Is Beef stew without red wine still good?

I’ve never cooked food containing wine even if it’s supposed to as I hate alcohol. The food is always delicious. I don’t know anyone other than drunks that use alcohol in food.

I guess

I don't think so.

I've never made a beef stew or a Bourginion with wine added, I'm not a fan of red wine at all

My friend always uses a beef & veg cuppa soup mix in her stew, and some 'Oxtail soup' [canned] in beef bourginion, I've had the oxtail soup in the bourginion, and its very tasty.

I use red wine if I have it around, but I find that long slow cooking using cheap cuts ( not fillet etc, it will dry out), adding a good quality stock cube like Kallo, hard herbs like thyme, rosemary and bay, garlic, orange peel, some balsamic vinegar and a spoonful of something sweet like cranberry sauce, will do the trick to get a rich gravy.

Adding fried baby onions/shallots,whole baby mushrooms, carrots etc towards the end of cooking will add flavour as well as nutrition.

If you use a slow cooker, the meat will be tender but the gravy a bit watery as it doesn't evaporate- just drain off the juices into a pan and reduce, taste and add seasoning etc then add back in before serving.

I love a good beef stew in the winter, I add herb dumplings sometimes, and serve with creamy mashed potatoes, sweet roasted parsnips and carrots, sauteed spinach, spiced cabbage- whatever's looking good in the market at the time.

Enjoy! No need to use alcohol if you don't like the idea.

Put a tablespoon of ground ginger root in the beef stew. You will find the stew tastes better than it would with red wine.

The alcohol cooks out and evaporates so you won't notice it. Wine is there for flavour and it won't taste of alcohol at all. There are also beef stew recipes that use beer.

And also those that use no alcohol. A good beef stock will make a nice stew, and you could make that by making some up from stock cubes according to the instructions. Another thing I've done is use water with a shake of Worcestershire sauce. The sauce is very strong and concentrated so you don't need much, only a teaspoon or two. And of course either of these options are much cheaper than wine!

Wine won't make the meat more tender - it's long slow cooking that does that. And on that point, don't use expensive beef. Cheap is actually best! Use stewing steak. Normally this will be from the leg or shoulder of the cow where the muscle will have done a lot of work during its lifetime and that makes the meat tough. No good for cooking it quickly but long slow stewing is just what it needs - that melts the connective tissue into the gravy and leaves you with lovely tender beef.

Sure. You can substitute for the wine.

I don't drink wine or hard liquor, but keep both to cook with. The alcohol cooks off, so use it.

Of course. The red wine adds a little flavour and a little colour, that's all, same as any seasoning. Seasonings in recipes like beef stew are entirely a matter of personal taste. What the recipe says is only a guideline. Use more or less of any seasoning, according to what you like. If you don't care for wine, you might not even like what wine adds to a stew anyway, though unless you use a lot of wine it's hard to tell there's wine there. I often use tomato in some form in beef stew. Tomato paste or diced tomatoes add some colour and flavour.