Crockpot Tuesday – Spicy Beef Roast and Potatoes

About a week ago I got 10 pounds of potatoes for 99 cents, so for this week’s Crockpot Tuesday and I knew I needed a recipe that used some of them up.  I also knew I wanted to use some Stewing Beef that I’ve had in the freezer, but I didn’t want the standard beef roast or beef stew. 

Today’s Crockpot Tuesday Spicy Beef Roast recipe was inspired by a recipe on Cooking by the Seat of my Pants for Beef and Potatoes.  For those of you that prefer to use spices to canned soups (like my mom) this is a recipe for you.   I did use some substitute ingredients to make it a bit more frugal and fit what I had in my stockpile.  In addition, I changed some of the directions since my meat was still frozen. 

Here’s what you will need:

• 2 lbs Stewing Beef or Roast
• 8 medium potatoes
• 1 bag baby carrots
• 4 beef bouillon cubes
• 4 cups warm water
• 1 packet Onion Soup Mix
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1 tsp Oregano**
• 1/2 tsp Cumin**
• 1 tsp Pepper**
• 1 1/2 tsp Chili**
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce

**The original recipe called for 1 TBSP adobo seasoning.  I didn’t have that so I searched to see what made up Adobo seasoning.  These 4 spices plus a bit of garlic are the main components.  So I substituted them.

 

Place your baby carrots in the crockpot.   Cut each potato in half the long way and then cut into 1/2 inches slices.  Place potatoes in the crockpot.

The next step is to add the rest of the ingredients, except the meat.

Mix together the vegetables, spices and water.  The push your frozen Stewing Beef down into the mixture.  Put the lid on your crockpot and turn on high. 

I will say you will want a big crockpot to make this size meal.  If your crockpot is smaller, you’ll want to reduce the number of potatoes.

After an hour, I opened the crockpot and separated my meat.  I stirred it in a bit with the potatoes.  Then I put the lid back on and cooked another 3 1/2 hours.

 

This is what it looked like after 4 1/2 hours of cooking on high.  At this point my oldest had to eat before he attended an event.  Both the potatoes and beef were nice and tender, and full of a great spicy flavor.  At this point I turned it to low, because it would be another hour until the rest of us ate.

 

Here’s the finished meal.  I did make gravy with the extra liquid.  To make it, I took th meat, potatoes and carrots out of the crockpot and added a mixture of cornstarch and water to the liquid.  I turned it to high and let it cook for 15 minutes to thicken up.

I will admit this meal is spicy.  However, I was very surprised that all my children, even my 4 year old and also the pickiest eater totally cleared their plates.  They would say, “Oh spicy” and then continue to eat.  I asked them if they liked it, and everyone responded with a definite yes.  I think next time I make it, I will cut down on the pepper.

Once again, not only a simple and delicious meal, but also very frugal.  This meal that fed six, plus has enough leftovers to feed about another 4 cost $ 5.36   and here is the breakdown:

Beef – $3.98 (2 pounds of stewing beef at $1.99/lb) 
Potatoes – 10 cents (1o lb bag cost 99 cents)
Carrots – 66 cents 
Onion Soup – $.12 – I stock up when they are on sale 
Worcestershire Sauce – Free
Spices – $.50  estimated

If you like Spicy Recipes without canned soup, be sure to check out Lemon Chicken, Chili Pork with Corn,  Chili Pot Roast, and Spice It Up Pork.

For more delicious recipes be sure to check out Tempt My Tummy, Tasty Tuesday, and Tuesdays at the Table.