world-famous beef stew tomorrow. It will include potatoes, onions, turnips and green peas. I might talk her into adding sweet peppers. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/26 "2026-10-17T02:20:48Z")
I meant Paula Dean. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/27 "2026-10-17T02:36:52Z")
:smack: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/28 "2026-10-17T03:05:01Z")
They’re almost always available in Iowa. You prepare and cook parsnips like carrots; peel them, and in the case of parsnips, remove the woody care. Unlike carrots, I wouldn’t recommend eating them raw. Like rutabagas, which I was also going to recommend, they are usually coated in beeswax so they don’t dry out. I like to use those as well. Turnips are too strongly flavored for me, to use this way. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/29 "2026-10-17T04:11:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Definitely potatoes, celery, carrots, onions, peas, and tomatoes. No, no tomatoes please. And I might put in corn instead of peas, but not both (it’s a texture issue). Hate parsnips, nasty things. Mushrooms are acceptable. Carrots and potatoes are cut into fairly large pieces, onions and celery diced, they should disappear. Meat the same size as the carrots and potatoes. I don’t think anyone has addressed what cut of beef you use. Definitely not that pre-cut-up “stew meat.” It’s usually chuck roast for us. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/30 "2026-10-17T04:34:35Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > onions, celery, potatoes, and carrots These are generally all I need, though I will add parsnips if they are available (not generally a given, around here)! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/31 "2026-10-17T06:36:22Z")
Lots of good options upthread. I’d probably throw in some purple sweet potatoes, as they are delicious and nutritious. (Not sure how common they are in the rest of the US; we grow several varieties of them in Hawai’i so they are usually easy for me to find.) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904/32 "2026-10-17T06:36:35Z")
My beef stew is basically a take on Julia Child’s bouef bourguignon that I prepare as a stew instead of a braise. I use a mirepoix to help build up the base before I make the broth and start the beef chunks simmering, and in the last hour or so I add carrots, celery, pearl onions, sauteed mushrooms, and baby yellow potatoes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-vegetables-would-you-put-in-a-beef-stew/1033904.md?page=1)