Dinty Moore Beef Stew Copycat

By zircon50

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef stew meat
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 4-6 TBSP olive oil
• 1 1/2 lbs small red potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 1/2 lbs small Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 lb baby carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 32 oz. beef broth
• 1- 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes in their juices
• 2-4 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup of water (maybe a little less)
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 2 TBSP dried herbs of your choice (I used a combination of granulated garlic, dried oregano, and dried thyme)
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• Lots of salt and pepper

Preparation

Step 1

Combine your flour, oregano, and garlic in a large Ziploc bag. Add the stew meat and shake to coat all of the pieces thoroughly. Meanwhile, heat 2-3 TBSP of olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy saucepan on the stove.

When the oil is smoking, carefully, add the half of the stew meat to the pot in a single layer. Don’t crowd the pot! If your pot is not large enough to handle half the meat without it starting to pile, do this in more than 2 batches. Leave the meat alone for 2 min. allowing it to develop a nice crust on the bottom side. Using tongs, turn your pieces of meat, allowing a nice crust to form on all 4 sides. Remove the meat from the pot onto a cutting board. CAREFULLY pour a splash of beef stock into the hot pot to deglaze all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour these bits (it will seem like a really thick, gross gravy but there’s so much flavor here!) into your crock pot. Repeat this entire process with the other half of the meat.

While your meat is cooking, chop your scrubbed potatoes (skin-on) and celery. I like large pieces of veggies in my stew, but you can chop them to the size that makes you happy. Add the potatoes, celery, and carrots to the crock-pot. Cut the browned beef into smaller pieces. (Don’t worry that the inside will still be very pink)

Add all of the meat and remaining ingredients (beef broth, tomatoes, Worcestershire, water, herbs, salt and pepper) to the crock pot. Turn on high and cook for 5-6 hours until the beef and veggies are very tender.

Combine the cornstarch and water in a bowl. Whisk until the cornstarch is dissolved and add the mixture into the stew. Allow it to cook an additional 30-45 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Serve with some warm crusty bread to sop up the gravy.