Now that the autumn days are getting shorter, it’s so lovely to come home and snuggle up on a sofa with a soft blanket and hot comfort food. And one of my perfect comfort foods is a beef stew, which is made in a slow cooker over a long period of time.
Using slow cooker means that I can get everything ready in the morning and have dinner ready in the evening without a lifting a finger (well, sort off!).
I like to serve this stew with mashed potatoes and extra fresh vegetables, such as steamed broccoli or asparagus or garden peas. But if you don’t have the time to get any side dishes ready, it’s delicious with just a freshly baked homemade bread.
If you don’t have a slow cooker you can make this stew on a hob or in an oven in a casserole dish, but the whole point of using a slow cooker is that you don’t need to constantly steer it or check it.
Other comforting food recipes you might like to try
PIN THIS FOR LATER
Homemade Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef (braising or casserole meat)
- 1 onion – chopped
- 2 celery sticks chopped
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 beef stock cubes
- 600 ml water
Instructions
- First of all chopp the onion and celery and then fry with some sunflower oil (or use butter for extra flavour).
- Add the carrots and cook until everything starts to soften – about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the soften carrots, onions and celery to the slow cooker, mix in the water and then the two stock cubes.
- Cut the beef in smaller pieces and brown on a medium high heat (and some more sunflower oil) to seal the juices in. You'll need to do this in batches to ensure that the frying pan is hot for each batch of the beef.
- Once all the meat is in, set the slow cooker on high for 4 hrs or on low for 8 hrs (this depends if you are making the stew in the morning for the evening meal or in the afternoon).
- Serve with your choice of side dish – mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables or just crusty bread.
Leave a Reply