Hearty Beef Stew (super easy)

Our whole family is in love with this super-easy Beef Stew! Prep is fairly quick, and the steps are very straightforward. It will need some time to simmer, though, so plan on it taking about 1 1/2 hours.

You can prepare this on the stove (as in the instructions below), or you can use the crock pot. If using the crock pot, pre-brown the onion, garlic, and beef, then transfer to a crock pot along with the water, tomato soup, tomato sauce, and spices, leaving the vegetables for the last hour or so of cooking.

I usually don’t add the spices until the end, because I have this theory that the flavors of the meat and vegetables will combine further during cooking, which will change the taste of the whole stew a little by the time everything is cooked. But really, you don’t need to wait until just before serving to add the spices; you can put them in the pot right along with the water, if you want.

One of the things that makes this soup very easy to prepare is that I don’t coat the beef with flour. I tried it that way, and I didn’t like it. This way is just as tasty, maybe even more, with the beef, onion, and garlic browned together to a nice crisp. The stew thickens as it simmers and more of the water evaporates. During this process, little pieces of the meat and veggies break off and enhance the liquid. I don’t add any sort of thickener, such as flour or corn starch.

Ingredients:

About 2 lbs beef for stew (the kind that already comes cut up in small pieces)

olive oil (several tablespoons)

1 large onion

4-6 cloves garlic

water

1 can tomato soup

2 small 8 oz cans tomato sauce (with spices included)

several carrots (about 5)

several celery sticks (about 5)

some small potatoes (10-15), or large potatoes (about 5) cut into big pieces

salt

pepper

garlic powder

cinnamon (don’t leave this out!)

Directions:

1. Cut up pieces of stew beef into smaller, bit-sized chunks, if necessary.

2. Put olive oil in bottom of large pot; add beef, chopped onion (not too fine), and minced garlic cloves. Cook until browned. This will be after all the liquid from the meat has been released, then has evaporated.

3. Add boiled water to the pot. Add enough to fully cover the meat, plus the vegetables you will be adding later. Empty the cans of tomato soup and tomato sauce into the pot, as well. Allow the pot to come to boiling, then lower to a simmer while you prepare the vegetables.

4. Slice the carrots and celery sticks. Add these to the pot. If using small potatoes, add these next. If using large potatoes, cut these into large chunks before adding to the pot. Allow everything to cook until vegetables are tender.

5. Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cinnamon into the pot. Adjust flavors to taste. Enjoy!

Note: This stew can be accompanied with cornbread, corn muffins, corn pudding, or corn tortillas.

Here is a recipe for corn pudding that can also be used to make cornbread or corn muffins (first half of recipe).

Below is a PDF version of this recipe which can be downloaded and printed out for your recipe binder:

~Jessica