Greek Stifado

Name: Greek Stifado
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 h 10 min
Total time: 2 h 25 min
Yield: 4 persons
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 1 kg beef stewing meat; 500 gram shallots are small onions; 3 bay leaves; 4 cloves; a few allspice berries; 2 cinnamon sticks; 2 large garlic cloves; few sprigs of fresh rosemary; 1 tablespoon oregano (fresh or dried); 1 cube of beef stock; 1 can of tomato paste (140 gram); 1 can of tomato chunks (400 gram); 1 glass of dry red wine (about 100 ml); 50 ml red wine vinegar; about 100 ml water; olive oil; pepper and salt to taste

This Greek Stifado is a delicious stew with beef, tomato, shallots and lots of spices. Bursting with flavors and tastes great with potatoes.

Recipe greek stifado

Made by Véronique

Published at 2019-11-04, this recipe is for 4 persons and takes 2 hours 25 minutes.

Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.

Updated at: 2025-07-19

Let's get started

Preparation time

15 minutes

Time cooking

2 hours 10 minutes

Total time

2 hours 25 minutes

Preparation - 15 minutes

Peel the shallots or small onion, you can use them whole or divide them in halves. Make sure they won't fall apart so keep the ends attached. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves.

Remove any excess fat or muscles from the beef, but make sure you don't cut off too much because thus will give extra flavour. Cut the meat into not too large pieces and season with salt and pepper.

Finishing the Greek Stifado - 2 hours and 10 minutes

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven and brown the meat on all sides. Don't overcrowd the pan, so it's best to cook them in batches. Transfer the browned meat to a bowl and sauté the shallots about 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add the meat back to the pan and then also cook the tomato paste and garlic cloves for a few minutes. Deglaze with red wine and red wine vinegar and then also add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, rosemary and oregano.

Stir well and then add the tomato chunks along with cube of beef stock and water. Turn down the heat and place a lid on the pan. Let it simmer gently for about 2 hours.

The stew is done when the meat is beautiful tender. Remove the herbs and serve this stew with some potatoes. Enjoy!