Crock Pot Beef Stew
Few dishes are as comforting on a winter's day as a beef stew that's been simmering all day in a crock pot.
With many refinements to the original recipe published on Kitchen Tapestry in March 2016, I am re-posting this easy and delicious beef stew recipe, and if ever there were a dish meant to be cooked in a crock pot, it's beef stew. Just toss everything in, let it cook for about eight hours and you're good to go. There are three tips I use that will be sure to get you there on time:
Cut your beef and vegetables about the same size, more or less in one-inch cubes.
Pre-heat the crock pot for at least thirty minutes by filling it with hot tap water, put the lid on it and turning the temperature setting to "high."
Bring all the liquid contents of the recipe to a boil in a saucepan before adding it to the rest of the dry ingredients in a pre-heated crock pot.
Bring your beef out of the fridge 2 hours before preparing the dish. If you want a delicious beef stew, start with really good beef; that means tenderloin, rib eye or sirloin. If you use lower cuts of beef, like chuck, it will still be good and if you cook the stew long enough, the beef will still be tender, but a higher grade of beef will significantly elevate the dish.
Crock Pot Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 to 2-1/2 lbs beef: tenderloin, rib eye, sirloin or a combination, trimmed of excess fat and cubed
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 6-oz can tomato paste (like, Hunt's)
- 1/2 tsp smoked salt (like, San Francisco Salt Company Cherry Wood)
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire black pepper (like, McCormick's)
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tbsp Kitchen Bouquet
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 1- 1/2 cups baby carrots, whole
- 1 large yellow or sweet onion, diced (like, Vidalia or 1015 Texas Sweet)
- 3 medium to large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp dried parsley
- 3 cups beef stock (like, Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups of no sugar added apple juice (like, Mott's No Sugar Added)
- 1 10.5-oz can beef broth (like, Campbell's or Swanson's)
- 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed and at room temperature (do not use canned)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the crock pot for at least thirty minutes while you prep the beef and vegetables. An hour is even better.
- Put the garlic, tomato paste, smoked salt, Worcestershire pepper, Worcestershire sauce, Kitchen Bouquet, oregano, parsley, beef stock, white wine, apple juice and beef broth in a large sauce pan. Stir well to combine and then bring to a boil over high heat on your stovetop.
- Pour the heating water out of the crock pot and add back the cubed beef, potatoes, onions, celery and carrots. Then, pour the hot beef stock mixture over the vegetables.
- Give everything a good stir, then put on the lid and leave the crock pot temperature setting on high until it is exhibiting a strong simmer. You can dial it back to the low setting at that point and let it be, for a total cooking time of 8 hours.
- Add the green peas with an hour left to go. Do not use canned green peas. They are over-cooked and will simply fall apart in a stew. Use frozen green peas that have been thawed and brought to room temperature or defrosted and warmed in the microwave.
Notes
- It isn't necessary to further stir the stew because nothing can burn in a crock pot, and releasing the heat by frequently lifting the lid will only elongate the cooking time.
- Serve your stew in big soup bowls with some cheddar biscuits on the side.
