Dump Meals

Beef Freezer bag

Beef Stew

dumpmeals.com/recipes/beef-stew/

Beef chuck cubes, carrots, potatoes and celery in a beef and tomato gravy. Peas go in at the end.

Serves
6
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours
Slow cooker
6-quart

Beef stew uses a cut that needs long, wet cooking: chuck cut into cubes. Over many hours it turns tender and gives the broth its body. Tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce add depth, and thyme gives it the familiar stew smell.

Potatoes and carrots cook alongside the beef, and frozen peas go in for the last few minutes so they stay green. A little cornstarch thickens the broth to a gravy. Serve with a slice of bread. If you are making this as a freezer bag, leave the raw potatoes out and add them when you cook.

A slice of buttered bread is the classic partner. Because the cooker is crowded with vegetables, cut them to a similar size so that all of them are soft when the beef is ready. Leftover stew thickens as it sits.

Ingredients

Into the slow cooker

  • 2 pounds beef stew meat (chuck cubes)
  • 1½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut in 1-inch cubes
  • 4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
  • 3 celery stalks, sliced
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups beef broth
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

Near the end

  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 cup frozen peas

Directions

  1. If your meat is frozen, thaw it completely in the refrigerator first. Never put frozen meat in the slow cooker.
  2. Put the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and garlic in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker.
  3. Lay the beef on top. Stir the broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, salt and pepper together and pour over.
  4. Cover. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or on high 4 to 5 hours.
  5. Check a piece of beef. It must read at least 145°F and be fork-tender.
  6. Stir the cornstarch and cold water together. Stir in with the peas. Cook on high with the lid on 15 to 20 minutes.
  7. Serve hot.

It's done when the beef cubes read at least 145°F and are fork-tender. The potatoes and carrots are soft when pierced. The stew is steaming hot. Check with a food thermometer.

Leftovers go in the refrigerator within two hours. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until hot all the way through (165°F), not in the slow cooker. Slow cooker safety

Make it a freezer dump bag

Put the beef, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, salt and pepper in one 2-gallon freezer bag. Leave the potatoes, cornstarch and peas out; label the bag with 'add 1.5 lb cubed potatoes'. Squeeze out the air, seal and freeze flat.

Bag: 2-gallon freezer bag. Keeps: 2 months for best quality; safe indefinitely at 0°F in the freezer.

Beef Stew

Frozen on:

Thaw in the refrigerator 36 to 48 hours, until no ice is left in the middle. Never cook it from frozen, and cook it within 2 days of thawing. Put 1 1/2 pounds cubed potatoes in the cooker first. Dump into a 6-quart slow cooker. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours. Check with a food thermometer that the beef reads at least 145°F and is fork-tender. At the end, stir in 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water, and 1 cup frozen peas. Cook on high 15 to 20 minutes.

Best within 2 months of the date above.

Plan several bags at once with one shopping list and printable labels.

The planner prints this label free. A designed set for all 17 freezer recipes, plus blanks, is in the Freezer Bag Labels pack ($7).

This recipe is one of the ten in The Freezer Session ($12): ten dump bags, one shopping trip, one afternoon.

Cooking for two

Use 1 lb beef, 3/4 lb potatoes, 2 carrots, 1 or 2 celery stalks, 1.5 cups broth, 1 tbsp tomato paste, and at the end 1 tbsp cornstarch stirred into 1 tbsp cold water with 1/2 cup peas. Use a 3-quart slow cooker, so the food still fills it about halfway. Cook on low 7 to 9 hours.

More in Cooking for two in a slow cooker.

Tips

  • The vegetables go at the bottom because they cook slower than the beef.
  • Cut potatoes about the same size so they cook evenly.
  • Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, in shallow covered containers. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until they reach 165°F. Do not reheat them in the slow cooker.

Food-safety sources

More beef

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  • Italian Beef Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Chuck roast pieces in Italian dressing mix and broth, shredded for sandwiches with pickled pepper relish.
  • Beef and Broccoli Low 4 to 6 hours, or high 2 to 3 hours Freezer bag Thin-sliced beef chuck in a soy, garlic and ginger sauce, with broccoli added at the end. Serve over rice.
  • Beef and Bean Chili Low 6 to 8 hours, or high 3 to 4 hours Freezer bag Browned ground beef with kidney and pinto beans, tomatoes, peppers and chili powder. Uses canned beans only.