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Pioneer Woman Crockpot Beef Stew

Pioneer Woman crockpot beef stew with wine-braised, fork-tender beef and chunky potatoes and carrots. Browned meat, a quick wine deglaze, then LOW-slow cooking in the crockpot for a thick, savory result.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 25 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Soups, Stews & Chili
Cuisine: American
Calories: 525

Ingredients
  

Beef stew base
  • 3 lb beef stew meat
  • 0.25 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 garlic, minced
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 3 cup beef broth
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 5 carrots, sliced
  • 1.5 lb baby potatoes, halved
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven
  • 1 cast iron skillet

Method
 

Brown the beef
  1. Toss the beef stew meat with the all-purpose flour, salt, and black pepper, coating evenly.
  2. Heat olive oil and butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then brown the beef in batches until deeply browned; transfer browned beef to the crockpot.
Build flavor with the wine
  1. In the same pan, cook the diced onion and minced garlic for 3 minutes, stirring, until softened.
  2. Pour in the red wine and scrape up the browned bits from the pan; simmer for 2 minutes, then pour into the crockpot.
Slow-cook the stew
  1. Stir in the tomato paste, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, dried thyme, sliced carrots, and halved baby potatoes.
  2. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, until the beef is fork-tender; look for meat that breaks apart easily when pressed with a spoon.
  3. Season to taste and top with chopped fresh parsley right before serving for a fresh green finish.

Notes

Pro tip: browning the beef in batches helps you get color instead of steaming, which improves the stew’s depth. Store leftovers in the fridge up to 4 days; freeze up to 3 months (reheat until piping hot). For a dietary swap, use gluten-free 1:1 flour instead of all-purpose flour to keep the thickened texture without wheat.