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Honestly, it is hard for me to believe that this is the first time slow cooker beef stew is making it onto the blog. This is one of my favorite crockpot recipes, mainly because it is just so quick to prepare! Well no. Mainly because it is delicious and easy to prepare!

The great thing about this recipe is that it is super easy to customize. Whether it is swapping out veggies for ones you have on hand, or adding in seasoning that you can’t get enough of, this recipe is very forgiving.

Slow Cooker Winter Bacon Beef Stew

Ingredients

1. 2 lb bottom round (cut into bite sized pieces, or you can use pre-cut stew beef)
2. 8 slices of thick cut bacon (chopped, separated into 2 portions)
3. 2 large bay leaves
4. 4 whole cloves
5. 10 whole pepercorns
6. 1 Dried chili pepper of choice (optional – I used 6 Dried Chile Pequin Chili Podsbecause they are very small)
7. 2 tsp salt
8. 2 tsp pepper
9. 2 tsp paprika
10. 2 tsp Goya Adobo Seasoning with Pepper
11. 1 tsp French thyme
12. 2 medium russet potatoes (cut into 1 inch cubes)
13. 1 medium purple top turnip (cut into 1 inch cubes)
14. 1 lb carrots (peeled and sliced to desired thickness)
15. 1 medium onion (peel, half, then quarter each half)
16. 3 large garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
17. 8 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
18. 14 oz can diced tomatoes
19. 14 oz Beef Broth
20. 1 cup water
21. 1 tsp sugar

Directions:

• Place your beef in the bottom of the slow cooker
• Using a fillable a coffee filter, or cheese cloth, or Tea Filter, put ingredients 3 – 6 in the filter and tie off so none of the ingredients can escape
• Place bag of seasonings in the crockpot on top of the beef
• In a separate bowl, mix together ingredients 7 – 11 and set aside
• Add potatoes, turnip, carrots, onion and garlic to the crockpot
• Sprinkle seasoning mix over the ingredients in the crockpot
• Add Worcestershire to the crockpot
• Pour tomatoes, then broth, then water over the ingredients in the crockpot
• Sprinkle half of the chopped bacon over the top of the dish
• Turn crockpot on high and cook for 4 hours (or low for 8 hours)
• When stew is cooked, remove seasoning bag from the stew
• Stir in sugar
• Taste stew and add extra salt and/or sugar to taste
• If crockpot is done before you are ready to eat, turn it on low to keep your meal warm and simmering
• Before serving, cook the remainder of the chopped bacon in a pan until crispy
• Remove from pan, using a slotted spoon, onto a paper towel lined plate
• Ladle stew into serving bowls and sprinkle crispy bacon over the top
• Enjoy!