You know how sometimes when you make things in a slow cooker you sacrifice flavour for convenience? It’s just not the same as slow cooking on the stove because you don’t get caramelisation on the surface, and the liquid doesn’t evaporate so the sauce doesn’t reduce and intensify in flavour.
And that’s the case with my classic beef stew. By popular demand, I’ve had abbreviated directions for how to make it using a slow cooker crammed in the recipe notes for years, but it’s always bothered me because I knew it was good but not as great as the stove version.
Anyway, this winter, I decided it was time to tackle that, and here it is. All it takes is two little flavour-boosting steps:
massively reduce red wine when deglazing the pan after browning the beef cubes so the flavour is concentrated rather than diluted; and
add a beef bouillon cube for an extra hit of savouriness to make up for the flavour development we don’t get from the slow cooker. It has more flavour than salt!
Do these things and you get a rich, dark, deeply savoury beef stew that tastes like it spent hours bubbling away on the stove – except the slow cooker did the work!
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Are you already thinking about how amazing it would be to walk in the door after a long day at work to arrive home to THIS??!! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
(PRO TIP: Assemble this tonight, set the slow cooker in the morning).
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients in Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Here is what you need to make a Really Good Beef Stew in the slow cooker. This is everything I use for my classic stove-top Beef Stew, with two small adjustments – I add a beef stock cube for an extra flavour boost to make up for what you lose from not cooking on the stove, and increase the flour from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup because the meat and vegetables release juices and there’s no evaporation with slow cookers. So, there’s more liquid to thicken.
1. Beef stew add-ins
I FORGOT THE PEAS!!!! 😩
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Beef chuck – This is the best cut for slow cooked beef stews because it’s reliably juicy and succulent. It is a tough cut of meat that needs to be slow cooked to make it tender enough to eat, and it’s nicely marbled with fat which keeps the beef succulent. See FAQ for thoughts on other beef cuts and why they aren’t my preference for beef stews – brisket, ribs, cheek, gravy beef, bolar blade and oyster blade.
Cut BIG pieces yourself – I really urge you to buy a large piece of beef chuck and cut it yourself into large 4 cm / 1.6″ pieces so they don’t cook too quickly and fall apart during the long slow-cooking time. Pre-cut stew beef is usually cut too small for this recipe, though thick cut beef chuck steaks will work ok (if they are cut thickly enough!).
Celery and carrot – Classic stew add ins! Cut them into big chunky pieces so they hold their shape during the long slow-cooking time rather than turning to mush.
Baby potatoes – I use small potatoes for convenience as you put them in whole so the skin holds them together with the long slow cooking time. I seek out very small potatoes so I can keep them whole but if they are larger than 2.5cm / 1″, then halve, and if they are very, very big, cut them in quarters. Keep the skin on. Don’t use large regular potatoes that need to be peeled then cut into large pieces as they will crumble during the slow cooking time and you’ll end up with potato bits through your stew.
Thyme and bay leaves – Preferably fresh though otherwise dried.
Onion and garlic – Aromatics that form part of the flavour base of the stew sauce.
2. RICH BEEF STEW SAUCE
And here’s what you need for the stew sauce.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Beef stock / broth – The primary liquid for the sauce. Use a decent quality liquid beef stock rather than reconstituted powder (which tends to taste more artificial, unless you know of a secret one that tastes really great, in which case, tell us!!)
Red wine – I like to use pinot noir because it’s the wine I use for Beef Bourguignon but you can use any red wine that’s not too oaky and not sweet.
There is no need to use an expensive one. It’s widely acknowledged these days that cheap is fine for most cooking purposes, and especially for slow cooking. I rummage through the end-of-bin barrels at liquor stores and pick up bottles that are steeply discounted ~$20 to $5. Use non-alcoholic red wine for an alcohol free version, or substitute with more beef stock.
Beef bouillon cube (stock cube) – This is a little trick ingredient to add extra savouriness into the sauce. I use OXO brand (Woolworths and Coles, for Australians reading this!) which crumbles and dissolves easily. If you’ve got one of those harder cubes that needs to be dissolved in a hot liquid, heat up some of the beef stock and dissolve it in that.
Tomato paste – This adds a touch of much needed tang to cut through the richness, darkens the colour of the sauce and also helps a bit to thicken it.
Flour – This is what thickens the sauce into a gravy consistency. Use plain flour (all-0purpose flour). For a gluten-free version, use cornflour / cornstarch instead to thicken the sauce, added in at the end using a slurry. I recommend this over using gluten-free flour because some gluten free blends containing lots of rice flour can occasionally taste a little grainy. Cornflour is a more reliable way to thicken the sauce.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
How to make Slow Cooker Beef Stew
To make a dark brown rich flavoured stew sauce, the key is to reduce the red wine massively on the stove first, to concentrate the flavour and colour as well as deglazing the pan after browning the beef.
Thickened stew sauce – In a slow cooker, add about 1 cup of the beef stock, the flour and tomato paste. Mix together until lump free (use a whisk if needed), it will be like thin batter consistency. Then mix in remaining beef stock.
💡Don’t worry if there are some little lumps in the liquid, they will dissolve during the slow cooking time.
Big pieces – Cut the beef into large 4cm / 1.6″ cubes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Big pieces is key here, else they will cook and become too fall-apart in the 10 hour slow cooking time required for this stew.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Brown the beef pieces in a large frying pan / skillet over high heat, in two or three batches. Doing this in a pan rather than pot like regular stews makes this step considerably quicker because there’s more surface area – it should take around 3 – 4 minutes per batch. Don’t crowd the pan – more haste = less speed as the beef will go watery rather than browning! The beef browns so much faster when there is space around each piece.
Add to slow cooker – As each batch of beef is browned, add it into the slow cooker using tongs or a slotted spoon so the fat gets left in the pan.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Red wine reduction – Add the onion into the pan and cook for a few minutes until they start to soften. Then pour in the wine and simmer rapidly on high heat until it reduces by 75% until it’s a bit syrupy. You should be able to draw a path across the base of the pan and it closes up slowly.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Add to slow cooker – Pour the red wine reduction and onion into the slow cooker.
Add remaining sauce ingredients – Add the remaining stew sauce flavourings (crumbled stock cube, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper) then give it a mix.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Vegetables last – Add the carrot, celery and potato last, then push them in to submerge as best you can. Don’t worry if some poke above the liquid – as the beef slow cooks, it releases juices which raise the sauce level, while everything softens and settles down into the sauce.
Slow cooker 10 hours on low, or 6 hours on high. This is a little longer than the usual 8 hours in typical recipes because the sauce is thickened at the beginning rather than the end, and meat take longer to cooker in thicker sauces. Note: The sauce might look a bit watery as there will be a layer of fat on the surface. But when you stir, it will come together into a gravy-thickness sauce.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Frozen peas – Gently stir in the frozen peas and leave for a few minutes to thaw and warm through. (Fun fact: frozen peas are already cooked!).
Serve – Give it a gentle stir, being careful not to make the beef pieces fall apart! Then serve over mash or with crusty bread on the side.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Serve this stew over mashed potato or in bowls with hot crusty bread to dunk and mop. You could also use short pasta or rice, for a lower-effort starchy vehicle option. Because I get it, sometimes the thought of peeling, cutting, boiling and mashing potatoes is all too much!
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