Southern Crock Pot Beef Stew

Submitted by MizzNezz

"A great dinner without heating up the kitchen."

 

• Ready In: 9hrs 10mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed
• 1 onion, chunks
• 5 potatoes, chunks
• 4 carrots, 1 inch pieces
• 4 stalks celery, 1 inch pieces
• 1 (14 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 3 1⁄2 cups water
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

directions

1. Place the meat in the crock pot.
2. Add remaining ingredients.
3. Cook on low for 9-10 hours.

Reviews

[ellie_]

Perfection! My family loved this simple beef stew that we had with Barbara Mooers Best Popovers. The only changes I made to this stew was that I only had two carrots, so I added some baby carrots (next time I may only use baby carrots since my kids really like them) and I couldn't find "vegetable bouillon cubes" so I used 4 beef bouillion cubes instead of 2 beef and 2 vegetable. I also used low sodium tomatoes to lower the sodium context a bit. Next time I make this delicious stew I will use a little less water (2 1/2 cups instead of 3 1/2) because there was a little too much broth for us. Thanks Inez for posting this keeper recipe. I will definitely be making this again soon.

 

[GREG IN SAN DIEGO]

This is a very good basic crock pot recipe and I'll for sure prepare it again. I used a marbled chuck roast and appreciated that in this recipe there was no requirement to coat the beef in flour and sear it in a separate skillet. I cut the layer of fat from the bottom of the roast before cutting it into cubes. This was somewhat difficult, but made a significant improvement to the overall result. However, I made some changes and additions to the recipe to suit my personal preferences and I offer them for your consideration. First, I used only 2 cups water, based on other reviews, my changes, and hoping for a little thicker gravy. Second, after assembling all the ingredients in the crock pot except the potatoes and celery, which I added (celery) at about the 5 hour mark, I added some Chef Paul "Vegetable Magic" seasoning. (I think whatever seasonings one likes would work.) It appeared to me from reading the recipe, which calls for no seasonings, that I would probably prefer something with a little bit more "kick." Third, I omitted the potatoes, since I planned to serve the stew over extra wide buttered egg noodles, and since in my experience potatoes cooked all day in the crock pot tend to break down and become mushy. And certainly I didn't want both pasta and potatoes at the same meal. Next, after testing the consistency of the sauce after about 6 hours in the crock pot and finding it a bit thin for my taste, I decided to add a little Wondra Sauce Flour toward the end of the cooking time, on high heat, to thicken the gravy. Finally, I added some frozen green peas about ten minutes before the completion of the cooking time. I think firm green peas are an essential ingredient to a great beef stew. I served the stew over the mentioned noodles along with crusty sliced baguettes and a crisp green salad made with Romain lettuce and a tart vinaigrette dressing. I think a light red wine would be a perfect compliment. What a nice comfort meal this was for me and my guest. Thank you.

 

[JaydensMommy22]

Well, I have been trying to make a decent beef stew for about 10 years now with some pathetic results. Thank goodness I came across this recipe. This was the absolute BEST stew that I have tasted let alone made!! Everybody had seconds and thirds!!!!!! Very easy to prepare with some outstanding end results!! You have got to try this one. Thank You so much for posting this terrific recipe!!

 

[EeeGee]

A tasty simple,healthy meal. I scaled down to 3 potatos, 2 large carrots and 2 sticks of celery for my 3 litre crockpot which turned out to fill up the pot just right. I also added a tablespoon of 'herbs du provence'. As per Ellie's suggestion I only used 2 1/2 cups of liquid but after 5 hours on low and 2 hours on high the broth was still plentiful and quite thin. So I drained the broth into a pan added a heaped teaspoon of flour and simmered for about 7 or 8 minutes until it thickened up and then returned the gravy to the pot. Given that this dish is so simple to make this extra step is no big deal. The meat was delicious, the veggies were tasty, we really enjoyed it and I will make it again.

 

[mamamurf]

I meant to give this 5 stars for exceeding my expectations!