A bowl of beef stew is something many people look forward to. It is both comfort food and the perfect plate during fall and winter. And some cuts of meat need to be simmered to become tender. So here’s how to cook stewing steak in a slow cooker [full instructions below]
Some have been passed on through generations, and others are innovations of first-generation chefs. Either way, it’s a delicious meal, and we will tell you how to make it easy with a few tips and tricks we picked up along the way.
Let’s get started, shall we?
JUMP TO:
How To Cook Stewing Steak In A Slow Cooker
What You’ll Need
- Olive oil: 2 tablespoons
- Stewing meat: 2 pounds cut into one-inch cubes
- Salt
- Black pepper (freshly ground)
- Baby red potatoes: 1 pound cut in quarters
- Carrots: 4 diced diagonally into slices that are half an inch thick
- Onion: 1 diced
- Cloves garlic: 3 minced
- Meat broth: 3 cups
- Tomato paste: 2 tablespoons
- Worcestershire sauce: 1 tablespoon
- Dried thyme: 1 teaspoon
- Dried rosemary: 1 teaspoon
- Smoked paprika: 1 teaspoon
- Caraway seeds: 1 teaspoon (optional)
- Bay leaves: 2
- All-purpose flour: ¼ of a cup
- Fresh parsley leaves: 2 tablespoons chopped
- Butter: 3 tablespoons
- Cornstarch: 3 tablespoons (optional)
Note About The Ingredients
This is a recipe for your slow cooker. For beef stew, you want a lot of flavour from veggies like potatoes, which fill the meal.
- If you’re getting beef chuck, you should get 3 pounds, which will reduce to 2.5 pounds when you cut off the excess fat.
- Your choice of red wine could be Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.
- The tomato paste will help make the broth thicker and make the recipe tangy.
- The flour will also thicken your stew after it is done.
- If you want more tanginess and sweetness, add some balsamic vinegar.
- The Worcestershire sauce will give the dish a lovely umami flavour.
- You can add any vegetables, but potatoes, carrots, onions and peas are pretty much non-negotiables.
Directions To Cook
Here’s how to cook your stewing steak in a slow cooker.
- Step 1: Cut the meat into one-inch cubes and season it with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Get rid of the excess fat you removed.
- Step 2: Toss the meat in the seasoning to evenly distribute it. Add some flour to the mix and toss it around a little more.
- Step 3: Sear your meat of choice in batches for 45 seconds for each side.
- Step 4: Put this entire preparation in the slow cooker.
- Step 5: Add one tablespoon of butter to some onions and garlic to soften them. You can also add a little wine for flavour if you enjoy that sort of thing. Add all this to the slow cooker, too.
- Step 6: Add all the other ingredients except the peas to the slow cooker. Add two more tablespoons of cold butter to the mix and switch on the slow cooker.
- Step 7: Leave it on low heat for about 8 hours. Then switch it to high for another 4 hours. This will make the veggies soft and the meat fork-tender. And isn’t that the dream?
- Step 8: In the final 15 minutes, add the peas and about ¼th of a cup of cold water. You can add 3 tablespoons of Cornstarch or Arrowroot Flour (Gluten-free) if you want the broth to be thicker.
- Step 9: Take out the bay leaves and add your sauce for seasoning, and you are done.
Notes For Beef Stew
If you are using this recipe to make beef stew, remember that it is best to sear your meat beforehand. This means you must take a skillet and brown it to get the full flavour after cooking it in the crockpot.
You should also remember to cook it on low for the first 8 hours and move to high only in the last quarter of the 12 hours of total cooking. So, when you do this with beef stew, the meat will achieve just the right amount of tenderness.
You want your stew thick enough, so add the flour. You can remove about a cup of beef broth and keep it aside to cool a little. Add the flour to the beef broth you kept aside to help remove any lumps that might have formed in the mixture. Make sure you stir it well until the combination is lump-free.
How To Store And Freeze
You want to store the leftovers in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge. This will last for three to four days. And you can consume it by reheating it on a stovetop or microwave.
Let the stew cool down completely for long-term storage and store it in a freezer-safe container. This will keep it suitable for consumption for almost three months. After that, let it thaw and heat it before eating it. It is much healthier to reheat the stew in a saucepan at the store than in a microwave.
How To Cook Stewing Steak In A Slow Cooker: Parting Thoughts
When making beef stew with this recipe, you want to get cuts with some fat and sinew. The slow cooking will break down the sinew, which adds to the delicious flavour. And when you cook the meat for as long as you should, it will be nice and tender because the connective tissue will break down nicely.
