Baked Beef Stew

Baked Beef Stew for a crew. This recipe is so easy you just throw the ingredients into a roasting pan and bake. No need to brown the meat and it makes its own gravy. Now how cool is that! The meat is so tender and it is a nice hearty meal for a cold chilly day. Warm up your chilly bones from the inside out. Comfort food = Love.

Baked Beef Stew

• 3 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes in juice
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. Minute Tapioca
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. freshly grated black pepper
• 1 tsp. granulated garlic powder
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 slices bread, crust removed and cut into cubes
• 2 cups onion cut into chunks
• 2 cups celery cut into chunks
• 1 lb. bag of baby style carrots
• 8 cups of potatoes cut into chunks, skin on or small baby potatoes w/ skin on
• 4 1/2 lb. Beef Stew meat
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile add first 10 ingredients into a very large bowl and mix well, make sure you break up bread pieces it is important. Then add the rest of the ingredients. I cut the meat into smaller chunks if they are really large and trim off  any membrane if there is any, the size of the meat and potatoes is your preference.

Spray a large roasting pan (17 x 14 x 31/2 inches) with cooking spray. Place stew mixture into pan and cover with foil, bake on center rack for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until meat is tender. Remove from oven and carefully remove foil, serve immediately. Enjoy!

This would be a perfect meal for the crew if you are on ski trip, hunting, cross country skiing, etc.  A great meal for a cold days activities if you want an easy to fix meal that will satisfy. This is a variation on a recipe that I found years ago in The Taste of Home magazine.