We love a good stew on a Fall/Winter day. Put it in the crock pot (slow cooker) early in the day and you get to smell all those good smells ALL-DAY-LONG. I have perfected this recipe now, to the point that everyone loves it and has seconds! And my husband and daughter both wanted to take it for lunch the next day. 🙂 My son ate it but he is weird about dinner. He loves breakfast and he loves lunch. Dinner is hit and miss with him, so I don’t take it personal. 😉
- ½ - 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes (grass-fed organic preferred)
- ¼ cup flour (optional)
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ - 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt & pepper (sprinkle desired amount, we use sea salt)
- 32 oz (4 cups) organic beef broth (I use the Pacific brand)
- 3 large carrots (peeled and cut into 1" pieces)
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into small or large chunks, depending on how you like it (I have used Russet, yellow, or red potatoes - peeling optional)
- Other options: add corn, peas, red onion, tomatoes, other herbs (whatever you like, or have on hand), mushrooms, kale, bell peppers, zucchini
- There are 2 options. You can chop the onion and make a layer at the bottom of the crock pot, cover the meat with flour and add to the crock pot, on high (you don't have to cover with flour but this adds extra flavor and helps thicken the broth some). Or, you can brown the flour-covered meat in a pan with oil first before adding to the crock pot (I use coconut oil). And add a little beef broth towards the end to deglaze the pan. We like this method best but it does use an extra pan.
- Start adding the seasonings and beef broth to the crock pot. Add the chopped carrots and celery (and onion if you haven't already).
- For the potatoes, you can add them now or later. If you add them now they will be mushier. So it just depends on how you like it. If you want to add them later, add them about 2 hours before you want to eat (depending on how small you cut the potatoes). I usually just put them in at the beginning, but add them in last.
- Set the crock pot for either 8-10 hours (low) or 4-6 hours (high), depending on how much time you have. I usually have everything ready before noon and set for 6 hours.
Here’s the crock pot I use and I love it! There are other options through Amazon, with different prices too.
Doesn’t that look so good? This batch had zucchini & bell pepper in it too. Yum!
(And that’s minced onion because I ran out of regular onion.)
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