Jardineira is a traditional Portuguese stew that combines beef, carrots, potatoes, green beans, and peas. Jardineira is absolutely delicious, and although meat-heavy, it’s not too rich. With the green veggies and fresh herbs adding a touch of freshness to it. Jardineira is a family staple in Portugal that you won’t find at tourist trap restaurants! Keep reading to learn how to make this fantastic beef stew from Portugal!
Why Jardineira is Known as the Gardener’s Stew
Gardener’s Stew, Garden Stew, or Gardener Style Stew are all used interchangeably to describe this Portuguese stew which combines meat and colourful vegetables all chopped in a similar size. The Portuguese word jardineira can be translated as ‘female gardener’ and it’s a reference to the garden-fresh vegetables featured in the dish, usually peas, green beans, carrots, and potatoes. Jardineira was originally a peasant dish made with scraps of meat and vegetables. The essence of this dish remains the same, you can add to it any vegetable you have available in your kitchen – or garden!
Essential Ingredients for the Perfect Jardineira de Vitela
There are several different ways of preparing Jardineira. This stew usually includes a protein, either beef, chicken, or pork, and an assortment of vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, green beans, and frozen peas. The recipe isn’t set in stone, and being a home cooked dish, you will find hundreds of recipes out there.
The most popular version called Jardineira de Vitela features beef that’s seared and stewed in a gravy made with onions, garlic, and chopped tomatoes. The vegetables are added in the end by order of cooking time, first the chopped potatoes and carrots, then the green veggies which take much quicker to cook. The seasonings are the basic ones featured in most Portuguese dishes: bay leaves, salt, pepper, parsley or coriander.
Making Jardineira de Vitela – Technique and Tips
The secret to making the perfect Beef Jardineira is in the technique! While this Portuguese stew isn’t supposed to be sophisticated nor complicated, using the right set of techniques will guarantee a tender stew that’s packed with flavour!
Browning the Beef
The first and most important technique is to sear the chunks of beef. While that may sound obvious, not everyone follows this advice. I chop my beef in cubes of approximately 3cm, season with salt and pepper, and sear it on both sides with some oil over high heat.
Cast iron or stainless-steel skillets are the best options for this. I don’t recommend using nonstick pans as they don’t retain heat well and won’t brown the beef. A tip I learned is to sprinkle the beef with some flour to help with caramelisation, this also helps thicken the stew in the end. You shouldn’t skip this stage as it’s really important for building layers of flavour. Don’t worry if the bottom of the pan looks a little charred, that’s the base of your gravy, and everything will be deglazed with some wine in the end.
Slow Cooking Your Jardineira Stew
With the beef browned it’s time to deglaze the pan with a splash of red wine, add some water or beef stock, and let it stew. The best way to do so is at low temperature over a long period of time. We are looking for gentle bubbles and nor a roaring boil, this not only helps breaking the connective tissue of the meat making it more tender but also results in a thicker gravy.
I usually make my stew in a Dutch oven, but a slow cooker would be ideal here. The same effect can be recreated by cooking the stew in the oven at low temperature, but that’s totally optional. Slow cooking your stew also means you can use tougher cuts of meat which are usually more budget friendly, it’s a win-win situation. Now we covered the techniques used in our Jardineira stew, let’s dive into the recipe!
How to Make Authentic Portuguese Jardineira Stew
Jardineira – Portuguese Gardener’s Beef Stew
6
servings30
minutes2
hours30
minutes658
kcalJardineira is a traditional Portuguese stew that combines beef, carrots, potatoes, green beans, and peas.
Ingredients
1 kg Brisket (cut into chunks of approx. 3 cm)
1 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
100 g Spicy Chouriço
2 Large Onions
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5 Garlic Cloves
1/2 Cup Red Wine
3 tbsp Tomato Concentrate
3 Medium Potatoes
2 Medium Carrots
200 g Frozen Peas
150 g Green Beans
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Parsley
1 Bay Leaf
Salt
Black Pepper
Directions
- Start by placing a Dutch oven over medium heat. While the pan heats, dice the chouriço. Add it to the pan and let it fry on its own fat until golden.
- While the chouriço cooks, season the beef chunks with black pepper and salt to taste, then sprinkle with 1tbsp of flour, mix well to combine.
- Transfer the chouriço to a bowl but leave the oil released in the pan. Turn up the heat, add in the olive oil, then the beef. Sear for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. It’s better to do this step in 2 or 3 batches, you don’t want to overcrowd the pan.
- While the beef cooks, dice the onions and mince the garlic.
- Transfer the seared beef to a plate. Cook the onions in the same pan you cooked the beef, until translucent, for about 8 minutes. Add the minced garlic, let it cook for another 2 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato concentrate, the thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Let it cook for another minute. Deglaze with the red wine, gently scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release any caramelisation.
- Return the chouriço and the beef to the pan, cover with water. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cook for about 2 hours with the lid on, make sure to check every now and then and add a splash of water if it has reduced too much.
- While the Jardineira stews, peel and dice the potatoes, peel and slice the carrots. Trim the green beans and chop them into 2 cm pieces.
- Once the beef is nice and tender, add the potatoes and carrots to the stew, top up with some water if needed, let it cook until fork tender (about 20 minutes).
- Add in the green beans, let it cook for 5 minutes before adding the frozen peas.
- Season with more salt and black pepper, serve with plenty of chopped fresh parsley. Enjoy!
Tips
- Make sure to take the beef out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking the stew.
- I used brisket but you can also use chuck, shank, or another cut you prefer. Avoid using lean cuts as tend to dry out.