Easy Crock Pot Beef Stew takes a little time to prepare but comes together easily. Great for supper in the cold winter months, this beef stew will cook all day in your crock pot.
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I love me some beef stew. Especially beef stew that is easy crock pot beef stew. If it cooks all day while I am working on something else, how can that go wrong?
Simple suppers for busy families. The name of the game, right?
Making a beef stew is something I wouldn't have even tried just a few years ago. The size of the carrots, the large chunk of the potatoes, is not something the family would have enjoyed.
Thankfully, my picky eaters have grown a lot in what their taste buds enjoy. Even my hubby has been known to eat celery and onions in dishes now. Shocker, I know.
How to make easy slow cooker beef stew
The key to making this beef stew is timing and prep. You will need enough time in the morning to get all the vegetables chopped.
You can chop everything the night before, however, be sure to put the potatoes in some salt water so they won't turn brown in the refrigerator.
I also recommend cooking the beef stew meat on the stove. You could just put it in the crock pot uncooked and let it cook all day with the other ingredients. I don't for two reasons:
- I have to have meat cooked all the way through.
- You can get so much more flavor when cooked on the stove.
Cooking the stew meat
A lot of people use beer or cooking wine to cook with to add flavor. We do not in this house. But I wanted to find something with a deeper flavor to cook the meat in that wasn't beef broth.
I found craft cola at Aldi's.
I recommend using something like it, even just regular coke at the end of the cooking process. The coke adds a depth of flavor to the stew that is noticeable and delicious. It cost me $3.99 at Aldi's for this cola but if you don't have an Aldi around you, you can find some here. It is a 12 pack so it is more costly, but maybe you could find a smaller quantity.
Assembling the beef stew
Chop up onions, carrots, celery and peeled potatoes. Put the vegetables in a crock pot. I like simple crock pots like this one however, I know many people enjoy using a digital one. It is really to each his own.
Add beef broth and the cooked meat. You can cook the onions with the stew meat or just put them straight into the crock pot.
Enjoying easy crock pot beef stew on a cold winter day is delicious and delightful. It is a comfort food for sure. Serve this dinner recipe with a bread like Homemade Oatmeal Bread and cinnamon apples for a complete meal.
Easy Crock Pot Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 5 cups beef broth
- 2 lbs stew meat
- 4 carrots peeled and chopped
- 4 medium potatoes peeled and chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 12 oz craft cola or coca cola
Instructions
- Place 1 Tablespoon butter on bottom of frying pan
- Cook beef stew meat in frying pan until no longer pink
- Pour in cola and let simmer for 5 minutes
- While cooking, chop up vegetables
- Add chopped vegetables to crock pot
- Pour cola and beef stew meat in crock pot
- Add beef broth. Cover. Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 7-8
- 30 minutes before serving take 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and mix well in small cup or bowl
- Pour cornstarch mixture into crock pot and stir. The cornstarch will cause the broth to thicken
- Serve
Nutrition
Terri
Hi Kim!
To be fair it's not done cooking yet, but smells fabulous! I only varied it a tad as my H would have my head if I didn't put a small can of tomatoes in it. Everything else was exactly as written. I have made the 'cola pot roast' just recently and we'll never go for any other recipe other than the 'cola' recipe. I can't wait to taste it...will post a follow up. (the 5 stars is in anticipation of YUM!)
Kim
I just made this again a few weeks ago and my husband thinks it's fabulous. It is so good on a cold winter day! Thanks for the comment!