Cheesy French Onion Chuck and Orzo
Part 4 of our Chuck Roast Series.
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Well, I messed around and made my favorite chuck roast recipe ever. This recipe takes the stew meat of the chuck, a.k.a. the scraps, and braises them slowly in a delicious caramelized onion and beef broth. The flavor of this dish is absolutely insane. Imagine your favorite stew meets your favorite pasta.
The bigger takeaway from this recipe is the fact that it utilizes every single part of that chuck roast. Pieces of beef that you may normally discard are not only edible, they are fuc*ing delicious.
I hope that this series has given you the insight into how much more you can do. We are always limited by the idea that we cannot do certain things. Oh, I’m not skilled enough to butcher a chuck roast. Bullshit. Oh, I don’t have the knowledge to utilize different cuts for different results. Bullshit.
You can take this entire series and apply it to so many large cuts of meat. Pork shoulders, butts, whole chickens. It doesn’t matter. This is a microcosm of what butchering your own cuts can do.
By buying large pieces of meat, you are saving a ton of money. Labor costs are real, and necessary to make sure the employees are getting their fair share (they’re not… companies grossly underpay their staff). But in doing this yourself, you are proving that you can do more shit in the kitchen than you were aware of.
So get those stew chunks and get ready for your new favorite recipe.
Estimated Time: 2 hours (15 min prep, 1 hr 45 min cook)
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
1½ lbs chuck stew meat
1½ tsp kosher salt, divided
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried thyme
2 cups beef broth
(1/4 cup more if your orzo gets too think while simmering)
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry orzo
1–1½ cups shredded Swiss
From here, you’ll get the full directions, complete with helpful tricks and techniques to make you dangerous in the kitchen. Subscribe and let’s get to work.
