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Beef stew was one of my favorite meals growing up, so I loved creating this recipe. Warm and full of flavor, you’ll savor every bite of this Beef Stew in the Crock Pot!
When it comes to eating, I’m embarrassed to admit the number of different diets I have adhered to over the years. For a long time I was a strict vegetarian (the concept of being a vegan always appealed to me, but I knew I’d never last a week). After a while, I missed dairy and eggs so much that I morphed into a lacto-ovotarian. Then one day I decided I had to starting eating fish again and became a pescetarian.
I should note that I didn’t refer to myself with these names. It was more that people would notice I was abstaining from eating meat or fish and they would ask me, “what kind of ______arian are you?” Well, after years of living under these relatively pretentious labels, I’m back to being a foodatarian (I think I totally made that word up but it sounds less highfalutin than saying I’m an educated omnivore, consuming pretty much everything under the sun, but making informed decisions about what I eat and how it is produced.
After years of depriving myself of foods I actually craved, I realized that the thing I missed most was beef. I eat red meat very infrequently now, but when I do, I savor every bite. One dish I adored in my childhood was beef stew and I experienced so much nostalgia creating this recipe. Tons of assorted nutritious vegetables and chunks of lean meat simmering in its own juices come together to create a simple yet hearty crock pot dish that’s perfect for these chilly months.
I’m about moderation in all things and hopefully I will inspire my kids to love a little bit of this and a little of that and responsibly experience all the amazing foods our bodies are able to enjoy!
Beef Stew in the Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 cup low sodium beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
- 2 russet or yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 15 ounce can unsalted diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Place the cubed meat and flour and in a Ziploc bag, seal and shake until the pieces are fully coated with flour.
- Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat and sear the pieces of meat for 4 minutes until all sides are nicely brown. Remove the meat from the pan and place in the crock pot.
- Add the red wine and stock to the sauté pan and bring to a boil for one minute, scraping off the bits of meat that have caramelized in the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Add the reduced liquid to the crock pot along with the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- Cook on low in slow cooker for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours.
Searing the meat adds tons more flavor to it and helps keep it moist!
I couldn’t buy the wine because it was Sunday when I went grocery shopping and didn’t have a chance to pick some up, so I used balsamic vinegar and it turned out good. I also skipped the whole searing step, next time I’ll do that. Does anyone l ow what the purpose is of that?
I didn’t have flour on hand (or wine for that matter) however I found that Mashed Potato Flakes work just fine 🙂 ! We aren’t big wine drinkers so I put in Worcestershire sauce to give it a kick (3 tbsp to be exact)
If you bought meat that was frozen and you thawed it for the recipe, then definitely cook it before freezing again. Also, I would freeze only the vegetables, not the wine. I would make the step that includes wine the day when the whole meal is prepared.
Catherine, if I was to freeze this recipe before cooking it, would you recommend browning the meat first?
I substitute apple juice for the wine and it comes out delicious!
How well does this freeze? I’m a big fan of the ‘make and freeze for later’ approach! 🙂
Recipe sounds great. I was wondering what type of wine you used as I have never cooked with wine before but want to start. Also what type of onion did you use?
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I used vegetable stock (because it was on sale in Whole Foods) and skipped the wine because I have two little boys. I also forgot to reduce the stock and left the dish cooking for longer than specified in the recipe (because we were out in about)…and still it turned out GREAT. My entire family loved it…and especially my almost 9 mo old carnivore…I just shredded the meat and cut up the veggies for him and he was devouring it with pleasure… Next one to my recipe box!
I used a white onion and it gave the stew a zing. Yellow would make it sweeter.
However, I highly recommend NOT using Regina cooking red wine. I didn’t realize the word vinegar under the label. It was just awful.
I’m not giving up on this recipe, but next time I’m using regular red wine or just omitting it for more beef stock.
The flour helps thicken the stew. You can omit it or use gluten-free flour!
You have this in the Gluten Free tab of the wee app. Flour isn’t gluten free. Is it needed for the recipe? Alternatives?
That would make the beef tough. This cut of beef is really best cooked low and slow!
Catherine
Do you think I could cook this on High to shorten the cooking time or would that make the meat tough?
Yes, I think it would. Low and slow cooking is perfect for oxtail!