Hearty Beef and Vegetable Stew (Slow Cooker recipe)

I am certainly not a food blogger, and it has been some time since I shared a recipe on the blog. However, I wanted to share a "recipe" or method, if you will, for our very favorite beef roast in the crockpot.

I first had this particular variation when we visited my parents in Minnesota and we arrived in late that night after a long drive. My mom had this stew, warm and ready in the crockpot for a very late dinner, and I texted her later for the recipe. And now, it's a staple in the DeVries kitchen – for the last year or so, it has made a nearly weekly appearance on our menu.

Background aside – here is a very simple recipe for a homey, hearty stew. Beef, carrots, onions, potatoes, and garlic, with simple seasoning and plenty of salt. The perfect meal to make on a cold day, or when you're craving a cozy meal and the ease of dinner prep done in the morning (the best feeling)!

Hearty Beef and Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

• 3 lb grass-fed and finished* beef chuck roast
• several yellow potatoes (amounting to 4-5 cups volume, once chopped into 1/2" cubes
• 1 medium white or yellow onion
• 4 large organic carrots, peeled and chopped
• garlic powder (or 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced)
• Italian seasoning blend, to taste
• 2 cups broth (beef is ideal, but I typically use chicken, since I always have that – store bought or homemade)
• lots of sea salt

Directions

1. Prepare veggies as noted above, add all veggies to base of crockpot, sprinkle with salt.
2. Add roast on top, seasoning it on all sides with generous amount of Italian seasoning, salt, and garlic (minced or powder), then pour broth over all of it. I typically add around 2 cups of broth, since the meat will add liquid as it cooks, and this makes for a brothy, but hearty "stew" texture.
3. Set crockpot to low for 7-8 hours**, or until beef falls apart or is very tender.
4. Shred beef, or use kitchen shears to chop it into bite size pieces, and replace back into crockpot.
5. Serve in bowls with sourdough bread (or crackers, or whatever you have on hand).

A few notes

*I really notice that the quality of meat in this recipe makes a big difference. Our local Meijer sells a high quality chuck roast that I tend to buy in multiples when it goes on sale, and keep some in the freezer, since I make this meal often.

**From my experience, chuck roasts really need the "low and slow" cook to produce that tender, easy to eat texture. I have made this on high over four hours and it's hard to eat, to be honest. That said, one time, I got it prepared on time in the morning, but forgot to turn it on for 1.5 hours. To compensate, I put it on high for a few hours, and then switched to low for as long as I could, and the meat was still tender! So it can be done. But it's ideal to just toss it in the crockpot and know that dinner is made before 10am.

***I mention specific vegetables above, but you can certainly sub in what you have on hand. Celery, rutabaga, sweet potato, or other root veggies would all be nice! Just chop them up small enough that they can easily be scooped up with a spoon.

****This stew reheats beautifully on the stovetop! I actually haven't used our microwave for leftovers in a long time, since a pot on the stove does a fast and more even heating, plus the taste and texture is preserved.