Hearty Amish Beef Stew Recipe
This hearty Amish Beef Stew is the perfect comfort food for a cold or rainy day! It will warm you all over, as you enjoy every delicious bite.
As you're getting your day started, just prep the ingredients and toss them into your crockpot. Then you'll have a hearty and delicious dinner waiting for you.
You can cook the stew all day long at low temperatures in your slow cooker. Or if you're in a hurry you can turn it on high, and it should be ready to eat in as little as four hours.
You might say, "But the Amish couldn't make slow cooker beef stew because they don't have electricity." But remember, I was Amish and we did have electricity, so we made beef stew in the crockpot. Although you are right, a lot of them do not have electricity, so they would have to cook the stew on the stovetop or bake it in the oven.
Can I Make this awesome Amish-style Beef Stew if I don't have a slow cooker?
The answer is "Yes". You can make this beef stew without a slow cooker as most Amish would. You can cook it on the stovetop. Just place your stew in a heavy pot or Dutch oven and bring it to a boil. Then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 - 3 hours.
You could probably even bake this in your Dutch oven or any ovenproof dish. I've never tried it though, so I'm not sure about baking time and temperature.
Beef Stew is a Comfort Food
Winter is the perfect time for making stew, soups, and everything comfort food. There's something about eating hot soup on a cold day, it just warms you and makes you feel good.
I don't especially like the winter season when you have to bundle up to go outside, and even then you're freezing if you stay out too long. So you're just cooped up inside most of the time.
But it is a good time to catch up on those indoor projects that you never have time for when you're busy with all the outdoor yard and garden work. And I do enjoy that break.
Beef or Venison
Growing up on a farm, we always had lots of beef in our freezer. But now, I'm not so lucky. Beef is expensive to buy, and I actually don't very often buy the expensive cuts, although the stew meat chunks aren't as expensive as some of the cuts.
My husband is a hunter; he likes getting out in the woods and harvesting a deer if he's lucky enough to find one. And now the last two years our oldest son has been hunting as well and brought home some meat. I'm always glad for extra meat in the freezer. And whenever we cut up the venison, I always cut some stew meat chunks as well.
Venison has a bit of a wild taste. But if processed properly and cooked with garlic and onions, there's really not a lot of difference in taste. And I actually use venison in this stew recipe whenever I have some.
Do the Amish go Deer Hunting?
We had a one hundred acre farm, on which a number of those were wooded land. So we always had deer around our farm and they can do a lot of damage to the corn crop if there are too many of them.
My brothers all enjoyed hunting and usually ended up shooting a deer sometime throughout the season.
I know that quite a number of the Amish around our area went deer hunting. And I think they are the same as the general population. Some of them enjoy it and some don't.
How to make this Amish Beef Stew
I start by covering all my beef cubes in flour, then frying them in an oiled skillet till browned. The flour helps to thicken the stew. If you don't want yours thickened at all, just skip the flour. You can fry the meat without the flour. Or you can even skip the frying step altogether and just toss the meat in raw if you're really short on time.
Cutting up all the veggies takes a little time. Just peel and chunk the potatoes and carrots and cut your onion and celery into bite-size pieces.
Layer all your ingredients into a crockpot, and add enough water to almost cover it all. Place the lid on top, turn to the low setting and let it cook for 6 - 7 hours.
Homemade biscuits are really yummy served with stew. So about a half-hour before dinner time, I mix up a batch of biscuits (click here for the recipe to make fluffy Amish biscuits), and everyone is happy when it's time to eat. It's a warm, comforting, and hearty dinner! This Amish beef recipe is amazing!
Items you may need...
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Amish Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 lb. beef stew meat chunks
- 4 - 5 large carrots cut into bite size chunks
- 5-6 potatoes, depending on size cut into bite size chunks
- 2 celery stalks cut into bite size chunks
- 1/2 onion cut into bite size chunks
- 2 c. frozen green beans Can also use canned beans
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 jalapeno pepper diced, optional
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3 c. beef broth
- 1 tsp. season all
- 1 tsp. thyme leaves
- 3/4 tsp. Tony's creole seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/3 c. all purpose flour
- 1-2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Instructions
- Place flour in a zip lock bag, add meat chunks and shake to coat. Or you can just toss in a bowl.
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat, add meat chunks and fry till browned on all sides. Add broth, scraping pan to get all the bits.
- Peel potatoes and carrots.
- Chunk all the vegetables into bite size pieces.
- Place your vegetables and meat/broth mixture into your crock pot. It doesn't really matter what order.
- Add seasonings, and water to almost cover your ingredients.
- Turn crock pot on low setting and let it cook for about 6 - 7 hours. Do not open lid more than about one time to give it a stir.
- Remove the bay leaves when ready to serve.
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