Cook Time: 4-5 hours high or 6-8 low in a slow cooker

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Originally posted in 2018. Updated with new pictures.

"You did it! Congratulations! World's best cup of coffee! Great job, everybody! It's great to be here." - Buddy, from the movie Elf. Now, take away the words cup of coffee and add in "beef stew," and what do you have? World's best beef stew!

Yes, I realize the holidays are over, but I had to chuckle recently when making my favorite beef stew recipe. I happened to google beef stew, and a dozen articles popped up claiming to be "The Best Beef Stew Recipe." It made me giggle and think of Buddy the elf. I know...I digress:)

While our beef stew may not be famous, this hearty beef stew hits all the flavor notes, and according to our family and friends, IT IS The Best Beef Stew!! It is like a big flavorful hug of comfort. Perhaps it is the Cherchies® Garlic Seasoning, or maybe it is our secret ingredient, Cherchies® Champagne Mustard, that seals the deal?

So if you are "stewing" over The Best Beef Stew recipe to serve your gang, consider adding our Hearty Beef Stew Recipe to your cache. This comforting recipe, bursting with flavor, will warm your soul from the inside out, and we are confident you will find our Hearty Beef Stew to be the "Best Beef Stew Recipe" out there;)

Thank you for visiting! Please comment below if you made this recipe and come back again.

Ingredients

3 lbs. stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup flour (or gluten-free flour of choice)
1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Cherchies® Garlic Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon (tsp) ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon (tsp) Rosemary (dried or fresh)
1/2 teaspoon (tsp) Thyme (dried or fresh)
2 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped and divided in half
1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Minors Beef Base (or beef bouillion of your choice)
1 cup of water
1/2 cup red wine (plus a glass for yourself:)
2 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Cherchies® Champagne Mustard
1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) tomato paste
4 carrots, washed, peeled, and diced into 1-inch pieces
5 stalks of celery, washed and coarsely chopped
4 potatoes, washed and diced into cubes
2 Bay leaves
1/2 cup frozen peas (optional)

Preparation

Chop all vegetables and set them aside. In a large bowl, add the flour, the and Cherchies® Garlic Seasoning, pepper, Rosemary, and Thyme, and stir. Add the stew meat to the bowl and mix with hands to evenly coat the meat with the flour mixture.

Turn your crockpot on low. Add half of the onions to the slow cooker.

This step is completely optional, but I feel it really locks in the flavor. If you are short on time, then skip this step. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil to medium. Add coated meat in batches to the hot skillet, and sear on all sides for a couple of minutes, stirring often. Once the meat is lightly seared, place over onions in the slow cooker. After about half of the meat is finished searing, add the second half of onions to the slow cooker. Add the rest of the seared meat to the slow cooker. Feel free to add a little more oil if it looks like you will need it. Once the meat has been seared and placed in the slow cooker, now it is time for the rich sauce.

Turn the pan down to low. Mix the water and beef base together until it has dissolved. Set aside. Add the red wine to begin deglazing the pan. Make sure to scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen all the wonderful bits and flavor from the bottom. Add the leftover flour, beef base and Worcestershire sauce, Cherchies® Champagne Mustard and tomato paste to the pan. Cook and stir for a few minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.

Pour the sauce over the meat in the slow cooker. Add the chopped carrots, celery, potatoes, and bay leaf to the slow cooker! Add peas (optional) towards the end of cooking time. Turn your slow cooker on low, walk away, and in a few hours you will enjoy "The Best Beef Stew!".