Crockpot Beef Stew
This is my old-fashioned beef stew handed over to the crockpot, and I will admit the pot earns its keep. Your granny would have eyed it with suspicion, then claimed it as her own, because chuck does its best work when nothing hurries it — and eight patient hours on Low turn a cheap cut into something you would serve the priest.
The one thing that ruins a slow cooker stew is treating it like a stovetop one. That lid lets almost nothing escape, so you use half the liquid you think you need — about 500 ml where the old pot wanted a litre. It looks stingy going in. It comes out a proper gravy.
Brown the beef first. Yes, it dirties a pan. It is also the difference between stew and boiled beef, and granny knew that before anyone wrote it down. The peas wait until the end so they keep their colour, and a cornflour slurry thickens the lot while you set the table.
Crockpot Beef Stew
Old-fashioned beef stew made easy in the crockpot — browned chuck, big chunks of veg and a rich gravy that is never watery.
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Ingredients
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- 1.4 kg beef chuck (braising steak), cut into 4 cm chunks
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 onions, cut into thick wedges
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato purée (tomato paste)
- 500 ml beef stock (about 2 cups)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 700 g potatoes, peeled and halved (quartered if very large)
- 4 large carrots, cut into 3 cm chunks
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 150 g frozen peas
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Method
- Brown. Pat the beef dry and season it well with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and brown the beef in three batches, giving each piece a proper dark crust — 3 to 4 minutes a batch. Move it to the slow cooker as you go. You can skip the browning on a frantic morning, but the gravy will tell on you.
- Deglaze. Turn the heat down and soften the onions in the same pan for 3 to 4 minutes, then stir in the garlic and tomato purée for a minute more. Pour in a splash of the stock and scrape every browned bit off the bottom of the pan — that is flavour, not mess. Tip the lot over the beef.
- Load. Tuck the potatoes and carrots down around the beef — the bottom of the crock is the hottest spot, and root veg needs it. Keep the chunks big; small pieces turn to mush over a long cook. Pour in the rest of the stock with the Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves. It will look like too little liquid. It is not — the lid keeps every drop.
- Slow cook. Cover and cook on Low for 7 to 8 hours, until the beef gives way to a fork. High for 4 hours works at a pinch, but Low is kinder to chuck. Leave the lid alone: every peek lets the heat out and adds 20 to 30 minutes.
- Add peas. Stir in the frozen peas for the last 15 minutes — any earlier and they lose their colour and their charm.
- Thicken. Fish out the bay leaves. Stir the cornflour slurry into the stew, set the cooker to High and cook with the lid off for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Taste, season and serve in deep bowls.
Put the carrots and potatoes underneath and around the beef, never piled on top — the bottom of the crock is the hottest part, and root veg is slower to surrender than chuck.
Tips for a rich, thick stew
Half the liquid, on purpose
A slow cooker barely evaporates a thing, so a stovetop quantity of stock leaves you ladling beef-flavoured water at supper. Five hundred millilitres is plenty for six — the beef and vegetables give up juices of their own as they cook.
Keep the chunks big
Cut the beef into 4 cm pieces and leave the potatoes in halves. Eight hours is a long time, and dainty little cubes come out as beef porridge. Big chunks hold their shape and their dignity.
Hands off the lid
Every time you lift the lid you let the heat out and add 20 to 30 minutes to the cook. Stir nothing until the peas go in. The pot does not need supervising — that is the whole point of the thing.
Questions, answered
Can I put raw beef in the crockpot without browning it?
You can — raw beef is perfectly safe in a slow cooker. But browning builds the deep, savoury flavour that makes it taste like stew rather than boiled dinner, so I would only skip it when the morning truly runs away from you.
Why is my crockpot beef stew watery?
Too much liquid going in. The lid traps nearly all of it, so use about half what a stovetop recipe calls for. If it is already watery, stir in a cornflour slurry and cook on High with the lid off for 15 to 20 minutes and it will right itself.
Should I cook beef stew on Low or High?
Low, for 7 to 8 hours, if you can manage it. Chuck turns silky on Low, where High for about 4 hours gets it tender but never quite as giving. Save High for the days you started late.
Can I use frozen beef in the slow cooker?
No — thaw it first. Frozen meat sits too long in the temperature danger zone before the slow cooker can heat it through, and that is not safe. Defrost overnight in the fridge and you are grand.
What is the best beef for slow cooker stew?
Chuck, sold as braising or stewing steak. It is threaded with connective tissue that melts into the gravy over the long cook. Lean cuts like round dry out and are not worth the saving.