Slow Cooking Beef Stew in the Crock Pot

I happened to pass by the meat counter at the grocery store and saw stew beef on sale.  I just knew I had to buy some and make some beef stew in the crock pot.

It is one of my favorite fall meals and I always serve it with fresh bread I make in the breadmaker.  I love that I can prepare it in the morning and come home to a nice hot meal.

I do not have a real recipe written up anywhere so it never comes out quite the same way twice but I do have a general idea of how I like my stew-- hearty, warm, and packed with flavor!



Ingredients: (makes 5 servings)

1 cup carrots
4 large potatoes; diced
2 beef bullion cubes
2 bay leaves
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp. celery salt
1 1/2 pounds stew beef
cooking oil
water

I start by lining the bottom of the crock pot with a good splattering of carrots; usually about a cup or so of baby carrots.


I then wash and cut up four potatoes into bite sized pieces then layer them on top of the carrots.


I typically add 2 bay leaves and a couple of beef bullion cubes (unless I have leftover beef broth in the freezer).


I set the crock pot aside and work on browning and favoring the meat.  In a large Ziploc bag I combine the flour, garlic salt, celery salt, and onion powder.  Then I add in the stew beef and shake it up until all the meat is coated in the flavored flour mixture.



With my burner set on medium I heat the oil until it's nice and hot and then I brown the beef on all sides;; turning with a fork when needed.





I take the leftover flour and add it to the crock pot so it will help thicken up the broth to make it more of a stew than a soup (though on this particular day I didn't put ALL the flour in and my broth was quite thin).


Once the meat is all browned I add it to the crock pot as well.  I add a bit of water to the pan and scrape up any last browned bits.




I pour the water from the pan into the crock pot and add enough cold water to just barely cover the food in the crock pot.  I make sure to give it a good stir and mix in all the flour with the cold water.  I use cold water so that the flour wont clump and I get a nice smooth and thick broth to go with my stew.   Then I turn the crock pot on low and let it sit for 8- 10 hours until the potatoes and carrots are tender.



We serve it hot with fresh bread and butter.


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Comments

  1. This looks so tasty. I love home made stews :) Thanks for sharing at the weekend blog hop last week. Hope to see you tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the invite; I'm glad you like my recipe.

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  3. to me there is nothing heartier during the winter than a great stew and the fact that this one can be made in the crockpot makes it even better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love soups and stews that can be made in the crock pot!

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