As we enter the fall season, it’s time to start making our favorite fall recipes. Flavorful, cozy stews are always a great option for keeping the family warm and full. Here’s how to create the perfect stew.
1. Choose Your Ingredients
The great thing about making a stew is that you can tailor it to your family’s preferred tastes. Even if you don’t enjoy favorites like beef stew, you have lots of options to create something you’ll enjoy.
Get creative with these four core elements of a stew:
- Vegetables: You can try any combination of vegetables that you like. Potatoes are always a great option, or add some green like broccoli or peppers. A tasty stew has a variety of ingredients, so including vegetables helps your family get the servings they need.
- Broth: Even using different broth flavors will make a big difference. A chicken or beef stock will intensify the meat flavor while a vegetable stock will give it a somewhat lighter taste.
- Seasoning: With stews, the seasoning plays a big role. If you like spicy, add in paprika or chili powder. If you’re looking for a more savory taste, try using cumin. And if you want to add a little sweetness, try cinnamon or nutmeg.
- Protein: If you want the protein to be the main event of your stew, try out different kinds. Not a beef or seafood person? Make a Premio Italian sausage chili instead! Premio sausage comes in a variety of kinds and flavors for all your stew needs.
2. Prepare Your Stew
Although stews are typically low-maintenance recipes, there are some tips to keep in mind as you prepare them: 
- Use a thicker cut of meat: Because stews typically need to cook for several hours, you’ll want to use a thicker cut of meat that can withstand that time frame. Thinner cuts will end up tough and rubbery if cooked for an extended period of time.
- Save the veggies for last: Vegetables cook much more quickly than meat, so you want to give the meat time to cook on its own before adding your vegetables. For thicker vegetables like potatoes and carrots, you can usually add them in halfway through the cooking time. For softer vegetables like corn or peas, it’s better to wait until the last few minutes of cooking before adding them in.
- Allow for extra cooking time: With stews, the length of cooking time plays an important role in how it will taste. Typically, the longer you cook the stew, the more flavorful it will be. Of course, this depends on the exact ingredients you use, so be sure to adjust accordingly.
Add Premio Sausage to Your Stew
Premio sausage products are perfect for adding to stews. Check out our chili, stew, and soup recipes for inspiration, and then use our store locator to find where you can buy our Premio products.
Tell us about your own cozy stew in the comments!