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When it’s cold outside there’s no meal more comforting than beef stew. Well it was definitely cold outside today, and the snow was coming down heavily. A perfect day for the slow cooker to do all the work with just a few minutes of prep on my part. I love making stew because it’s so easy to adapt, making it easy to use what you have on hand. This meal is satisfying and delicious and smells amazing when you walk in the door from a tough day.
If you haven’t heard of adding coffee to beef dishes, you are missing out. It’s a great addition and doesn’t make your end result taste like coffee. Keep in mind, since this is cooked in a slow cooker you don’t use a lot of liquid. The cooking process will develop liquid of its own. If you were to make this in a Dutch oven for example, you would increase the coffee and the broth considerably.
Pair this stew with my pull apart dinner rolls and you have a satisfying meal for your family.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1 1/2 pounds baby reds, quartered
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups slivered onions
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 5 cloves garlic, kept whole
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1/4 cup coffee
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Dry the beef stew meat using paper towels. Dredge the beef in the flour and brown in a large skillet in one tablespoon of the olive oil. When browned, empty the meat into the slow cooker. Add the potatoes and toss with the beef. Sprinkle potatoes and beef with the thyme and season with salt and pepper.
- Do not clean the skillet. There will probably be some brown bits in the pan and that’s good! Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and saute the slivered onions and sliced mushrooms until the begin to get tender. Add the garlic and saute for a minute longer. Transfer the onion mixture to the slow cooker.
- Put the skillet back onto the stove and add the broth and coffee. Use a spatula to deglaze the pan getting all those yummy brown bits mixed into the broth mixture. Simmer for a few minutes just to get it all mixed together, then add the broth mixture to the slow cooker.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. 20 minutes before serving, add the peas to the slow cooker and continue cooking until done.
Notes from Amanda
Saturated fat: 5.4 g Unsaturated fat: 9.5 g Carbohydrates: 29.7 g Sugar: 2.9 g Fiber: 4 g Protein: 51.4 g Cholesterol: 134.5 mg
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This recipe sounds yummy. I just pinned it to my Pinterest board!
I’d never have thought to add coffee to a beef stew so really intrigued about how it will taste. I’m going to bookmark it.
Loved this recipe, Amanda! I’ve added coffee to stews, and also used coffee (ground) as a dry rub for a pork tenderloin that is to die for!
You are absolutely right, you cannot taste the coffee, but it gives some depth of flavor that is definitely not there without it…
(your dish is beautiful too, wavy, white, perfect with the stew)
Thanks Sally! I love that dish, have only had it a short while but it holds a lot and looks so pretty! :)
I really need to try adding coffee to some beef. A friend of mine just made a coffee rubbed flank steak too. I’m surprised that you only put in 1/4 of a cup, I guess that way there is only a hint of flavor….
Hi City Share :) True I only used a 1/4 cup of coffee. The reason is because this is a crock pot dish, and with crockpots you are only supposed to use a small amount of liquid. The coffee paired with the beef broth is a nice combo and if it had been cooked in a Dutch oven the measurements would have been considerably different :)
I just saw a pot roast recipe that had a coffee glaze, so this must be the thing to do. I have some baby onions too and was planning to make a stew, so I’m going to use your idea of the coffee in the broth. Can’t wait! It looks great.
I just got that baby reds is potatoes. Duh. I have pearl onions but thought you just had another name for them. haha!
This is something my whole family would LOVE! And, of course! Coffee! I use a coffee rub, so why not in a beef stew? Fabulous idea!
This looks so good! I just made beef stew tonight and now I’m wishing I had put coffee in it :)
At what stage do you add the baby reds?
They go in right after the meat. And just to be clear, the “baby reds” are the red potatoes :)
Thanks. Is the coffee a mixture of coffee and water or just coffee on it’s own? Would plain chocolate work as an alternative?
Hi Ian, just coffee on its own. There isn’t very much because its a crock pot recipe I’m not sure about the chocolate, maybe just sub beef broth, or you can use instant coffee mixed with water or decaf.