Giouvetsi (aka yiouvetsi) is a classic Greek stew where beef is slowly braised until falling apart tender in a tomato sauce before adding orzo (a rice shaped pasta) and cooking. Although this dish is often made in the oven you can also cook it on the stove top or in the slow cooker. The sauce is a simple one with tomatoes, onion, garlic, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg that all go amazingly well with the beef! Any way you make it, this is the perfect comfort food for any day, especially cold winter days!
This Greek dish is often baked in a casserole dish; you can transfer to a casserole dish and covering with a lid before baking in the oven in step 6.
This is one of the recipes where the leftover only get better, and they are easy to reheat!
Beef Giouvetsi (Braised Beef and Orzo)
Tender braised beef in a Greek style tomato and orzo sauce.
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound beef (such as chuck) (or lamb), cut into bite sized cubes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot, shredded (optional)
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup red wine (or beef broth)
- 3 cups beef broth (or chicken broth, or vegetable broth)
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can tomatoes, crushed with hands*
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 cup orzo pasta (gluten-free for gluten-free)
directions
- Heat the oil in a large oven safe pan over medium-high heat, add the beef, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, and brown, about 2-4 minutes per side, before setting aside.
- Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the carrot and cook for a minute.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste, mix and cook for a minute.
- Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up and brown bits off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon as the wine sizzles.
- Add the broth, tomatoes, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, bay leaves, and beef, mix and either: (1) bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the beef is falling apart tender, about 2-4 hours; OR (2) cover, transfer to a preheated to 275F/140C oven and bake until falling apart tender, about 2-4 hours; OR (3) transfer to a slow cooker and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 4-6 hours.
- Mix in the orzo and either: (1) bring to a boil and cook until the orzo is tender, about 10 minutes; OR (2) cover, return to the oven and cook, covered, until the orzo is cooked, about 10-15 minutes; OR (3) cook on HIGH, covered, until the orzo is cooked, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaves and enjoy!
Option: Dice the carrot instead of shredding it and cook with the onion.
Option: Add 1 stalk celery, diced, and cook with the onion.
Option: Add 1/2 teaspoon thyme.
Option: Use 1 stick of cinnamon instead of the ground cinnamon; remove the stick before serving.
Option: Serve garnished with parsley.
Option: Serve garnished with cheese such as feta, kefalotyri, mizithra, parmesan, pecorino romano, etc.
Option: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
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Good Lord does this sound delicious. Where I live, we’re having very cold weather, and something like this would be the perfect foil to it. The beef alone sounds delicious, but with the added comfort-foodiness of pasta … nice!
Excited to try this, thank you!
a welcome new dish for me, love these ingredients and a nice change for me from my stew rotations, thank you
I made this today and it was absolutely delicious! The recipe was easy to follow and it only took 2 hours for my meat to be cooked tender. My toddler even gobbled it up! I am sure that I will be making this again soon.
This was absolutely delicious. Made it for our anniversary and it was just wonderful. You have some of the greatest recipes. Thank you.
Greek here. You’re not supposed to put feta on this. Make it stop.
This was so incredibly delicious – adding this to my “tried and true” folder for sure. It was a big hit all around. For the beef I used I ended up doing 2hr 20min in oven and 15min for orzo. Perfection for a hearty winter meal!
I made this recipe last night. It was so good, I knew i would like it, the spices were right down my alley! It is even better the next day, thank you Kevin, another keeper!