Pot-au-feu is a one-pot meal, translated from French as "Pot on Fire."
It's a classic French beef stew using whatever you have in the kitchen to create a hearty meal with an amazing, flavorful broth.
It's usually made with various inexpensive meat cuts and lots of root vegetables and herbs — a perfect slow-cooked family meal that only gets better the next day.
The meat
In the old days, this recipe called for low-cost cuts with a decent amount of fat, creating a gelatinous stew that could be eaten for a few days thanks to the fat's preserving effect.
Today we're going for a similar result, just for different reasons.
We still use low-cost cuts — mainly cartilaginous meats, marrow bones, or oxtails — to boost the gelatin in the pot.
Any long-cooking cut will do just fine. Personally, I like chuck, but round steak, shoulder, or brisket all work great.
You can also throw in sausages, leg of lamb, or anything else that comes to mind — as long as it adds to the flavor and variety of the pot.
It's not a must, but I like to tie the meat if it's a flat piece of chuck like I had here. I use 100% cotton twine. A by-the-book butcher's tie isn't necessary — just make sure it holds the meat together.
Pot-au-feu general guidelines
This all-in-one beef stew doesn't need much attention or prep — we basically throw everything into the pot, literally.
The only thing you really need is the right ratio of ingredients: some root vegetables, a mix of meats, herbs, and seasoning.
I like to place the potatoes on top so they get a nice caramelized color. They're delicious that way — they soak up the liquid and go crispy on the outside.
Oven-baking the pot-au-feu is pretty standard for long stews. Go low and slow: 160°C/330°F for about 4 hours. You can also drop it down to 120°C/240°F and let it bake overnight.
It's a comforting, satisfying one-pot meal — perfect for long, lazy cooking.
Pot-au-feu keeps in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for 3 months.
Method
1
Preparing the Pot au feu
Preheat the oven to 160°c/330°F.
If using big Beef chunks use a kitchen twine to tie the Beef into nice loaf shape, if not just rub salt and pepper on the chunks and throw into the pot.
Put tied beef, bones, onion, Parsley, Garlic, carrots, celery, bay leaves, Thyme, and peppercorns into Dutch oven.
Add cold water and bring into a simmer.
2
baking time· 4 hours
add the Potatoes. partially cover the pot, put in to the oven for 4 hrs
3
serving
to Serve, cut chunks of beef add a bit of the broth, top with half a potato and carrots
Jaron Kimhi — self-taught home cook from Tel Aviv, writing and cooking every recipe on this site himself. 20+ years of tinkering in the kitchen, leaning toward slow cooking, classic technique, and honest ingredients.
Can I use a different cut of beef if I can't find chuck?▾
Absolutely — the recipe says rolled beef brisket, bottom round roast, or any other good slow-cooking cut all work here. Just make sure it's a tough, fatty cut that benefits from long braising.
Do I have to use marrow bones, or can I swap them out?▾
You can use a combination of bones and oxtails instead — either way you get that rich, gelatinous broth. Don't skip the bones entirely though, they're what makes the broth so good.
Why tie the beef with kitchen twine?▾
It keeps big chunks in a neat loaf shape so they cook evenly and hold together over the 4 hours in the oven. If your pieces are already small, just rub on the salt and pepper and go.
When exactly do the potatoes go in?▾
Not at the start — add them when you move the pot into the oven, not during the stovetop simmer. They go in right before the 4-hour oven stage so they don't turn to mush.
This serves 10 — can I scale it down for a smaller crowd?▾
Yes, just halve all the ingredients for roughly 5 servings. Keep the temperature and oven time the same since you're still cooking one large piece of beef low and slow.
