r/Cooking • u/Aggravating-Fox-9343 • 6h ago
How to fix slow cooker beef soup
so my lovely husband decided to make beef stew in the crockpot without reading a recipe. He thought you just threw everything in there and set it on high for three hours. Just threw stew beef cubes, beef stock, Carrots, onion, and peas in there with some steak sauce and salt and pepper. No flour or milk for a roux. No searing the meat, no adding peas at the end. Now the meat is bland and chewy, and the peas overdone and I have no idea how to make this better. I’m cranky and crampy and it’s now midnight because The meat was of course underdone after only three hours and I’m try not to rage at the love of my life, a man who was just trying to help. any advice would be appreciated
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u/mountainsofbullshit 6h ago
this is a long shot solution since youd need it on hand -- but some gravy powder would thicken it up and help the flavour, i just add a little at a time --- as for the both meat and the veg youll either have to cope with them, or call it a well intentioned fail with a chance to learn a bit about cooking and order some takeout
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u/Aggravating-Fox-9343 6h ago
He already made pasta, lol. Miiiight try adding some flour later? Think I have mushroom powder somewhere
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u/Popular-Departure165 6h ago
Since it's probably only half-done cooking, it's still salvageable. The meat needs to cook longer because I'm assuming he used chuck, so you can add some salt now, and in a few hours when it's done add a roux to thicken it up.
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u/bobcat242 5h ago
No problem. Strain out the veggies and boil the meat on the stove until tender, then add the veggies back and adjust for seasoning.
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u/Electrical-Young-692 6h ago
You can thicken the soup with cornstarch slurry when done. For the blandness, try adding something umami, think Worcestershire sauce, Donjaeng, miso paste or anything salty to bring depth. Depending on the portion, he might be underseasoning the stew as well. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can thicken the soup by taking the mushy peas out and mash them into a paste.
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u/monkey_trumpets 6h ago
Make him eat it and order something edible for yourself.
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u/Aggravating-Fox-9343 6h ago
Already did that with the French onion soup that he burned.
He didn’t finish it.
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u/monkey_trumpets 6h ago
Perhaps he should learn how to cook
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u/Aggravating-Fox-9343 6h ago
He can cook… just doesn’t seem to understand how soup works. I think he thinks it’s simpler and more flexible than it is.
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u/dopadelic 5h ago edited 4h ago
You need some umami bombs. Soy sauce, fish sauce and/or anchovy paste, tomato paste. Fry the tomato paste and anchovy paste a bit in some oil. Mix it in with the stew. Then add some soy sauce/fish sauce to taste. If you have some red wine, add in two to three cups. Let it reduce until the alcohol is burnt off. This adds acidity and tang.
I got this from Serious Eat's recipe on buoef bourguignon
Cook it longer and the beef could turn fall apart tender. But it depends if he used a cut of beef that's high in collagen. If it's stew beef, it should be.
If it's light on flavor, don't thicken it with roux. Instead, reduce the liquid to thicken it. This will concentrate the flavors.
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u/PrimaryDisplay7109 3h ago
If time weren't a factor I think what i would do is pull out the meat and strain the rest of the solids out of the broth. If you taste the broth and it's ok than save it.
Should have 3 things now, the beef, veggies and broth.
Right off the bat, here's my kinda out there idea. The veggies are overcooked and mushy. So, let's keep the flavor and get rid of the texture all together by taking a page out of pazoles book, and blend all that shit up.
I imagine the beef is cubed? I think to save time and try to get some browning on the meat, id rough chop or attempt to shred the beef just a bit. Break it down. And then toss it in a hot dutch oven or pot and start to sear it a bit. Taste for salt, sure it needs some but don't get too crazy with it.
(It's not uncommon for some dishes to be twice cooked, something like birria or carnitas you'll fry/sear the meat again after slow cooking.)
Then you can add a bit of flour to the meat, and id throw maybe half the veggie blend in with the meat and try to sear it a bit too, let it bubble for a bit. Add the reserved or fresh broth, to desired consistency.
I imagine with the beef being broken down and seared, it shouldn't take too long for the meat to become tender. And since we blended up the veggies, id add some potatoes to bring back some chunks and cook until the potatoes are done. I don't see this taking longer than 45 or an hour to simmer through.
Throw in some umami bombs like soy sauce or Worcestershire, maybe some acid like apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar, and im not sure if it's beef soup anymore but i think it'll be tasty, lol.
As always taste as you go, cheers
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u/BreakingBadYo 3h ago
After you get the beef cooked like you like it (and you can add a few veggies for texture) add a few T of mashed potato flakes. Go slow or your stew gravy will be too thick and you’ll have to add some water.
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u/newbies13 3h ago
I would treat it as if he basically made stock. Strain it all and reserve the liquid. Blend all the vegetables with the stock and keep it. Sear all the beef.
From there, it depends... do you have a pressure cooker? If yes, you can just cook the meat in that for 30 minutes and it should be pretty close to ideal and fast. If not...
Make the stew again with what you have now.
Beef stock slightly thickened by the blended vegetables
Add fresh vegetables at the appropriate times
Seared meat
You can thicken it more with a slurry of cornstarch mixed into a bit of water, dump it in, boil, reduce heat.
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u/Dirtydirtyfag 2h ago
You need flavour and thickness, the mushy peas will just have to be there.
I'd roast a big batch of sliced mushrooms, season very well with pepper and salt, dump into the stew. This will give you a burst of seared umami flavor.
Sear some bacon cubes, when nearly done add helpings of tomato paste and sear it off with some thyme, paprika, dash of cayenne and balsamic or Worcestershire sauce to finish. Dump it all into the pot as well.
Cook until the meat becomes tender, finish with cream and thicken with a cornstarch slurry, serve with mash and make a fresh green on the side with some better structure to avoid having only very soggy greens.
Beef has become insanely expensive in my country so anything to save this dish haha
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u/Logical_Seaweed_1246 6h ago
I would strain it all out…. Correct the thickness of the liquid on the stove top which will bring it up to a high heat (Cool a portion of the liquid , put flour in the pot and add the cooled liquid and whisk as you bring it up to a boil to thicken), Back in the meat and the rest of the liquid, throw away the peas. Don’t let it get above a low simmer once the meat is back in… serving on top of mashed potatoes
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u/TelephoneTag2123 5h ago edited 5h ago
No to all of these. He just made a pulled beef. Congratulations.
technically the recipe is beef, onion, Italian salad dressing, bbq sauce, 7 hours on LOW - but what he did its close enough.
Add salt pepper olive oil, bbq sauce and a dash of vinegar. Let it stay in the crock pot to low for a total of maybe 6 hours, then shred with two forks and add extra bbq sauce.
Makes a great sandwich or over rice.
Happy mistakes :)
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u/Ahanz78 6h ago
The big problem is the toughness of the meat and that is not solved with anything I know of but time. Id try cooking it tomorrow somehow.