Slow cooker beef stew and dumplings.
It’s cold outside at the minute and this slow cooker beef stew and dumplings recipe is the perfect comfort food. Slow cooking this recipe allows you to let the flavours develop, simply add the dumplings when you are almost ready to serve.
We slow cook this recipe in our oven, however, it would work just as well in the slow cooker on low all day, allowing you to come home to a gorgeous dinner with minimal effort.
For our recipe, we use stewing beef as long as you allow it long enough to cook it will be tender when you serve it. The great thing about this simple recipe, it can be adjusted to reflect what you might have in your fridge and cupboard. As you will see we used carrots, parsnips and onions, however, don’t let that stop you! Swede, turnips and leeks would be just as tasty in the stew, or a combination of all would be great too.
Slow cooker beef stew and dumplings recipe
Prep time – 15 Minutes
Cook time – 4 Hours
Stew ingredients
- 500g stewing beef
- 4 carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 parsnips, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1tsp lazy garlic (or 2 crushed cloves)
- 2tbs balsamic vinegar
- 1tbs tomato puree
- 2tbs plain flour
- 1ltr beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2tsp dried thyme
Dumpling ingredients
- 50g vegetable suet
- 100g self-raising flour
- Pinch of salt
- Approx 5tbs water
Instructions
Dumplings
- Mix together the flour, water and suet
- The dough just needs to hold without being too sticky
- Flour your hands and roll these into 6 even-sized balls
- Put to one side ready to cook
Beef stew – In THE OVEN
- Preheat the oven to gas mark 5
- Pat the beef chunks dry and season
- In a casserole dish heat up 1 tbs of olive oil until hot, then brown the meat in batches. You only want to seal the beef so don’t cook this for too long. Doing it in batches allows it a sear evenly. Once done, transfer the meat to a plate and put to one side.
- In the same pan, add the onions, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Cook this all together using a wooden spoon to scrape the brown bits of flavour off the bottom of the dish. Brown off the onions for about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato puree and mix in, cook for a couple of minutes
- Add the beef and all its juices back into the pan, cover with the flour and mix well. Keep stirring until all the flour is mixed in, this will take a couple of minutes.
- Add the vegetables, beef stock, bay leaf and thyme, stirring it all together.
- Bring to the boil and cover, place this in the oven for 3 hours to cook gently.
- After 3 hours, take the stew out of the oven and add the dumplings. Cook for 15 minutes, then flip the dumplings before cooking for an additional 15 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!
Beef stew – In THE SLOW COOKER
- Pat the beef chunks dry and season
- Preheat a frying pan and add 1 tbs of olive oil until hot, then brown the meat in batches. You only want to seal the beef so don’t cook this for too long. Doing it in batches allows it a sear evenly. Once done, transfer the meat to the slow cooker.
- In the same pan, add the onions, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Cook this all together using a wooden spoon to scrape the brown bits of flavour off the bottom of the dish. Brown off the onions for about 5 minutes and add to the slow cooker.
- Add the tomato puree and mix in, cook for a couple of minutes
- Add the beef and all its juices back into the pan, cover with the flour and mix well. Keep stirring until all the flour is mixed in, this will take a couple of minutes.
- Add the contents of this pan to the slow cooker.
- Add the vegetables, beef stock, bay leaf and thyme into the slow cooker and stir it all together.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- If you are adding dumplings, pop these in 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Cook for 15 minutes, then flip the dumplings before cooking for an additional 15 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!
Slow cooker beef stew and dumplings.
Ingredients
Stew ingredients
- 500g stewing beef
- 4 carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 parsnips, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1tsp lazy garlic (or 2 crushed cloves)
- 2tbs balsamic vinegar
- 1tbs tomato puree
- 2tbs plain flour
- 1ltr beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2tsp dried thyme
Dumpling ingredients
- 50g vegetable suet
- 100g self raising flour
- Pinch of salt
- Approx 5tbs water
Instructions
Dumplings
- Mix together the flour, water and suet
- The dough just needs to hold without being too sticky
- Flour your hands and role these into 6 even sized balls
- Put to one side ready to cook
Beef stew
- Preheat the oven to gas mark 5
- Pat the beef chunks dry and season
- In a casserole dish heat up 1 tbs of olive oil until hot, them brown the meat in batches. You only want to seal the beef so don’t cook this for too long. Doing it in batches allows it a sear evenly. Once done, transfer the meet to a plate and put to one side.
- In the same pan, add the onions, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Cook this all together using a wooden spoon to scrap the brown bits of flavour off the bottom of the dish. Brown off the onions for about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato puree and mix in, cook for a couple of minutes
- Add the beef and all its juices back into the pan, cover with the flour and mix well. Keep stirring until all the flour is mixed in, this will take a couple of minutes.
- Add the vegetables, beef stock, bay leaf and thyme, stirring it all together.
- Bring to the boil and cover, place this in the oven for 3 hours to cook gently.
- After 3 hours, take the stew out the oven and add the dumplings. Cook for 15 minutes, then flip the dumplings before cooking for an additional 15 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!
Now if you have a household that is not so keen on dumplings, why not switch these out. You could add new potatoes at the point the dumplings get added. Just make sure if you are adding these in that they are in bite-size pieces to allow them time to cook.
We currently have an old Le Creuset cast iron casserole dish like this one that is perfect for stews and casseroles. Instead of these though you could use any heavy-based pan that can be used on the hob or in the oven, as long as it has a lid.
Hopefully, this recipe will become a big hit in your household if you have enjoyed this slow cooker beef stew and dumplings recipe why not check out our other savoury recipes. You can find easier-to-follow recipes on our Pinterest account found here.
This states it is a slow cooker recipe but it’s not. It says to put in an oven? Very misleading.
Our apologies, we have updated the recipe to share how to cook it in the slow cooker also..