Simple, cozy meals like this hearty pork stew recipe and our autumnal Apple Cider-Braised Pork Shoulder are what we crave at the end of a crisp fall day. We even love the way it sounds when the bacon sizzles in the pan, and how the house starts to smell SO good a few minutes later when hearty chunks of pork brown and turn meltingly tender in the rendered bacon fat. Fresh garlic and thyme really make this pork stew sing with hearty flavor, and a little flour and butter give the finished pork stew a thick, gravy-like quality. YUM! This is the kind of simple, cozy dinner your whole family will adore. Plus, it’s great for making ahead of time or even freezing.
Pork Stew Ingredients
Pork shoulder: Pork shoulder is a fatty cut of meat. Sometimes you can leave that fat on (like in our Carnitas Recipe) but for pork stew, you’ll want to have the fat trimmed. If you have a pretty friendly butcher at your local grocery store, they might be willing to trim the fat for you. If not, just do your best to cut away all the really obvious, visible fatty parts.
Potatoes: We like to use waxy Yukon Gold potatoes for this pork stew recipe. They cook up beautifully!
Onion: Regular yellow onions are our favorite for pork stew.
Carrots: Our pork stew isn’t brimming with veggies. Instead, we love the simplicity of carrots and onions — we keep it sweet and simple, like in our Classic Beef Stew.
Lots of fresh garlic: We love how lots of fresh garlic enlivens this pork stew. We all want that classic pork richness in a stew like this, but you have to balance it out, and for us, adding tons of garlic is the trick!
Tomato paste: Think of tomato paste as umami in a tube (or can, but we like the tubes best!). It’s going to add so much depth of flavor to your pork stew.
Herbs and spices: bay leaves, fresh thyme, paprika, Italian seasoning.
Bacon: Double down on the super savory, pig fat flavor by adding some bacon to the mix. Even just a few slices adds a ton of smoky richness to the pork stew.
Stock: Chicken Stock is our go-to, but you could also try this recipe with beef stock if you want a slightly richer flavor.
Flour + butter: Right at the end, you’ll whisk together some flour and butter to make the pork stew thick and gravy-like.
How To Make Pork Stew
Cook the bacon in the big pot you’ll make the stew in (thank goodness for one pot dinners!). Set it aside, but leave the rendered fat in the pan.
Prep the pork shoulder. With a sharp knife, trim the fat, cut the pork shoulder into stew-sized (bite-sized) pieces (or maybe you asked your very nice butcher to do this for you — go you!).
Brown the pork shoulder pieces in the bacon fat. Set the browned pork pieces aside with the bacon.
Sauté the diced carrots and onion, then add the garlic.
Add herbs and spices! With a wooden spoon stir in the tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme, paprika, and Italian seasoning.
Add the meat! In go the pork pieces and bacon.
Pour in the stock and start simmering the pork stew.
Simmer the pork stew for about 90 minutes.
Add the bigger carrot pieces and the potatoes, and keep simmering the pork stew until they’re done — about 30 more minutes.
Stir in the flour + butter mixture to thicken the pork stew and simmer a few more minutes. Serve!
How To Serve Pork Stew
A simple side of good bread to mop up any gravy that’s left in the bowl would suffice. But if you want to serve pork stew with a fresh, autumn salad on the side — more veggies are always good — any of these fall vegetable sides would be so good with pork stew:
How To Store Leftovers + Tips
Make it ahead: Leftover pork stew keeps wonderfully in the fridge for up to 5 days, and reheats really well.
Yes, you can freeze pork stew: Let the stew cool and put it in a freezer-safe container. It’ll keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
If you like cooking with wine, try adding a little splash of white wine (¼ cup max) right before you add the tomato paste.
More Hearty Stew Recipes
Bring On Stew Season
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