Beef Stew for Two ( Slow Cooker ) Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

How many pounds of stew meat for 2 people? ›

First, gather your main ingredients, starting with the meat: you want about a half pound of meat—beef, lamb, pork, and veal all work—per person you're serving. (You could get by with 6 ounces of meat per person, but a half pound ensures you'll have leftovers, and leftover stew is a very good thing.)

While many slow cooker recipes can be made on high for 3-4 hours, I highly recommend cooking this beef stew on low for the full 7-8 hours. This will ensure that the beef gets nice and tender. Thicken your stew properly.

Chuck is one of the leaner types of beef, making it perfect for stews because it melts into delicious pieces as it cooks. A chuck roast has a large amount of connective tissue, which allows it to retain its moisture during the cooking process.

“Beef may be tough in the slow cooker if you haven't added enough liquid, or haven't cooked it for long enough,” Kristen Carli, M.S., R.D., owner of Camelback Nutrition & Wellness, tells SELF. “For cuts of meat, the fattier cuts are often the ones that get juicy and tender.

Calculate roughly 400g per person. If cooking beef off the bone, 1kg will serve four and 1.5kg will serve about six, so 200-300g per person. Calculate your cooking time for medium-rare with 20 minutes per 500g or for medium use 25 minutes per 500g.

A question we often get is “How much meat do I need?” The starting rule of thumb is: Boneless Meat: 1/2 lb. per person for adults and 1/4 lb. per person for children.

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

However, if you consistently find your slow cooker meals with meat coming out tough, lackluster, and flavorless, then you may need to reassess how you're prepping your dishes, and you may need to turn down the temperature. If you cook meat at too high of a temperature in your slow cooker, you're likely to overcook it.

Yes, you most certainly can cook raw meat in the slow cooker! You put it in “cold”, with whatever liquid your recipe calls for, turn it on either “low” or “high” depending on your recipe (I usually start it on “high” for a couple hours, then turn it to “low”), and in 6–7–8 hours, it's now COOKED meat!

The most important key to making stew meat tender is being sure to cook it for a long time. If you want super tender beef, you'll need to cook it on a low heat in a Dutch oven on the stove or a slow cooker for at least a few hours.

When to add potatoes to slow cooker on low? ›

Tender vegetables such as zucchini and beans can be added to your dish in last ¾ - 1 hour of cooking when cooking on High, or 2 hours if cooking on Low. Hard, starchy vegetables like potato and carrots are best added around 3 hours before the meal is done if cooking on High, and 4 hours on Low.

There is no real wrong answer for your beef stew potatoes — russets or red potatoes will work fine — but Yukon Gold potatoes have the best balance of texture and flavor to complement a meaty stew.

Insufficient Liquid: If there wasn't enough liquid in the crockpot, it could have caused uneven cooking. Potatoes need to be fully submerged in liquid to cook evenly. Old Potatoes: Very old or stored potatoes can become starchy and may not soften as well during cooking. It's best to use fresh, firm potatoes.

Tender vegetables

Vegetables such as peas, asparagus and peppers can become a flavorless, mushy mess in a slow cooker.

"Browning, or caramelizing, meat before putting it into a slow cooker isn't 100 percent necessary, but it is well worth the effort for the most flavorful and full-bodied end result," he says. "The caramelized surface of the meat will lend rich flavor and color to the finished dish."

Approx. weight 1kg per pack for 4, 500g for 2. Jamie Oliver's Easy Beef Stew recipe takes no time at all to prepare, and gives you a wonderful, tender meal to enjoy, any day of the week!

For burgers it depends on how many people are being fed. Generally, a pound will feed 4 people (4 ounces per burger). Multiply 4 ounces by how many people you're cooking for & that is how much you need. Eight people would equal 32 ounces or 2 pounds of meat.