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Moshari Kokkinisto is a delicious Easy Beef Stew made with beef, tomatoes, and slow cooked until tender. It’s everything you want and more in a comforting stew and perfect as we are quickly approaching the fall. This dish is one that I grew up with in a Greek household. It’s one that I love on those nights that I just need some comfort food, and is really easy to prep.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Beef Stew
- Authentic: This Easy Beef Stew is my authentic spin to Moshari Kokkinisto, a Greek, comforting stew
- Warming: This is the perfect meal for a cold winter or rainy day
- Flavorful: Slow cooking this stew makes the meat so tender and flavorful. Nothing beats it!
Ingredients
Cinnamon & Cloves – One of the parts that make this Easy Beef Stew so flavorful and warming is the spices. The cinnamon and cloves are the perfect winter spices to add warming flavors to this traditional stew.
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Beef – Chuck beef or stewing beef works best for this recipe. Slow cooked with the spices, makes it so flavorful and tender.
How to Make Easy Beef Stew
- Put a large pot over medium heat and add olive oil, onions, garlic and pieces of beef, cook for a few minutes on medium heat and then turn to low, stirring occasionally, cooking for 15 minutes, stirring until beef is browned on all sides.
- Add the red wine, stir and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, tomato paste, tomato sauce and 4 cups water. Stir everything together and bring to a boil, then turn to low to keep at a simmer on low heat for about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. While this cooks preheat the oven to 375F.
- After 35 minutes, add the dry spaghetti noodles and 2 more cups of water to the pot and another dash of salt and pepper. Gently submerge the noodles into the sauce. Remove from the heat.
- Transfer everything from the pot to a large baking dish. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes and then remove from the oven, stir to combine. The noodles should be cooked and saucy. Serve in bowls with grated cheese (kefalotyri or parmesan) if desired.
Tips and Tricks
- If you like this recipe you’ll love our Greek Meat Sauce Recipe (Makaronia Me Kima)
- Meal prep this on Sunday night and eat the leftovers all-week-long. It’s so good even reheated
- You can totally make this recipe in an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
Substitutions
If you want this dish to remain authentic, you’ll want to follow my recipe. However, if you are looking to add your own spin to this Easy Beef Stew, the world is your oyster. Here are some ideas:
- Spices: Not a fan of warming spices like cinnamon and cloves? Swap for your favorite savory spices
- Meat: You can use other ground meats in this recipe like ground lamb or even use stewing beef
- Veggies: Add in some veggies to this dish to make it a complete meal
Best served with
How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days. This dish is great leftover and reheated!
Common Questions
The difference between Greek red sauce and Italian red sauces comes down to the spices. Greek red sauces usually use warming spices like cinnamon and cloves.
Kokkinisto translates to red stew which is exactly what this delicious Easy Beef Stew is. A comforting, Greek dish.
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Ingredients
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ yellow or red onion, diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 900 g chuck beef or stewing beef, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ⅓ cup red wine
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp beef stock paste
- 4 + 2 cups hot water
- 400 g dry spaghetti noodles
- grated cheese (kefalotyri or parmesan) for serving
Instructions
Start Cooking- Put a large pot over medium heat and add olive oil, onions, garlic and pieces of beef, cook for a few minutes on medium heat and then turn to low, stirring occasionally, cooking for 15 minutes, stirring until beef is browned on all sides.
- Add the red wine, stir and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, tomato paste, tomato sauce, beef stock paste and 4 cups hot water. Stir everything together and bring to a boil, then turn to low to keep at a simmer on low heat for about 35 minutes, with the lid on, stirring occasionally. While this cooks preheat the oven to 375F.
- After 35 minutes, add the dry spaghetti noodles and 2 more cups of hot water to the pot and another dash of salt and pepper. Gently submerge the noodles into the sauce. Remove from the heat.
- To bake, cover the pot with a lid OR transfer everything to a large baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes and then remove from the oven, stir to combine. The noodles should be cooked and saucy. Serve in bowls with grated cheese (kefalotyri or parmesan) if desired.
Notes
- Chuck beef or stewing beef works best for this recipe.
- Serve with our Simple Homemade Greek Salad or Maroulosalata aka my Mama’s Salad
- If you like this recipe you’ll love our Greek Meat Sauce Recipe (Makaronia Me Kima)
13 people are discussing this recipe. Join in
I like that this beef stew keeps things simple with chuck roast, potatoes, and carrots while still looking seriously comforting. The red wine and Worcestershire combo sounds great, and somehow UnWordle popped into my head while reading it.
I like that this beef stew keeps things simple with everyday ingredients while still looking rich and comforting. The slow simmer really seems worth it, and somehow it even made me think of veck io while reading.
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I really like the Greek twist here with the cinnamon, cloves, and red wine—it’s not the usual beef stew, and baking it after adding the pasta is such a fun idea. I’m definitely saving this one, and somehow Cutle fits the cozy vibe perfectly.
I like how the recipe focuses on simple ingredients and a slow-cooked approach that builds so much flavor. The tender beef and hearty vegetables make it feel like the perfect comfort meal, and it definitely makes me want to Sete a Zero on rushed dinners and cook something more satisfying.
This beef stew recipe is a game-changer! 🥘 I tried it last weekend, and it brought back memories of my grandma’s kitchen. The way the flavors meld together is just magical. It’s so comforting—perfect for this chilly weather! Thanks for sharing such a homey dish that truly warms the soul! monkey mart
Loved this!
Made this tonight. Humm… maybe i didn’t have 400 gr spaghetti, but the 10 cups liquid left it very soupy. I thought it would be thick at the end, but it was thin. Perhaps more than a teaspoon of tomatoe paste? Also maybe more salt.
I’m a huge fan of your recipes and have been making them all year with great success. The salmon potatoes sheet pan and the keftedes are always a hit!
Hi ! Can I make the first part of this recipe without baking it. ? Just the mosxari kokkinisto but not the oven part
You would need to keep it on the stone for another 20-30 minutes, lid on, and let it simmer gently till the meat is nice and tender!
Hi Margo, whether or not you had the right amount of pasta is very very crucial. Do you know how many g or pasta you used? This recipe wasted tested several times, so it should have come out the correct texture. Thanks for the love on my other recipes, glad to hear you enjoy them!!! It means so much to me!
The quantity for the water is different in the above instructions which calls for 7 + 3 cups of water than the actual recipe which calls for 4 cups plus 2. I got confused too when making it because I thought there was too much liquid and then I realized the discrepancy between the instructions and the recipe.
Good morning, Roula! The recipe card highlights both 4 + 2 cups.
The above instructions have been edited but please always trust the recipe card. We have edited that now, it was missed in the recipe re-test process.
Maria x