Classic Beef Stew with Red Wine (Slow Cooker Recipe)
This classic beef stew is made with a red wine broth and simmered in the slow cooker until the beef is fall-apart tender. It’s delicious and satisfying and full of nutritious ingredients like grass-fed beef chuck roast, carrots, rutabaga and garlic.
Prepare the ingredientsChuck roast: Pat the roast dry with paper towel then cut it into 1 inch cubes.Carrots: Peel medium-size carrots, then slice into half inch pieces until you have about 1 3/4 cups of carrots.Potatoes: Peel medium potatoes and cut them into 1-inch slices. Then cut each slice into quarter or thirds depending on how large the potatoes are. You'll need 2 cups of carrots.Rutabaga: Peel the rutabaga then cut into pieces about the same size as the potatoes. Measure 1 3/4 cups of rutabaga pieces.Garlic: Mince a clove of garlic.Yellow onion: Cut half a small onion into half inch pieces.Other ingredients: Measure out the other ingredients so they are ready to go when you need them…red wine, beef stock, corn starch, bay leaf, fresh thyme, salt and pepper.
Put the pieces of chuck roast in a medium bowl and toss them together with the corn starch, salt and pepper until each piece is fully covered.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and pour in two teaspoons of olive oil when the skillet is hot. Give it a moment to heat up the oil, then flick a couple drops of water into the pan. If the water sizzles, the pan is hot enough – if it doesn’t sizzle, give it another 15 seconds and test again.Once it’s sizzling hot, use tongs to put the beef pieces into the skillet one at a time. Give a little space between each piece. Once one side is brown (this takes about a minute), flip each piece over with so the other side can brown.Remove the beef and place it in your slow cooker.
Turn the heat down to medium low and pour the red wine into the same skillet. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the browned bits off the pan and stir into the wine.Simmer the red wine gently for 5 minutes. This evaporates some of the alcohol and concentrates the flavors.Pour the simmered wine into the slow cooker along with the beef broth.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker: potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, thyme, minced garlic and onion. Stir well to incorporate and replace the lid.
Cook on high for 4 – 4.5 hours. The rutabaga will take the longest to cook, when it’s knife tender the stew is ready. Be careful not to leave it on too long (longer than 4.5 hours) or the potatoes will start to overcook and get mushy.