Seared beef, potatoes and veggies come together in this Slow Cooker Beef Stew for the ultimate comforting dinner. Put it together in the morning hours and come home to the best meal!
1 Season the beef liberally with salt and pepper.
2 Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over high heat.
11 Sear the beef until all sides are browned. Remove from the skillet, and transfer to the slow cooker. Leave the remaining fat/oil and browned bits in the pan.
3 In the same skillet, sauté the onions, carrots and celery until they've softened, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt. (This will make the veggies release juices.) The veggies will pull up the browned bits in the bottom of the skillet.
12 Add the garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
13 Add the tomato paste. Cook for 3-4 minutes until fragrant.
4 Add the flour to the skillet. Stir it into the vegetable mixture. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the flour has thickened the mixture and begins sticking to the bottom of the pan.
5 Deglaze the skillet with the red wine, and let the wine cook down. Scrape the bottom of the skillet to loosen any remaining browned bits. Season with the dried thyme.
6 Transfer the vegetables and wine to the slow cooker.
7 Pour the beef broth on top of the vegetables and meat.
8 Cook for 8 hours on the low setting or until the beef stew meat is fork-tender. You can cook them for 4(ish) hours on the high setting, too.
9 An hour before serving, peel and dice the potato. Make these pieces bite-sized. Add the potatoes to the stew and cook until tender.
10 Serve warm, and enjoy!
