This slow cooker apple cider beef stew is a set it & forget it meal. A creamy, thick brown gravy & beef broth base with tender, chunky vegetables and fall-apart beef that cooks in the slow cooker all day. The apple cider adds some sweetness and is a nice twist to traditional beef stew.
In honor of the huge bags of apples we picked at the orchard this past weekend, I have decided that this week is APPLE WEEK on the blog. We have a ton of apples & one family can only eat so many apples a day! So here’s to some delicious apple recipes on the blog this week.
I love how versatile apples are. You can make a deliciously sweet apple pie or apple crisp, or you can make it more savory with something like this apple cider beef stew. You won’t use whole apples in this stew but you will use a healthy dose of apple cider which is made from whole apples 🙂
Let’s start things off with this slow cooker apple cider beef stew. I was hesitant at first because I was not sure how the apple cider would play into a savory, rich stew, but I was so surprised at how yummy it is!
The apple cider adds a bit of sweetness to the rich, creamy, thick gravy & beef broth based stew. The tender chunks of vegetables & fall-apart tender beef is just incredible. And let me tell you, when you walk in the door and smell this stew in the slow cooker, you’ll want to bottle it up and sell it. It is heavenly I tell you.
I am guessing that this stew would work with apple juice but I would really highly recommend getting the jug of apple cider. It will specifically say ‘Apple Cider’ and you will usually find it in grocery stores around Fall time (like right now!) and I do believe they sell it year round. I found mine at this small grocery store down the street from us and I have seen it at every other store I have been to as well.
Serves 8 servings
This slow cooker apple cider beef stew is a set it & forget it meal. A creamy, thick brown gravy & beef broth base with tender, chunky vegetables and fall-apart beef that cooks in the slow cooker all day. The apple cider adds some sweetness and is a nice twist to traditional beef stew.
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into large chunks
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 1 1/2 cups yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1" pieces
- 1 packet onion soup seasoning mix
- 1 packet brown gravy mix
- 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) beef broth
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/3 cup cold water
Instructions
- Combine the beef stew meat, carrots, celery, peas, potatoes, onion soup seasoning mix, brown gravy mix, tomato sauce, beef broth, and apple cider into the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and cold water. Pour into stew and stir to combine. Cook on high for 15 minutes to thicken the stew.
- Add additional salt & pepper as desired. Serve & enjoy!
Notes
Be sure and leave your potatoes in bigger chunks. About 2" chunks. You can peel the potato or not. I peel the bad parts, so my potatoes are half peeled.
I prefer to use the full salt beef broth. You need the salt to hold up to the longer cook time, and to season the bland meat & vegetables. They beg for salt!
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