Root Veggie Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker is the perfect healthy, whole food dinner that gives HUGE returns on minimal work. A rich, thick, tomato heavy gravy and tender, flavorful meat and veggies. No browning the meat required – just dump and go! You won’t be able to tell you skipped that step, I promise.

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This Root Veggie Beef Stew did not start out as a recipe for the blog. I already have a Slow Cooker Beef Stew recipe that is really good, so it wasn’t on my radar. But this Root Veggie Beef Stew recipe was just different enough and turned out so well that I thought I should really give it its own time to shine.

My daughter has karate on Thursday nights and we don’t get home until almost 7pm. Since we normally eat dinner at 6:30 (we wait for dad to get home from work) that means we eat dinner even later on Thursdays than we normally do.

Since it’s too late to start dinner when we get home, I usually make a slow cooker dinner that is ready to eat when we walk in the door, and this week I decided on a beef stew.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret that saves me time and energy on busy days. You might be shocked. You might disagree with my decision. But I stand by it.

I skipped browning the meat. 

Do I need to brown the meat before putting it in the slow cooker?

No! The answer is no. I know that a lot of you are scared to skip this step. It’s in the recipe and you don’t know what will happen if you just take matters into your own hands and SKIP BROWNING THE MEAT. Well, I’m here to tell you something. You probably won’t be able to tell the difference. 

Maybe you very discerning foodies out there will be able to tell, but the majority of people wouldn’t think a slow cooker recipe that skipped the browning step was sub-par.

What does browning the meat do?

I’m not saying that taking the extra time to brown your meat before putting it into the slow cooker is pointless. Browning your meat first does enhance and deepen your flavors, and gives the meat a textural edge, and it elevates most recipes, for sure. If you have the extra time and want to give your meal a little edge, go for it!

What I AM saying is that if you are making a slow cooker meal, it’s because you either don’t want to cook or you don’t have the time to cook. So don’t cook! I always provide an option to skip the extra cooking step in my slow cooker recipes, because in my opinion, it’s not really a slow cooker recipe if you have to cook something first!

Here’s the actual message I’d like to get across:

Give yourself GRACE. Speak KIND words to your heart. And SKIP browning the meat sometimes.

It doesn’t always need to be perfect. Take a shortcut. When you need an easy meal, make it actually easy. Speak kindly to yourself. Tell yourself it’s ok to make things simple sometimes. It’s ok to need a break. You’re doing wonderfully, you are more than enough, and your dinners are delicious.

Root Veggie Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker

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Vanessa at The Cheerful Kitchen

Yields Serves 6

This healthy, whole food dinner gives HUGE returns on minimal work. A rich, thick, tomato heavy gravy and tender, flavorful meat and veggies. No browning the meat required - just dump and go! You won't be able to tell you skipped that step, I promise.

10 minPrep Time

6 hrCook Time

6 hr, 10 Total Time

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Ingredients

• 2lbs stew beef cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chuncks
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into half inch chunks
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into half inch chunks
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juices
• 1 can tomato paste, about 6 Tablespoons
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 32oz beef stock (veggie or chicken stock would work), about 4 cups
• 2 T corn starch
• A heaping 1/2 tsp each dried sage, marjoram, oregano, thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 package of mushrooms, quartered

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl make a slurry with the corn starch and about 1/2 cup of the stock by whisking them together until the corn starch is completely dissolved. Add the tomato paste and combine with the slurry.
2. Put all the ingredients except the mushrooms in the bowl of your slow cooker, mix together to combine everything, and put the lid on.
3. Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 5-6 hours.
4. Stir in the mushrooms a half hour before you are going to eat.
5. Serve with some nice, crusty bread and a side salad. Enjoy!

7.8.1.2

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https://thecheerfulkitchen.com/root-veggie-beef-stew-in-the-slow-cooker/

Want More Busy Day Recipes? Try These:

Slow Cooker Pork Loin with Honey Dijon + Vinegar

Slow Cooker Curried Chicken + Cabbage

Easy Slow Cooker Italian Beef

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