In need of a warm, comforting dinner? This is it: Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe
I’m craving a COLD winter with LOTS of snow. I know you people in the Eastern part of the USA are probably wanting to throw snowballs at me for saying that, but out here on the West coast… we didn’t have much of a winter last year. Our region needs a large snowpack (to melt into our beautiful Lake Tahoe next summer), and I personally need it so I can ski every day!
We live 12 minutes from the nearest ski resort, so it’s loads of fun for our family in the winter if we have snow to play with! I’m gearing up for the cold weather with easy dinners like this Beef Stew. I can put it in the slow cooker in the morning and then come home later to dinner already done. That’s a great plan, isn’t it?
How to make Slow Cooker Beef Stew:
This particular Slow Cooker Beef Stew recipe is a wonderful one because of the method used for making it. The beef and onions and tomato-based sauce are all poured into the slow cooker insert, but the vegetables (potatoes, carrots and parsnips) are wrapped in foil and stacked on top of the beef mixture. This helps to prevent the vegetables from turning into absolute mush during the slow-cooking process.
It actually works out very well in the end. The veggies stay clean, bright and beautiful. They’re not mush. And when they’re mixed in with all of the juices from the stew, all is right with the world.
Now wouldn’t you just love a bowl of that for dinner? My {gluten-free} Mom happened to be over for dinner the night I made this stew, and it was very easy to adapt this recipe to make it gluten-free. The only ingredients you need to attend to are the beef broth and the soy sauce, and using gluten-free versions of those is simple. It’s a delicious, warm-you-up kind of meal for a chilly, not-enough-time-to-make-dinner kind of day!
Here are a few more stew recipes on the blogs that you may enjoy:
- Beef and Guinness Stew
- Irish Stew
- Moroccan Stew
- Tuscan Chicken Stew
- Basque Lamb Stew
- Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine and Hoisin Sauce
- Summer Vegetable Stew
- Chicken Stew with Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 5 pounds boneless beef chuck-eye roast, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil, divided
- 4 medium onions, chopped finely
- One 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 2 cups low sodium beef broth
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 pound red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme, divided
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
- 2 cups frozen peas, thawed
Instructions
- Pat the beef dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the beef and brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker insert and repeat with the remaining beef (you shouldn't need more oil).
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil, onions, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to empty skillet and cook until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring well, for 2 minutes. Add the broth and soy sauce, bring to simmer, and transfer to the slow-cooker insert.
- Toss the carrots, parsnips, potatoes, 1 teaspoon thyme, and remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap the vegetables in a foil packet that will fit in slow the cooker. Stir the bay leaves and tapioca into the slow-cooker insert; set the vegetable packet on top of the beef.
- Set the slow cooker to high, cover, and cook for 6 to 7 hours. (Or cook on low for 10 to 11 hours.)
- Carefully open the foil-wrapped vegetable packet (watch for steam) and scrape the vegetables and juices into the stew. Discard the foil. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme and peas and let stand until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Notes
- *If you are preparing this recipe as gluten-free, just be sure to use brands of broth and soy sauce that are known to be GF
- *If you choose to cook on low for 10 to 11 hours, cut the meat into larger, 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces to help them retain their texture.
- *The tapioca thickens the stew without giving it a starchy texture.
- *To make a foil packet, place the vegetables on one side of a large piece of heavy-duty foil. Fold the foil over, shaping it into a packet that will fit into your slow cooker, then crimp to seal the edges.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Excellent! I serve this over egg noodles to sop up all the yumminess.
I have made this recipe multiple times and it has turned out amazing every time. I follow the recipe minus using the parsnips because I have never cooked with those or ate them. So I wasn’t sure how they tasted. My daughter who doesn’t like roasts loved this. She’s not a big fan of the vegetables but loves the meat and sauce. So lucky I came across this recipe.
Loveeee this recipe! I opted out of the tapioca and it was still amazing! Will definitely use this recipe again!
Minute tapioca? The red box for pudding? Is that right?
Yes.
I made this yesterday (10/24/16) and it was a huge success! Very tasty. I will make it again for certain. The foil worked perfectly in my slow cooker.
I’m going to roast my veggies in the oven and toss them into the crockpot 15 minutes before dinner. I hope it works.
I’m weary about using the foil also, so I’m going to put the veggies on the top three hours in, I know some of you wont be able to do that because of working but some can and to those of you that can’t, still put them on the top they’ll cook slower.
Looks like a terrific recipe, but I’m very wary of cooking with aluminum foil in this way. The aluminum will likely leach into the food it rests on. The acid in the tomato paste is especially likely to encourage leaching.
I don’t know enough about how that works, so I can’t comment. But I’ve used foil in my cooking and baking forever…
Ok, well after all that the stew tasted GREAT!!! So I guess it was worth all the work.
This was the most frustrating recipe I have ever made! I used 1/2 lb less meat and less vegetable then asked for because it sounded like a lot. I could not get the foil pack to fit in the crock pot with the lid snug. I had to remove more vegetables (that I guess I will steam seperately) and my lid barely fits. I hope it cooks properly and tastes good. I will never make my stew this way again. 🙁