Sweet & Spicy Beef Stew
This Sweet & Spicy Beef Stew is loaded with veggies and two different types of beef for a — wait for it — beefed-up taco soup. This stew takes what you love about taco soup and pushes it into hearty stew territory.
I think you’ll like this recipe for a few reasons.
The flavors are really great — lots of smokey peppers for depth of flavor, fresh carrots and bell peppers for sweetness, and a balance of warm spices (that you probably already have on hand).
Let’s face it: making recipes you find on the internet can be risky. I can assure you that this one has been around for almost 9 years (it first debuted on my former food blog, Popular Paleo) and has been an audience favorite since. It’s also a favorite of a close personal friend of mine who makes it often, including for me when I come over for dinner which is pretty rad.
This is a slow cooker recipe. And it’s my very favorite kind–combining slow-cooked beef with fresh toppings is a flavor-texture marriage that gives you the best of both worlds. (If you like that kind of thing too, maybe pop over to my Slow Cooker Chimichurri Brisket recipe and see if you’re interested in that one as well?)
Share how the stew turned out for you.
Did you end up serving this beef stew with fresh tomato and avocado? (I hope so!) Are you following a Paleo-style diet or just like a good slow cooker stew? How often do you cook with chipotle peppers in adobo? Before making this, I didn’t use them very much. Now I’m hooked! Be sure to comment on how you served this recipe below.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups chopped carrots
- 2 cups chopped sweet bell peppers (a mix of yellow, orange or red; no green)
- 1 large onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound sirloin cubed
- 4 chipotle peppers in adobo chopped
- 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
- 29 oz canned diced tomatoes (this is two 14.5 oz cans)
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 tsp kosher or sea salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
Recommended Toppings:
- fresh tomatoes, diced
- sliced or cubed avocado
- chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
Par-Cook Beef
- Combine the dry spices together in a small bowl; set aside for future use.
- Heat a large pan to medium-high and warm the avocado oil.
- Crumble the ground beef into the hot pan and season with half of the dry spice mixture. Combine and cook for about 5 minutes, or until about 75% cooked through. Then transfer to the slow cooker basin.
- Add a little more avocado oil to the same pan and repeat the steps on the cubed sirloin next. Season with remaining dry spices, cook for a couple minutes until about 50% done, then transfer to the slow cooker basin to join the ground beef.
- Prepare the vegetables by peeling and chopping the carrots, chopping the peppers after removing the stem and seeds, dice the onion, mince the garlic, and chop the chipotle peppers.
- Add the vegetables to the slow cooker. Mix in all three cans of tomatoes and the beef stock. Once stirred through, cover and set the slow cooker to low for 5 hours.
- Ladle servings of stew into serving bowls and add the recommended toppings for a Paleo-friendly preparation. Sour cream and/or cheese can be added for those eat dairy.
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