Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Seasonal Vegetables and Red Wine Gravy

We are now well and truly back into comfort food season so here’s my take on a delicious slow cooker beef stew made with succulent and tender beef short ribs, seasonal vegetables and mashed potato, all swimming in a rich red wine and shallot gravy.

With such a great variety of seasonal produce on offer at this time of year, there really is something for everyone so you can be as creative as you desire, adding different vegetables and types of meat to suit your own taste.

This particular slow cooker beef stew recipe also works just as well with ox tail, shin of beef, stewing steak, game meats and diced leg or shoulder of lamb.

This recipe serves 4 and takes just 15 minutes to prepare and can be cooked for a minimum of 4 hours up to 8 hours, depending on how much time you’ve got.

Slow cooker beef stew – what you need:

4-6 medium sized beef short ribs or two/three large ones cut in half – ask your butcher to cut them!

2x beef stock pots or cubes – dissolved in 1 pint/approx. 560ml boiling water.

10-12x small round shallots (you can use banana shallots if you prefer) – peeled and left whole or cut in half if using banana shallots.

2-3 medium sized carrots – sliced/diced into chunks.

1x small swede – diced into chunks.

Approx. 1/2 pint or 280ml good quality red wine.

2x tablespoons plain flour.

Drizzle of olive oil.

Sea salt and black pepper.

Slow cooker or large saucepan with lid.

Large non-stick frying pan.

Slow cooker beef stew – what you need to do:

1. Sear the meat. Firstly season the meat well with sea salt and black pepper followed by a coating of plain flour, then add to a hot non-stick frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil and lightly brown on all sides. Add to the slow cooker or saucepan on a very low heat together with any juices from searing.

2. Add the shallots, followed by the beef stock liquid and then the red wine. Cover and cook on the lowest heat setting for minimum 3 hours or ideally 5-6 hours.

3. Approx. 1 hour before serving, add the chopped carrots and swede, turn up the heat to medium and cover again until ready to serve. Check the vegetables are cooked through before serving and season to taste – you can also remove the lid to help reduce the cooking liquid down if necessary. Also at this time you can prepare and cook your mashed potato or preferred accompaniment.

4. Serve with a generous spoonful of creamy mashed potato and lots of delicious red wine and shallot gravy.

It’s that easy!

There you have it – my delicious slow cooker beef stew recipe, made with juicy and tender beef short ribs, seasonal vegetables, mashed potato and a rich red wine and shallot gravy.

I hope you like this slow cooker beef stew recipe. As always, your feedback is most welcome so please comment below or get in touch at thefoodbeaver.com or through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Enjoy!

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