How do I make my beef stew tasty

[ouch321]

Tried making beef stew and dumplings in my slow cooker crockpot. But it comes out a bit bland.
Do you have suggestions to improve?

Currently...

• sliced carrot
• diced beef
• sliced onion
• dissolved stock cube/s

Left on slow for c8 hours and then I put the dumplings in for an hour or less at the end.

It just tastes a bit bland at the end.

What would make it better?

I use the Jamie Oliver recipe - the basic one. Beef, carrots, celery, onion, tablespoon of flour, salt and pepper, bottle of ale (Newcastle Brown usually but any will do), can of chopped tomatoes.

Agree with the above plus either a generous dollop of redcurrant jelly or a star anise

Bisto best gravy granules to thicken it and some mixed dried herbs.

I like wholegrain mustard and lots of herbs.

I also always put gravy power in... It's just never as rich and yummy without

Marmite! Trust me on this.

Are you just throwing all the raw ingredients into the slow cooker? If so, that's why. As PP have said, you need to fry the veg and beef first.

Brown the meat first
Lea and Perrins
Paprika
Beef stock cube
Guinness

How much marmite?!

Garlic, red wine, paprika,brown sauce, Worcestershire sauce, English mustard, tomato puree/pasta sauce......or all of the above!

@cheeseandpineapple

2 tablespoons or thereabouts.

Rosemary is also essential for tasty beef stew.

Bovril for stock!

Mustard near the end. English or whole grain depending on your taste.

I add corned beef, so fattening but so lovely haha

Go a tiny bit Caribbean-style (dont worry, it won’t be spicy unless you use scotch bonnet)

Tiny bit of garlic, more dried herbs (I use thyme) than you think, more stock than you think (I use two cubes per four people) squeeze of ketchup (yes, really), dash of Worcestershire sauce, dash of soy sauce, pinch of allspice.

Slow cooking.

Check seasoning when meat is cooked through but there is still a good 30 mins before end. Adjust as needed.

Take it out of slow cooker at the end and reduce down on the heat. Add loads of lovely things: in my experience people always under season. Salt salt and pepper!!
Then try lea and perrins, pinch of sugar, bisto gravy granules or bovril, soy sauce? Anything giving that brown, rich thick umami taste you're after. Keep tasting and reducing.

Tomato purée gives it depth. Bay leaf adds flavour.

mixed herbs
horseradish sauce

Redcurrant jelly, a la Mary Berry's rich beef stew recipe.

I find it tastes bland unless I add Bisto at the end . Thickens it up well too.

I always add bacon lardons to my beef casserole.

I coat the beef in seasoned flour, fry the bacon lardons, then fry the beef in the fat the bacon leaves behind. I fry the onions and carrots too, then deglaze the pan with red wine, and add that to the meat and veg in the casserole dish, with beef stock, pearl barley, thyme and a couple of bay leaves, and cook for 6+ hours, at a low temperature (I use the oven, but I imagine this would be like 8 hours on low in a slow cooker).

What cut are you using? Lean beef is never the best for flavour in a stew I find. It's not bad but if you want depth of flavour imo you need either shin which has little fat but a fair amount of connective tissue or chuck (shoulder) which also has connective tissue and fat. These cuts are no good for quick cooking though and only work in a long slow stew 4hrs. Make the day before, let it sit over night and then slowly reheat for dinner.

Onions, couple of cherry tomatoes, beef stock cube and water, but of garlic all in from the start.

ClaraMumsnet -thanks, have never thought to add marmite but am going to try it next time!

Lea and Perrins, lots of pepper, red wine stick cube, and I sometimes put a teaspoon of Bovril in mine as well

Onions carrots and celery are essential in a stew.

Made one the other week with diced beef,red onion,carrot,leek,swede,potato and bovril stock cubes,was very nice.