Beef is a great-tasting meat that is much healthier and less fatty, unlike pork. You can cook anything you want from this meat. There are many ways to prepare it. Well, judge for yourself, beef can be baked in the oven, boiled, fried, or steamed. And how many different dishes can be made from this meat - a lot! Now I will tell you how to fry beef in a frying pan so that it is soft and juicy. Be sure to also check it out.
Today I’ll tell you about the most banal and simple, everyone’s favorite and sought-after dish, which every cook most likely knows about. We will talk about how deliciously a piece of beef can be fried, while ensuring that the meat comes out soft and juicy. You know, I won’t tell you any secret as such, which is why it’s enough just to start preparing this dish with me. This will be quite enough. Believe me, all members of your family will be delighted with the finished meat.




Prepare the following products:

- a piece of beef (I have a piece weight of 250 grams),
- half a large onion or a couple of small ones,
- a glass of water (150 milliliters),
- 1/3 teaspoon salt,
- excellent quality ground allspice to taste,
- 1-1.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Recipe with photos step by step:

So, start the cooking process in advance. Place the meat in a deep bowl. Fill it to the brim with water. Leave the beef for a couple of hours, or better yet 4 hours. This is necessary so that the excess blood “comes out” from the meat.
After this, cut the meat into pieces.




Pour oil into a frying pan with any coating and heat it. Then lay out the chopped pieces of meat, fry them quickly on both sides over high heat.
Add the onion to the meat, which you have previously peeled and chopped.




After this, pour in water and add spices.




Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the meat for 40 minutes over low heat.
Serve the finished beef with buckwheat or any other side dish. Think. you'll like this one too

It still remains unclear why the internationally popular traditional dish of Russian cuisine bears the English name “beef stroganoff”.

“Meat Stroganoff” is considered a symbol of Russian cooking all over the world, so we must be able to cook it, but first we’ll learn how much and how to stew beef in a frying pan.

Cow meat is not as simple a product as it might seem, but we will reveal all its secrets and tell you step by step how to prepare a delicious Stroganov treat.

1. The age of the cattle directly affects the cooking time. Naturally, no one will ask the seller about Burenka’s date of birth, and this is of no use, because the color of the fillet will “tell” everything about the age of the meat.

• Adult meat(from 3 years and older) has a bright red color with fatty layers that create a marbling effect. This type of meat takes the longest to cook - from 1.5 to 3 hours.
• Young meat(age from 3 months to 3 years) should be simmered for 60 minutes to 1.5 hours. The fillet in this case has a reddish-pink hue with fine muscle grain and mild marbling.
• Pinkish milky veal(2 weeks - 3 months) will be ready in 30-50 minutes. Veal meat is more similar in appearance to pork, but there is almost no fat on this fillet.

1. The part of the carcass chosen for cooking will help you navigate the time of beef stewing.

• Shoulder, brisket and shoulder more suitable for stewing in small pieces, for example, with gravy. Cooking time is 45-60 minutes.
• Rump and rump(upper section of the hind thigh) - this is an excellent meat for preparing beef stroganoff (pieces of meat in sour cream sauce). The stewing time for this meat is 1.5 hours.
• But the best parts of meat for braising, both large portions and small slices, are the most tender - cervical and lumbar region(clipping). They only take 20-40 minutes to cook.
• Beef liver simmer for 30-40 minutes.

1. The stewing vessel also plays an important role in the speed of cooking beef. In this case, the frying pan must be thick-walled, preferably cast iron, in which the heat is distributed evenly over the entire surface and is retained for a long time. This will allow you to reduce the stewing time and achieve excellent cooking results.

How to stew beef in pieces

In order for beef stewed in a frying pan to be a success and to be tender and melting in your mouth, you should follow some rules for its preparation:

The best way to cook beef is to stew small slices in sauce, gravy or with vegetables in its own juice. This way the meat turns out to be really soft, aromatic and tender.

Beef stew with aromatic spices

• The easiest way to stew beef is in water with spices. If we decide to stew beef with classic onion-carrot sauté and water, then in this case it would not be amiss to add a standard set of herbs to the marinade: dill, parsley, onions, basil and thyme.
• A little clove (1-2 inflorescences) can also enrich the taste of beef. Bay and black pepper are practically essential components for cooking any type of meat, including beef.
• For stewing beef in tomato sauce (3 tbsp tomato paste + 1-2 tbsp flour + 1-2 tbsp water), the most suitable spices are oregano, marjoram and rosemary. Sometimes, a pinch of sage and paprika (1 tsp) is also added to such a dish.

The classic way to stew beef with onions

One of the most popular methods of stewing beef - in onions - is also the simplest, not only in terms of cooking technology, but also in terms of the amount of spices.

For 1 kg of meat, in this case, you should take 1 tsp. salt, 3 large heads of juicy onions and 10 pieces of black peppercorns.

• After frying the meat, put the onion, chopped into half rings, into the frying pan, which should first be mashed a little with salt until the juice appears.
• Next, add pepper, salt and simmer the meat over low heat under the lid until cooked. In this case, you can even do without adding water.
• The onions release enough juice to saturate the meat. This beef turns out very tasty, juicy and aromatic.

Beef stew with potatoes

A great option to stew beef with potatoes. This very easy to prepare dish simply has a hypnotizing effect on men. And how to prepare a traditional dish of Russian cuisine is described step by step in our previous article.

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• — 300 g + -
• - 1 PC. + -
• — 30-40 g + -
• — 50-80 g + -
• - 2 pcs. + -
• — 3 g + -
• — 8 pcs. + -
• Pepper the meat slices with ground pepper, add a little salt and fry over high heat in oil until red, then remove from the frying pan.
• In the same oil, in an empty container, fry the onion half rings until light brown and also remove them to a dish.
• To prepare sour cream sauce, dilute in 1 tbsp. water flour, add sour cream and salt to taste. Mix the resulting homogeneous mass.
• Place the fried meat on the bottom of the frying pan, distribute the fried onions on top and pour sour cream sauce over everything. Then add laurel, peppercorns, and ground basil. If the meat is not completely covered with the filling, then you can also add water so that its level is 1-1.5 cm above the meat.
• Over medium heat, bring the dish to a boil and reduce the flame to low. Cover the pan with a lid. Simmer beef in sour cream in a frying pan for 1 hour.

To cook tender and soft beef, you just need to know a few secrets.

How to choose the right beef.

Before you start cooking beef, you need to choose it correctly. The final taste of the prepared dish will depend on how it is chosen. When choosing beef meat, you should pay attention to the following qualities:

Fresh beef has bright red color. The color should not have any greenish or dark tints. If the beef has a dark texture, then this will mean that it comes from an old animal, and old meat takes a long time to cook and turns out rubbery. Therefore, you should choose beef that is bright red in color.

Fat should have a soft white structure and be quite dense. These qualities indicate that the beef is fresh and of high quality. In young beef, the fat may crumble a little. If the fat has a yellow tint, it will mean that the beef is old. Fresh meat must have dry surface, slight weathering of the surface is allowed if it was cut a few hours ago. But in any case, there should be no stains or hard crusts on the surface. Fresh beef feels dry and firm to the touch.

By smell It should smell exactly like beef. The smell should be pleasant without additional unpleasant odors. Elasticity. To check this quality, you need to press your finger on the meat; if a hole is formed, which immediately smoothes out, this will mean that the meat is fresh.

How to make tough beef tender.

How to make beef tender? There are many ways to make this type of meat much softer and juicier. If the meat is young and fresh, it usually does not need additional softening; it is enough to properly prepare it for cooking. The following conditions must be observed during preparation:

If the beef is frozen, it should be defrosted properly. Defrosting should be gradual. To begin with, the meat should be transferred to a container and placed on the middle shelf of the refrigerator for several hours, then it is removed and left to defrost at room temperature.

You should not defrost it using a microwave oven or hot water; in these cases, even young meat will become rubbery and tasteless during the cooking process. A piece of meat should be cut into thin pieces 1.5-2.5 cm thick. Next, they are rubbed with black ground pepper, but not with salt.

Then they are laid out on a cutting board and beaten on all sides with a kitchen hammer. You should cut the meat only across the grain. The degree of softness of the cooked meat depends on the direction of the cut. Long fibers become tough during cooking, this is due to the coagulation of the protein. You can make meat tender using marinades. To prepare marinades, you can use kiwi, kefir, wine, garlic or onion.

How to make beef tender when boiling.

In order for the beef to be tender and soft after cooking, it must be cooked correctly. To do this, it should be immersed in already boiling water. It is recommended to boil it in one piece. You can cut it into small slices after boiling. To add additional aroma and taste, you can additionally boil vegetables and add spices.

A good option would be carrots and onions. To do this, vegetables need to be washed, peeled and cut. It is necessary to lay out vegetables an hour after the meat starts boiling. Spices are added 15 minutes before the end of boiling.

How to Roast Beef Tender and Juicy

Beef is often used for frying. All famous steaks, fillets, and chops are cooked in a frying pan. It’s just that it’s when beef is fried that it’s easiest to spoil it. In order for the beef to be soft and juicy when frying, it must be cooked correctly:

For cooking, use a heavy cast iron frying pan with a thick bottom. Before frying, it is recommended to preheat the pan over high heat. Next, pour a little oil onto the surface of the frying pan; it should just lubricate the frying pan a little.

We lay out pieces of meat that have been previously beaten. The meat must be placed in a very hot frying pan with oil. Fry the beef steaks quickly on both sides. Each side should be cooked for no more than a minute. Once the steaks are crusty, they can be removed from the pan.

How to tenderize beef when braising

Beef is almost never juicy when braised, but it can be made soft and tender. The main thing is to follow a few important rules:

To stew, the beef needs to be cut into small pieces of 3-4 cm in size. Then you need to fry in a frying pan for 60 seconds, the pieces should be covered with a dry crust. After this, the beef is placed in a cauldron or stewpan, and hot water is poured onto it.

It is necessary to simmer over low heat for 1.5-2 hours. In addition to the meat during stewing, you can add various spices and vegetables - bay leaves, peppercorns, onions, garlic and other vegetables. You need to add salt at the very end, 15 minutes before the end of stewing. When cooked, the meat fibers should easily separate from each other.

7 ways to make beef tender.

How to marinate beef for tenderness?

You can cook beef in many ways. This is healthy and tasty meat, but housewives do not always turn it out soft. If you have a couple of hours before cooking, you can marinate beef for tenderness according to our recipe. And below I will tell you how to cook beef soft and without marinating.

Marinade for beef (for softness).

Method 1. Beef marinated with vinegar.

For 1 kg of beef. Cut the meat into pieces or a whole piece. Marinate for 1 hour.

• 1 onion (cut into half rings)
• 3-4 tablespoons vinegar 9%
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ground pepper to taste
• half a glass of water and a little sunflower oil
• ATTENTION! We don’t salt the meat - we marinate without salt! Add salt during cooking.

Leave the beef in the marinade for 1.5 -2 hours. Next, beat the meat with a hammer and cook according to the recipe.

Method 4. Beef marinated in beer.

For 1 kg of beef. We take:

Salt and pepper. Stir or coat the meat and marinate in the refrigerator in a pan or in a bag for 1 hour. Next, fry over a fire or in a frying pan. The beef will be incredibly soft!

Method 5. Beef marinated in sea buckthorn juice.

Even not very successful beef can be cooked very soft and juicy. We cut the beef into steaks, pieces 2 cm wide and the size of a palm, so that we can fry it later.

• 1 glass of sea buckthorn juice
• salt, pepper to taste

Salt and pepper the meat and put it in a bowl. Pour the meat with 1 glass of sea buckthorn juice (sour is best). Let the meat stand for 40-60 minutes. Then heat a frying pan with a small amount of sunflower or olive oil. Fry on both sides for 5 minutes to form an appetizing crust. Then close the lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer until tender, about another 40 minutes. Turn the pieces over once in the middle of stewing.

The beef will come out very juicy and soft! And sea buckthorn juice will add a unique flavor to your dish!

Method 6. Beef marinated with kiwi.

In general, to soften meat, you need acid. But vinegar, if you overcook the meat, can have the opposite effect and the meat will become tough, like a sole.

Marinade for 1 kg of meat.

• kiwi - 2 pcs. peel and grate
• We cut 1-2 onions into half rings
• salt and pepper the marinade

Parsley goes well with beef. Coat the meat well in the marinade, put it in a container with a lid and put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Next, cook according to the recipe, in pieces or a large piece in the oven.

The meat will become deliciously tasty and tender!

Method 7. Beef marinated with tomato (tomato marinade).

For 1 kg of beef. Cut the meat into pieces or a whole piece. Marinate for 1-2 hours.

Make the marinade:

• tomato paste 2 table. spoons
• press 4 cloves garlic through a press
• 2 medium onions, cut into half rings
• sweet pepper 1/2 pcs. chop into small cubes or thin strips
• pepper with ground black and red pepper
• add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 pinch of khmeli-suneli
• and finely chopped herbs (parsley, basil, thyme)

Coat the beef with marinade, place in a saucepan or container with a lid and keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

How to cook beef tender.

To make the beef soft, for example in goulash, we need time. We defrost the beef “on our own”, no defrosting in the microwave. Cut the meat into pieces and rinse. Place the meat in a frying pan or saucepan and pour in enough water to cover the meat. DO NOT SALTY!(unless otherwise indicated in the recipe, for example, salt can be added with sea buckthorn juice when marinating) Simmer over low heat for 1 hour. Next, prepare according to the recipe.

You can salt the meat after 1 hour of marinating. So that it absorbs the salt.
Meat prepared in this way will definitely be soft.

You might be interested in:

(module Marinades for meat)

Each housewife has her own. Of course, a lot depends on what kind of meat it is and how it will be prepared. Perhaps beef is the most difficult type. Not everyone knows the secret of how to achieve its softness. Therefore, we invite you to figure this out together.

Answering the question of how to cook juicy beef, it must be said that what part of the carcass the piece was taken from is of great importance here. It is best to take the neck or tenderloin. In this case, it is enough to simply cut across the grain and, for example, fry.

Buy only and not frozen. Fresh beef smells like milk and has a delicate pink or red color. When you press it, it quickly restores its previous shape.

Another important point in getting it into the frying pan without turning it into a rubber sole is to beat the meat and then coat it with mustard. You can soak beef for fifteen minutes in the juice of one kiwi. The amino acids it contains will soften hard veins. Then heat the oil well and only then add the pieces. By the way, you need to add salt after the crust has formed, so that all the juice does not leak out.

The advice on how to keep it soft after cooking is very simple. Firstly, never cut a large piece into smaller ones. Secondly, the fire should be medium. Thirdly, put the meat in the pan when the water boils. After about two and a half hours it will turn very tender.

The method of how to cook beef so that it is soft during stewing is also simple. Before the main process, fry the pieces in butter at a temperature of 110 - 120 degrees. This will help “seal” all the juice inside. Next add a large amount of onion to it. It will not allow the meat to become dry. The ideal recipe for cooking beef is beef stroganoff. The dish involves long simmering over low heat. As a result, the meat melts in your mouth.

You can use beer or wine as a stewing broth. If you are preparing boiled or mashed potatoes as a side dish, do not rush to throw away the water in which the potatoes were boiled. It is also perfect for this purpose. A winning option would be stewing in a ceramic pot or cast iron cauldron. Just don’t take it, otherwise it will be irrevocably damaged.

Pre-marinating can be a good way to cook beef so that it is tender and juicy. For example, take kefir, add spices to it to taste and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Some cooks use mineral water for these purposes. You can also use lime, lemon or apple cider vinegar.

Roasting in a sleeve or foil is how to cook beef so that it is tender and delicious. You can try this on a baking sheet as well. Place the meat on top of a thick layer of onions. Stuff the pieces themselves with lard. From time to time they need to be watered with the released juice.

Have fun cooking and experiment. And you will definitely succeed! Put a part of yourself into the cooking process, and then any dish will be incomparable! Bon appetit!