Slow Cooker Poor Man’s Stew 3-Ingredient. Stick raw ground beef and 2 other ingredients in the slow cooker and you have a meal that your husband will be begging to have more of!
This poor man stew made in the slow cooker with only 3 ingredients is what I turn to when I am in a bind on those days that I have to work, children activities and yet I want something warm on the table. You just place raw ground beef into the slow cooker, and only two ingredients that can be found in the pantry, and talk away. A couple of hours later you have a hearty savoury stew that smells like it is simmered all day on the Grandma stove.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- Raw ground beef (80-90% lean) → 1 pound
- Chunky pasta sauce (any tomato-based red sauce you prefer) → 1 (24-26 ounce) jar
- Frozen diced potatoes with either onions (in the style of hash brown or O’Brien) or not (unseasoned or slightly seasoned) → 1 (28-32 ounce) bag
Slow Cooker Poor Man’s Stew: Directions
- Put the untouched raw ground beef in the bottom of your slow cooker. Lightly stab it with a spoon/spatula to separate into a few large pieces so that it cooks well and still provides substantial portions in the stew. It must be a rather uniform layer which covers the bottom.
- Add the jar of thick pasta sauce to the raw ground beef pouring it evenly, but leaving much of the meat uncovered. Stir not yet; having the beef at the bottom of it aids in its cooking through and its remaining juicy.
- Place the onions with frozen diced potatoes on top of the sauce, and spread them evenly. They may not need to be thawed because they are freezer ready.
- Close the slow cooker using the lid. Bake the ground beef (on LOW) 6-7 hours or (on HIGH) 3-4 hours until ground beef is completely cooked through (there is no pink left) and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
- When all is cooked, take a large spoon or spatula to cut up the ground beef into bite sized crumbles and mix the stew well at the bottom to the top, ensuring that all the meat, sauce and potatoes are mixed. Add salt and pepper (though most pasta dishes are already well seasoned), and add as much strain as you want.
- Allow the stew to boil in the slow cooker on WARM until slightly thickened up to 5-10 minutes, and then ladle it into bowls and serve hot.
Variations & Tips
To thicken this up, a can of drained kidney beans, black beans or mixed vegetables can be added during the final hour of cooking. Like the hot stuff, then go for a spicy pasta sauce sauce or add a pinch of red pepper flakes when you are stirring everything together at the end. To add a little more richness, sprinkle 1/2-1 cup of shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese over the top during the final 10 minutes of cooking and cover it and allow it to melt into a cheesy stew. In case you lack frozen diced potatoes, you may use 3-4 medium fresh potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, and a 1/2 a chopped onion; make sure you maintain the overall size of the bag to that of a typical frozen bag. To make preparation even quicker on hectic mornings, put it all in the slow cooker overnight then, cover it, refrigerate everything, then place the slow cooker into the base and begin the next day (allow an extra 30 minutes on the cook time when it is very cold). To achieve a thinner, more soup-like feel stir in 1/2 to 1 cup of water or beef broth into it at the start; to have a denser stew, allow it to cook uncovered on HIGH an extra 15-20 minutes at the end.