Crockpot Beef Stew and Beef Pot Pie

My husband bought me a wonderful 6 quart crockpot a few years ago. This recipe fills up the pot so if you have a smaller crockpot, half this recipe.

I wanted a recipe that was a comfort food and easy to make enough for the freezer. A stew was exactly what I need. This recipe makes, in my household, 14 servings of stew. I stored the rest in 3 containers: Fridge–leftovers, Freezer – Enough for Pot Pie and Freezer – Leftovers as Stew. My husband loved this recipe both as a stew and as a pot pie.

Ingredients:

4 pounds of  bottom round, well-trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup of olive oil (plus more if needed)

2 large onions, diced (2 cups)

1 (6oz) can of tomato paste

4 cups of potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces (Optional: 2 cups potatoes, 2 cups sweet potatoes)

2 cups of  baby carrots

2 (12 oz) cans beef broth

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves

1 bay leaf

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Directions:

1. Coat the beef in the flour. Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer to a  6-quart slow cooker.
2. Add the onions to the skillet and cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and coat the onions; transfer to the cooker.
3. Pour the beef broth into the skillet and scrape up any browned bits; add to the cooker. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, broth, salt, thyme, and bay leaf.
4. Cover and cook on low heat for 7 1/2 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Add the peas and heat through.
5. If you need to thicken, add a few tablespoons of flour (OR take a few potatoes out of the pot and mashed them, add them back in and stir)

Serve over pasta, rice or with biscuits.

Browning beef covered in flour

Crockpot filled and ready for slow cooking.

Beef Pot Pie:

Ingredients:

2 deep dish pie crusts

left over Beef Stew

 

Directions:

1. Pour leftover Beef Stew into pie crust and cover pie with the other crust.
2. Crimp the edges and cover edges with foil.
3. Spray with cooking spray, VERY lightly over the top crust.
4. Bake at 375F for 35 minutes and then remove foil.
5. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

*Make sure you have something under the pie when you bake or you may have to clean your stove, if you have any spills.