Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Eggplant & Carrots

Cozy up with a bowl of this hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Eggplant and Carrots. The slow cooking gives you tender, flavorful chunks of beef.

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When I think of cozy suppers, I think of something hot and filling. Something that whispers, “comfort food.” As much as I love salad, it’s not really “cozy.”

Cheesy Potatoes? Tuna Melt Sandwiches? Beef stew? Those are comfort foods.

Fall and winter are obviously the best times of the year for cozy suppers. And recently we enjoyed a good one. One of the boys had put in a request for stew. And since boneless chuck roast was on sale for $3.99, it was an easy moment to be a Yes-Mom.

What he didn’t know was that I was going to sneak some veggies in when he wasn’t looking. {bwahahaha}

Beef Stew with Eggplant and Carrots?

Yep. Eggplant. This Beef Stew with Eggplant and Carrots is absolutely delicious, especially when served over rice or mashed potatoes. The eggplant cooks down into the sauce so no one is the wiser. Not even your pickiest eaters.

What kind of beef goes in stew?

The best cuts of beef for stew are the ones that tenderize under long cooking, such as chuck roast or cross rib roast.

Do not—I repeat—do not use something marked stew meat. That’s a misnomer. Those cuts are usually tough and unappetizing made into stew.

Can I put raw beef in stew?

While you can certainly toss the uncooked meat cubes into the pot and they will cook down, browning them in a bit of oil creates the Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction that gives foods a distinct—and delicious—flavor.

Tossing the cubes in flour prior to browning aids in the browning and also helps to thicken the resulting juices in the finished stew, creating a luscious gravy.

Do I have to use a slow cooker for this recipe?

A slow cooker can be your very best friend. It cooks dinner while you do other things. Slow cookers excel when it comes to braising, the long slow cooking with a bit of liquid that a stew undergoes. That makes the slow cooker the ideal vessel for cooking stew.

That said, you can cook stew in a Dutch oven or heavy pot in the oven or atop the stove.

Can I add the vegetables at the beginning of the cooking time?

In most of my stew recipes, I prefer to add the vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, and eggplant in the latter part of the cooking time. This allows them to get tender without being overcooked.

Can I add other vegetables to this stew?

While I recommend carrots and eggplant for this recipe, you can use lots of different veggies in this stew. Consider stirring in potatoes, turnips, or parsnips at the 4 hour mark. You can stir in corn or peas right before serving.

What should I serve with beef stew?

Stew is delicious on its own. It’s akin to a chunky soup.

If the stew is particularly saucy, I like to serve it with a starch to soak up all the yummy gravy. Mashed potatoes, baked rice, and egg noodles are all great bases for serving stew.

Can you freeze stew?

Stew is a great thing to freeze! You can divide a batch into single-serve or family-size packages to make for easy reheating and serving later.

Be sure to chill the stew completely prior to freezing and make sure you’ve labeled it well so you remember what’s in the dish when you go to thaw it. And add it to your freezer inventory so you can be sure to use it within a good amount of time.

Is it expensive to make homemade stew?

When purchased at a midrange grocery store at non-sale prices, the costs for this stew breaks down this way:

• olive oil – $0.80 ($6.49/16 oz)
• chuck roast – $11.97 ($3.99/pound)
• salt and pepper $0.02
• onion – $0.75
• garlic – $0.10
• flour – $0.05 ($2.69/5#)
• bay leaf – $0.10
• thyme – $0.02 ($1.98/6 oz)
• beef broth $0.99 ($1.99/32 oz)
• eggplant – $2.00
• carrots – $0.50 ($0.99/lb)

One batch costs $17.30 or $2.16 per serving.

How can you lower the cost?

The expensive ingredient in stew is the beef. The price of chuck roast can range in my neck of the woods anywhere from $2.69/pound to $6.99/pound! Be sure to purchase the beef on the lower end and stash extras in the freezer so you can make stew more affordable.

The other two ingredients that drive up the cost are the olive oil and the eggplant. Consider using a lower priced vegetable oil if you prefer. Likewise, look for eggplant on sale or grow your own.

Do you need special tools to make stew?

While certain small kitchen appliances can make a job easier, the only one you might need for this recipe is a slow cooker. Here’s a list of recommended tools to make this recipe easily:

• plastic cutting boards – I have blue boards for veggies and white boards for meat.
• Ergo Chef chef’s knife – I’ve had my set for several years and they work well.
• my favorite skillet – it’s oven safe and has a glass lid. I bought two I love it so much.
• 6-quart slow cooker – I’ve had this machine for several years and have been really pleased with it.

How do you make beef stew with eggplant?

The process of prepping this stew is pretty easy:

1. Lay out all your ingredients. Cube the meat and chip the onion.
2. In a bowl combine the flour, salt, and pepper.
3. Toss the beef cubes in the flour mixture.
4. Heat half the oil in a large skillet. Working in batches, brown the beef cubes in the hot oil, being sure not to crowd the pan.
5. Once the meat has been browned, transfer it to the crock of a slow cooker.
6. Add the onion and garlic to the drippings of the pan and cook, stirring, until the onion starts to go clear.
7. Stir in the broth, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a simmer and add the liquid to the crock. Cover the crock and turn on LOW. Cook for four hours.
8. At the end of the four hours, peel and chop the carrots and eggplant. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet and add the eggplant cubes, sautéing for 7 minutes.
9. Transfer the eggplant to the crock with the beef and stir in the carrots as well. Cover and continue cooking for two more hours.
10. Serve the stew over rice, mashed potatoes, or cooked egg noodles.

This post was originally published on October 20, 2010. It has been updated for content and clarity.