Description
Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew brings comfort and warmth to winter dinners with rich, tender meat and robust vegetables slow-simmered to perfection. Savory flavors meld together, creating a soul-satisfying meal you’ll crave on chilly evenings.
Ingredients
Scale
Proteins:
- 2.5 pounds (1.13 kilograms) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
Vegetables:
- 1.5 cups (225 grams) Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1.5 cups (225 grams) carrots, sliced
- 1 cup (150 grams) chopped celery
- 1 medium onion, cut into pieces
- 4 ounces (113 grams) white button mushrooms, quartered
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 0.5 cup (75 grams) frozen peas, thawed
Other Ingredients:
- 2 cups (480 milliliters) low-sodium beef broth
- 3.5 tablespoons (52.5 milliliters) flour
- 3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) tomato paste
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Create a silky foundation by whisking beef broth with flour, tomato paste, salt, and pepper directly in the slow cooker, ensuring a lump-free mixture.
- Layer hearty ingredients into the liquid, strategically placing cubed beef, rustic chunks of potatoes, vibrant carrots, crisp celery, diced onions, minced garlic, earthy mushrooms, fragrant thyme sprigs, and aromatic bay leaves.
- Secure the lid and allow the stew to gently simmer on LOW temperature for approximately 8 hours, or accelerate the process on HIGH for 4-5 hours until the beef reaches a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness.
- During the final half-hour of cooking, introduce bright green peas, infusing the stew with additional color and freshness.
- Before serving, carefully extract the bay leaves and thyme sprigs to prevent any unexpected woody textures, then ladle the rich, deeply flavored stew into warm bowls.
Notes
- Use a lean cut of beef like chuck roast for the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture without excess fat.
- Pat the beef dry before adding to the slow cooker to ensure better browning and deeper flavor development.
- Customize the stew by substituting root vegetables like parsnips or sweet potatoes for traditional potatoes to suit different dietary preferences.
- For a gluten-free version, replace wheat flour with cornstarch or
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 500 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg