Dinners For Busy Weeknights: Rosemary and Thyme Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Your best friend for busy weeknights is the slow cooker. I always say the best gifts anyone has ever gotten me are my slow cooker and my Keurig. They've saved me countless times and are so convenient. Whoever invented them deserve every penny they've made since. Now that the weather is turning colder more permanently, it's only naturally that we're craving more comforting, filling meals. Today's recipe is definitely a comfort food and while a little heavier naturally, super tasty and satisfying.

A lot of recipes require browning the meat before putting it in the slow cooker. I'm not sure if there is a specific reason for this other than texture but I've never really found much difference in the end outcome from just throwing the meat in the slow cooker without cooking it in any way beforehand. The whole idea of using a slow cooker is ease of use and less work. What's the point of that when you're going to make dishes and spend an extra ten minutes pre-cooking the meat? With that said, this recipe allows you to just toss it all in the pot. 

However, you do need to create a gravy for the stew. I feel like I'm contradicting myself here but this is sadly a necessary step. Unless you don't mind a thinner stew then you can simply use beef stock but I promise, the gravy is well worth it. The beauty is you can do this the night before, stick all the ingredients in a giant ziplock bag and dump it in the slow cooker in the morning. So you really can just dump it and go. It just takes a little night prep.

Remember, the sky is the limit with stew. You can dump whatever veggies you have in the fridge. It's easily customizable so if the veggies I used don't seem appealing to you, sub others you prefer in for them. There's no right or wrong answer.

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Rosemary & Thyme Slow Cooker Beef Stew

by Christine Rosko of Lattes, Life & Luggage November-2-2015

The perfect fall weeknight comfort meal you just pop in your slow cooker.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs Stewing Beef
• 2 sprigs Rosemary
• 4 sprigs Thyme
• 1/3 cup Flour
• 3 Potatoes, cut in chunks
• 1 large Sweet Potato, cut in chunks
• 5 Carrots, cut in 1-inch chunks
• 2 Parsnips, cut in 1-inch chunks
• 1 Onion, diced
• 2 Celery Stalks, chopped
• 4 Garlic Loves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 tablespons Tomato Paste
• 2 cups Beef Broth
• 1 cup Red Wine

Instructions

Chop potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onion and celery. Add to the slow cooker along with stewing beef, garlic, thyme and rosemary springs. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add tomato paste and stir until paste and oil are well combined. Add the flour and wine and whisk until thick. Add the beef broth. Simmer while whisking until gravy becomes thick. The gravy won't seem like it will thicken until the last minute and then it will be done in a flash.Pour gravy into the slow cooker and stir to combine all the ingredients. Cover and cook 4-6 hours on high, 10-12 hours on low.

Details

Prep time: 45 mins Cook time: 4 hour 30 mins Total time: 5 hour 15 mins Yield: 8-10 servings