Stifado – Cypriot Beef and Shallot Stew (Βοδινό Στιφάδο)

Stifado is a deeply comforting Cypriot dish, perfect for slow Sundays and family dinners. It’s a stew made with tender beef, sweet whole shallots, and a warmly spiced tomato and red wine sauce. The cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves infuse the dish with familiar, nostalgic flavour. It’s traditionally served with pourkouri (Cypriot bulgur wheat pilaf), rice or mashed potato – whatever will help soak up that sauce. We often swap the beef for kouneli (rabbit) or xtapodi (octopus).

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Servings: 6 people

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Cypriot, Greek, Mediterranean

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

1.5 kg chuck steak cut into large chunks
20 shallots peeled and kept whole
5 garlic cloves whole
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can whole plum tomatoes
2-3 ripe tomatoes chopped
200 ml red wine
600 ml water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cinnamon quill
3 whole cloves
2 bay leaves fresh or dry
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2-3 sprigs each of fresh thyme and oregano
salt and ground black pepper
4-5 potatoes peeled and quartered
olive oil

Method

Preheat your oven to 140°C (fan-forced). Heat a large oven-safe casserole pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Add a little olive oil and brown the beef in batches. Once browned all over, transfer to a plate and set aside.
In the same pot, lower the heat to medium and add a little more olive oil. Sauté the whole shallots until softened. Add the garlic cloves and cook for 4–5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for another 2–3 minutes.
Add both the chopped ripe tomatoes and canned tomatoes. Break them up with a wooden spoon, then return the browned meat to the pot. Pour in the red wine and simmer until reduced by about half.
Add water (just enough to mostly cover the meat), red wine vinegar, cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaves, dried oregano, fresh thyme, fresh oregano, salt and pepper. Stir to combine, cover with the lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for about 1 hour.
After an hour, add the potatoes to the pot. Return to the oven for another 90 minutes. Then uncover, increase the oven temperature to 200°C and bake for a final 10 minutes to develop colour on top. Serve hot with bulgur wheat, rice or mashed potato, and a Greek or leafy salad on the side.

Notes

If you don’t have an oven-safe pot with a lid, cook the dish on the stovetop as directed, then transfer everything to a roasting pan. Cover tightly with foil before baking.
The stew tastes even better the next day, making it a great make-ahead meal.

Stifado – Cypriot Beef and Shallot Stew (Βοδινό Στιφάδο)