Oh….November. With your pesky brisk winds, shortened day light, and the occasional flurries swirling in the air…you know what we need? Comfort food. Nothing says comfort food more to me than a bowl of warm beef stew. This slow cooker beef stew is definitely worth a try
This is a Sunday favourite of mine and was featured in this weeks Meal Plan Monday post. Something I can prep in the morning, throw in the slow cooker and go on with our day. If I’m honest I’m not a fan of all stews, but this one has a tomato base that I really enjoy. It’s hearty. It’s flavourful. Most importantly it hits the spot and warms you up after a day outside or an afternoon spent at the rink.
- 2 lbs stewing beef cubes
- 4 potatoes peeled and cut in cubes
- 4 carrots cut into chunks
- 2 onions,chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic,minced
- 1½ cups beef stock
- 1- 5 oz can tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp flour
- Trim and cut beef into 1 inch cubes
- In slow cooker mix together beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, beef stock, tomato paste, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce
- Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours or on high 5-6 or until vegetables are tender
- Add peas, salt and pepper
- Increase heat to high
- Whisk flour with 2 tbsp water, stir into stew
- Cook covered for 5 minutes or until thickened
- Discard bay leaf
This recipe contains mostly pantry ingredients and if you watch for a sale on stew meat, is very inexpensive to make. I estimate this cost me about $10.00 in ingredients, which means you could feed a family of 5 for $2.00 each! Real food doesn’t have to be expensive, it just requires some planning and buying those staple ingredients when they are on sale.
* Most slow cooker recipes cook on low for 8-10 hours, you should note this one requires 10-12 due to the chunks of vegetables. You could also buy crusty buns, hollow them out and serve this stew in bread bowls…now THAT is real comfort food. 🙂
Excellent nutritional value, and price point! Wish you were teaching in all the schools…your messages have such cultural, economic, and practical value.
Thank you Margaret. I have shared my “ideas” many times with people. 😉