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Wholesome Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Red Wine: Easy & Hearty

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This Wholesome Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Red Wine is proof that you don’t need complicated techniques or fancy ingredients to make something truly memorable. It’s the kind of meal that fills your home with warmth, feeds your people without stress, and leaves everyone asking when you’re making it again.

Ingredients

  • Beef chuck roast, 2 pounds (cut into 1.5-inch chunks)
  • Red wine, 1 cup (a dry red like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Côtes du Rhône)
  • Beef broth, 2 cups (low-sodium preferred)
  • Tomato paste, 3 tablespoons
  • Yellow onions, 2 medium (diced)
  • Carrots, 4 large (peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks)
  • Celery, 3 stalks (cut into 1/2-inch slices)
  • Russet potatoes, 1.5 pounds (peeled and cut into 1.5-inch chunks)
  • Garlic, 4 cloves (minced)
  • Dried thyme, 1 teaspoon
  • Dried rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon (crushed between your fingers)
  • Bay leaves, 2
  • Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon
  • All-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons
  • Olive oil, 2 tablespoons
  • Salt and black pepper (to taste; about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper)
  • Frozen peas, 1 cup
  • Fresh parsley, 2 tablespoons (chopped, for garnish)

Instructions

  1. Pat the beef chunks dry with paper towels. Season generously with salt and pepper on all sides.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the beef chunks in a single layer. Let them sit undisturbed for 3 to 4 minutes until a deep brown crust forms. Flip and brown the other sides. Transfer the browned meat to the slow cooker.
  3. Reduce the heat to medium and add the diced onions to the same skillet. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
  4. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir constantly.
  5. Pour in about 1/4 cup of the beef broth and stir vigorously, scraping up any remaining browned bits. Pour this entire mixture into the slow cooker over the beef.
  6. Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, tomato paste, dried thyme, crushed rosemary, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, remaining beef broth, and red wine to the slow cooker. Stir everything together gently.
  7. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
  8. About 20 minutes before serving, make the thickening slurry. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with 3 tablespoons of cold water until smooth. Ladle about 1/2 cup of hot broth from the slow cooker into the flour mixture and whisk. Pour this back into the slow cooker and stir gently.
  9. Cover and cook on high for 15 to 20 minutes until the broth thickens slightly.
  10. Stir in the frozen peas and let them warm through for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
  11. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread.

Notes

Brown the meat in batches to ensure a deep crust. Don’t skip deglazing the pan. Cut vegetables uniformly for even cooking. Thicken at the end, not the beginning. Use a wine you would drink, not cooking wine. The stew tastes even better the next day.

Nutrition

Keywords: slow cooker beef stew, red wine beef stew, hearty beef stew, easy beef stew, wholesome beef stew, comfort food, winter stew

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