Ingredients
▢1 1/2 pounds stew meat see notes
▢1/4 cup flour
▢1 tablespoon seasoned salt
▢1 tablespoon olive oil
▢4 medium yellow potatoes
▢4 large carrots
▢1 medium sweet onion
▢3 cloves garlic
▢1 bay leaf
▢2 teaspoons black pepper
▢2 cups beef broth
▢2 tablespoons tomato paste
▢1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
▢1 cup frozen peas
▢salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
Add the beef to a medium bowl with the flour and seasoned salt. Stir to coat.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the coated beef and cook until browned, stirring as needed. There is no need to cook the beef through.
Place meat in slow cooker.
Peel and dice the potatoes, carrots, and onion. Mince the garlic. Add to the slow cooker with the bay leaf.
Sprinkle the pepper on top and pour the broth, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce into the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours, until the beef and vegetables are tender. Every slow cooker is different and some run hotter than others so cook time does vary a bit, but stew is very forgiving.
Remove the bay leaf, add the peas to the slow cooker, and stir well. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed before serving.
Tips & Notes:
You can buy a package of stew meat or you can chop up a chuck roast yourself. We find chuck roast to be a bit better quality, but stew meat also works great.
If you want a thicker stew, add 2 tablespoons water + 2 tablespoons cornstarch to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add to the crockpot before adding the peas and cook on high, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in the peas and serve.
For a flavor boost, you can use a dry red wine to deglaze the skillet after searing the beef stew meat. To deglaze pour about a cup of wine into the skillet and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer while scraping up all the browned bits of beef in the skillet. Let it reduce by half and pour the liquid into the slow cooker with the beef.
