The Best Venison Stew and I Make it in the Slow Cooker!

I have to rave, no not rave, shout it from the rooftops that this venison stew is amazing!  Originally, I made this stew because I wanted to make a hearty stew with venison so I took elements from two of my favorite recipes, Beef and Vegetable Soup (with ground beef), and Vegetable and Beef soup and created a delicious venison stew.  But then, I made a few changes that took it from good to WOW!  

I omitted the beef bouillon cubes (trying to cut back on these kinds of processed foods), reduced the diced tomatoes by half, and added 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter.  It was perfect!  The flavor stood on its own without the bouillon or the added tomatoes and the addition of butter took it to a whole new level.  I added butter since venison is incredibly lean and it gave the broth so much flavor and depth.  This is now the BEST venison stew so if you have access to some healthy and delicious venison, this is a must try recipe and if not you can always try it with beef for stew.  If you use beef, you might reduce or eliminate the butter depending on how much fat is in the beef.  

One more tip... if you are in a pinch for time, you can skip the browning step. This stew will still come out fabulous.  

Slow Cooker Venison Stew

Ingredients: 

1 ½ to 2 lbs. venison roast or steak, (can use beef for stew)
olive oil
house seasoning* (or just sprinkle on some salt, pepper, and garlic powder)
4-5 potatoes cubed
4 carrots sliced in rounds
2 ribs celery sliced
1 onion diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1- 2 tsp. creole seasoning (I use 2 tsp)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. seasoned salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
water


1.  Brown meat in about 2 Tbsp. olive oil in skillet.  Sprinkle meat with house seasoning while browning. 

2.  Combine all ingredients except water in large slow cooker.  Then almost cover the ingredients with water.

3.  Cover slow cooker.  Cook on low 8-10 hours.  Take out any large chunks of meat and shred/chop before returning to the stew.  Remove bay leaves before serving.



*House Seasoning:

1/4 cup salt

1 Tbsp. black pepper

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

Stir the ingredients together and store in shaker or other container.  


House Seasoning Recipe is from Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics:  The Lady & Son's Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady and Son's, Too!  

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