Slow cooker honey Sriracha beef stew recipe

To my husband Ted, beef stew, maple syrup, and nectar of the gods all tie for first place on his culinary love list. We buy maple syrup at the local farm, and I've yet to come up with a good recipe for nectar of the gods, but I do love to make stew. Most often it's chock full of root vegetables like turnips and potatoes and rutabaga, of which I'm not a big fan, so I tend to leave the stew for Ted. However, this honey Sriracha beef stew includes only carrots and onions, with nothing else to distract from the sweet-hot gravy, and I absolutely love it. Although I make this in the slow cooker, you could adapt the recipe easily for stovetop cooking. This lick-your-lips beef stew (I think it would be delicious made with lamb, too) is a great dish to make ahead and have on hand for weeknight dinners. Adjust the amount of heat and sweet at the very end of the cooking time.

Slow cooker honey Sriracha beef stew

From the pantry, you'll need: dried mushrooms, all-purpose unbleached flour, reduced-sodium soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, fresh ginger root, garlic, onion, pearl onions, honey, Sriracha sauce.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

1 cup dried mushrooms
2 lb stew beef (chuck, bottom round, etc.), cut into large chunks
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 Tbsp oil (olive, rice bran, vegetable, etc.)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1-inch chunk of peeled ginger root
1 medium red onion, diced
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster-flavored sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
14-oz bag frozen pearl onions, defrosted
3 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp Sriracha, or more to taste
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions

Place the dried mushrooms in a 2-cup glass measuring cup, and fill the cup with water. Microwave for 3 minutes. Remove, and set aside.

Dry the chunks of beef with paper towels. Add the flour to a large mixing bowl.

Heat the oil in a nonstick frying pan (or in a slow cooker with a stovetop insert, or a Ninja cooker). Dredge the beef in the flour, shake off the excess, and brown the beef in the oil, in as many batches as necessary so the pan is not overcrowded.

When all of the beef is browned, add it to the insert of a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in the garlic, ginger, onion, carrots, soy sauce, oyster sauce and rice vinegar. Drain the mushroom soaking liquid through a fine-mesh strainer, and add the liquid only to the slow cooker. (Save the reconstituted mushrooms for another use; you can freeze them, or chop and add to soup.)

Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

Then, stir in the onions, honey and Sriracha. Cook on LOW for 1-1/2 hours.

Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the beef and vegetables from the slow cooker into a large bowl. Pour the remaining sauce into a small saucepan. Reduce the sauce on the stovetop, over medium-high heat, for 10 minutes or until reduced by half. The sauce should be thicker, with a bit of sheen from the honey.

Pour the reduced sauce over the meat and vegetables, and stir to combine. Serve hot, with rice or noodles. Or, let cool completely and refrigerate or freeze.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More slow cooker stew recipes for cold weather:
Slow cooker beef stew with potatoes, parsnips and rutabaga
Slow cooker lemon-garlic chicken and white bean stew
Slow-cooked beef and green chile stew
Beef, ale and onion stew
Slow cooker vegan black bean and sweet potato stew

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Lamb stew with almonds and apricots, from Simply Recipes
Honey-soy braised beef, from Local Kitchen Blog
Beef and sweet potato stew, from Joy the Baker
Sofigado, the Greek sweet and sour beef stew, from My Little Expat Kitchen
Slow-cooked Moroccan-spiced beef and apricot stew with Naartjie couscous, from Scruptious South Africa

Slow cooker honey Sriracha beef stew

From the pantry, you'll need: dried mushrooms, all-purpose unbleached flour, reduced-sodium soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, fresh ginger root, garlic, onion, pearl onions, honey, Sriracha sauce.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

1 cup dried mushrooms
2 lb stew beef (chuck, bottom round, etc.), cut into large chunks
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 Tbsp oil (olive, rice bran, vegetable, etc.)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1-inch chunk of peeled ginger root
1 medium red onion, diced
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster-flavored sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
14-oz bag frozen pearl onions, defrosted
3 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp Sriracha, or more to taste
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions

Place the dried mushrooms in a 2-cup glass measuring cup, and fill the cup with water. Microwave for 3 minutes. Remove, and set aside.

Dry the chunks of beef with paper towels. Add the flour to a large mixing bowl.

Heat the oil in a nonstick frying pan (or in a slow cooker with a stovetop insert, or a Ninja cooker). Dredge the beef in the flour, shake off the excess, and brown the beef in the oil, in as many batches as necessary so the pan is not overcrowded.

When all of the beef is browned, add it to the insert of a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in the garlic, ginger, onion, carrots, soy sauce, oyster sauce and rice vinegar. Drain the mushroom soaking liquid through a fine-mesh strainer, and add the liquid only to the slow cooker. (Save the reconstituted mushrooms for another use; you can freeze them, or chop and add to soup.)

Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

Then, stir in the onions, honey and Sriracha. Cook on LOW for 1-1/2 hours.

Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the beef and vegetables from the slow cooker into a large bowl. Pour the remaining sauce into a small saucepan. Reduce the sauce on the stovetop, over medium-high heat, for 10 minutes or until reduced by half. The sauce should be thicker, with a bit of sheen from the honey.

Pour the reduced sauce over the meat and vegetables, and stir to combine. Serve hot, with rice or noodles. Or, let cool completely and refrigerate or freeze.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More slow cooker stew recipes for cold weather:
Slow cooker beef stew with potatoes, parsnips and rutabaga
Slow cooker lemon-garlic chicken and white bean stew
Slow-cooked beef and green chile stew
Beef, ale and onion stew
Slow cooker vegan black bean and sweet potato stew

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Lamb stew with almonds and apricots, from Simply Recipes
Honey-soy braised beef, from Local Kitchen Blog
Beef and sweet potato stew, from Joy the Baker
Sofigado, the Greek sweet and sour beef stew, from My Little Expat Kitchen
Slow-cooked Moroccan-spiced beef and apricot stew with Naartjie couscous, from Scruptious South Africa

Comments

Wowee look at all those flavors! This ain't my mom's beef stew! We've been making traditional pot au feu (beef and vegetables) and some stews, all of which are fairly cheap, very filling, warming and comforting in the winter and now I want to try this one! And I never ever thought of putting maple syrup in beef stew! Am so loving this!

I love this recipe! What a nice change from the usual beef stew I make during the winter. Love the Asian touches.

Jamie, I can't imagine my mom with a bottle of Sriracha in the house! So glad I discovered it on my own as an adult. It's just the kick in the pants this stew needs.

Janel, I've been making the same old stew for years. My husband loves it, but this is the first one that I've loved, too.

The ONLY "slow cooker" I have is called a Lodge Enameled Dutch Oven (LOL) How can I convert this recipe?

I REALLY want to make this!!

Rachel, use the recipe index at left, or the search bar at right, to find a traditional beef stew recipe here. This recipe will convert easily. You'll need to add additional liquid to cook on the stovetop; try 1-2 cups of beef broth.

Lydia,
Oh, heavenly-what a terrific combo of heat and sweet! I never thought to use turnips in stew--I usually use our CSA farm share turnips in pasties (the meat pie kind) or soup. Carrots and onions in a stew? Perfection.
Thanks!

This recipe is making me wish I wasn't on Phase One (can't have the flour, carrots, and honey.) But does it ever sound good!

Kirsten, I've been using turnips in stew for Ted, because he loves them. I don't love them, so I left them out of this stew, and it leaves a clean flavor of the heat and sweet.

Kalyn, you could make this without the flour, and with agave instead of honey. And I guess without the carrots, too.

I agree - this ain't my mom's beef stew!! I love the idea of this stew - it might be hard getting this past my "plain jane Irish" husband but I might just have to try!

i've been adding honey & siracha to my tomato basil soup and its been a huge hit .. I do usually add Guinness to my beef stew but this sounds like a great change..
please tell me the difference between rutabag & turnip?

Can you tell where to get the Sriracha for my soup.

Carol, start slowly with the Sriracha, but I'll bet he likes the honey!

Lesley, that sounds like a great addition to tomato soup. I will have to borrow that idea. As to the turnip/rutabaga issue, rutabagas are a type of turnip.

Carol, any supermarket, in the Asian foods aisle.

Is there a substitute for the flour to make this Paleo Diet friendly?

Elisabeth, I'm sure there is. The purpose of the flour is to both protect the beef, and to thicken the stew.