Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I adapted this Slow Cooker Beef Stew recipe from Martha Stewart's Beef Stew recipe.  I was unsure about adding balsamic vinegar to a beef stew since I have never tried that before.  However, it turned out great.  I actually love balsamic vinegar but never thought to add it to beef stew.  I also added mushroom broth since it was something I wanted to use up from the fridge.  You could also make this on the stove top or oven, but I prefer using a slow cooker.  The meat always comes out tender and melts in your mouth!  I usually like to serve beef stew over wide egg noodles, but its also great as is or even over rice.  Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/3 cup tomato paste

½ cup and ¼ cup mushroom broth (You may use beef broth)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons flour

1 onion, diced

1 russet potato, diced

½ pound baby carrots

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Toss meat with flour to lightly coat.

In a pan over medium-high heat, add oil.  Next, add in meat in batches to lightly brown.  There is no need to cook the meat all the way through since it will cook in the slow cooker.

In a small bowl, mix together tomato paste, ½ cup mushroom broth, balsamic vinegar, and minced garlic.

Once meat is done browning, add ¼ cup mushroom broth to pan to deglaze. Scrape bottom of pan with a wooden spoon.  Next, pour in tomato-balsamic sauce and stir to mix with deglazed bits.

In slow cooker, add in carrots, onion, and potato.  Top with meat.  Pour sauce over top and add in bay leaves.

Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours.

You can also freeze in freezer bag(s) prior to cooking for a make-ahead meal.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stoup

My friend Ashley shared a slow cooker recipe with me a couple weeks ago.  I decided to try it since I needed something simple to make after my travels.  Of course I had to tweak it since I didn't have all the ingredients and just made do with what I had.  I think next time I'll follow the recipe and try to get all the ingredients because it sounds delicious.  What I ended up making turned out to be a chicken stoup, a mix of a soup and stew.  I served it over plain white rice and topped with cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.  I added in a side salad to balance the meal.  You could eat it as is.  I would also be happy serving this over egg noodles too.  Scroll to the bottom for Ashley's original recipe, thanks Ash!

 

Slow Cooker Chicken Stoup

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can chicken gravy

2 ½ cups chicken broth

½ cup corn, frozen

½ cup peas and carrots, frozen

1 potato, diced

½ cup milk

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon cumin

 

 

Directions

Place all ingredients into a slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 

 

Before serving, remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with two forks.  Place shredded chicken back into slow cooker.

 

Serve over white rice and top with shredded cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.

 

Enjoy!

Here is Ashley's original recipe that she sent to me:

Two chopped chicken breasts (we put them in whole and shredded them at
the end and dumped it back in)
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
2.5 cups of chicken broth
1.5 cup of corn
2 jalapeno peppers sliced
1 green bell pepper sliced
1.5cups of potatoes
1/2 cup milk
2 cloves garlic
1 onion chopped
1 tsp cumin

Top with crispy asian noodles and cheddar cheese.