Irish Beef Stew (Slow Cooker)

Posted in 2011 Favorites, Beef, Main Dishes, Recipes, Slow Cooker, Soup
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I love slow cooker recipes and when I saw this Drunken Irish Stew on Sydney's site, Crepes of Wrath, I knew I wanted to make a slow cooker version of it. Who doesn't love a beef stew? And a beef stew made in a crockpot is a winner! Serve it with a small salad and some crusty bread and you have comfort food and the perfect Sunday dinner on a cold night.

I had to resist opening the slow cooker every hour…the house smelled so good, it took all I could muster to not make a bowl before the 6 or 7 hours was up.


I put all of the veggies in the my crockpot first, then add the meat after it's browned. Next, the broth you simmered on the stove along with two bay leaves.


The result is a nice medley of tender beef, wonderfully flavored veggies and the broth is so flavorful with both beer and red wine. This is a winner and is going to make it into our regular rotation!

Do you have a slow cooker favorite or a favorite beef stew recipe?

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Recipe
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Yield: 4-6

Prep Time: 35 min

Cook Time: 9 hours

Total Time: 9 hours 35 minutes

A slow cooker beef stew that's easy to prepare. Full of flavor from the beef broth, red wine and Irish beer; the ultimate comfort food.

Irish Beef Stew (Slow Cooker) Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1/2-inch pieces, approx. 2 cups
  • 2 lbs baby red potatoes, peeled & cut into 1/2-inch pieces, approx. 2 cups
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped, approx. 1 1/2 cups
  • 4-5 carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, approx. 2 cups
  • 1 medium yellow or white onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 3/4 lbs stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 Tbsp salted butter
  • 2 cups low sodium beef broth
  • 3/4 cup red wine
  • 3/4 cup Guinness
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 Tbsp white sugar
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 Tbsp dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Place the chopped vegetables into the crockpot. Rinse the meat and pat dry with paper towels. Salt and pepper the beef.
  2. In a large, heavy bottomed skillet, heat olive oil at medium to medium-high heat. Add beef to the pan and brown on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute, do not burn the garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the beef and add to the crockpot on top of the vegetables.
  3. Turn the skillet back up to medium heat. To the skillet, add butter until it's melted. Add beef broth, red wine, beer, tomato paste, sugar, soy sauce and thyme. Using a wooden spoon, stir the liquids as well as scrape the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil, allow to boil for at least two minutes. Then lower heat to low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cornstarch and water and stir together.
  4. Pour broth mixture into the crockpot over vegetables and beef. Add bay leaves and cook on high for 4-6 hours or 6 to 9 hours on low.
  5. Skim the fat from the stew, if needed, before serving.

Cook's notes:
You can buy a chuck roast or round cut (except top round). I actually looked this up on this site in the store on my iPhone. But then, I opted to buy stew beef already cut up by my grocer's meat department because I needed less than 2 pounds.

Recipe modified for the slow cooker from Crepes of Wrath.

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Posted on November 8, 2011
76 comments »