Beef Stew in the Crockpot

What you see pictured is meat from a cow that we buy from a local farmer every year. We get about 6 packages of stew meat, and this is what it looks like out of the package. You should also be able to find pre-cut meat at the grocery store labeled stew meat. If not, you can use most any type of roast and cut it up yourself. Just try to remove as much of the fat as you can.

In this recipe, we are using 2 lbs of stew meat.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this Flavorgod garlic lovers seasoning! But if you don’t have this, you can just use any garlic and herb blend.

Season with the garlic and herb blend and salt and pepper. Don’t be shy with the seasoning.

Using a large ziplock bag, or a container with a lid, pour about a cup of flour and season with the same spices and give it a good mix.

Add the meat in there.

Make sure it is sealed tightly and give it a good shake until all of the meat is coated.

Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat and fry the stew meat until brown on both sides.

Depending on how large of a skillet you have, this will probably need to be done in a couple of batches. Once you have it all browned, transfer it directly to the crockpot.

In that same skillet, add 1 tbs of butter.

Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the little dried bits.

Add in 1 diced yellow onion.

Then about 1/4-1/2 cup of beef broth

Now add 5-6 minced garlic cloves

Cook that down for about 5 minutes or until it looks like this

Add the onion and garlic mixture to the crockpot with the stew meat

Add 2 lbs of chopped yukon gold potatoes, 1 lb of sliced carrots and 6 cups of beef broth.

Season with more salt and pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme. Mix it up well.

Add 3 bay leaves to the top. Cook on low for 7-9 hours or high for 5-7. Stew meat is very tough and needs to be cooked for several hours to become tender. You will check for doneness by tasting the meat. If it is the desired tenderness, it is done. If not, you will need to continue to cook it. Another important note is to not open the lid while cooking as this releases a lot of heat and slows the cooking process.

When it is finished, stir in a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up.

Let it simmer for about ten minutes and it should be the perfect consistency!