Cranberry, Beef & Butternut Stew

Cranberry, Beef & Butternut Stew

American Dinner Gluten-free Soup

Cranberry seems to be everywhere during the holiday season, from our amazing Oh My Sweet Punkin Cranberry Tortilla Chips, to appetizers, cocktails, and tossed in salads. Don’t forget the cranberry star for many Thanksgiving feasts, cranberry sauce. But, once the feast is over, what do you do with the extra tangy goodness? Cranberry, Beef & Butternut Stew gives you another reason to embrace the cranberry and just happens to also be a great way to use up any extra cranberry sauce you may have without tasting like left-overs. The tangy-sweet flavor of whole berry cranberry sauce perfectly compliments savory beef stew loaded with tender butternut squash and earthy mushrooms. We like to serve it up with a sprinkling of fresh parsley and Oh My Sweet Punkin Cranberry Tortilla Chips. Enjoy!

Cranberry, Beef & Butternut Stew

Ingredients

2 tablespoons corn starch or 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon dried thyme

3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. plus more if needed

1 1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

1 pounds fresh button mushrooms, quartered, leaving small ones whole

1 large chopped red onion

5 cups beef broth

1 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Preparation

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Add beef cubes to bowl. Toss beef cubes with mixture until well coated.

In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of beef to pan and brown beef on all sides. You do not need to cook beef through as it will cook in slow cooker, simply brown for more color and flavor. Put browned beef into slow cooker. Brown remaining beef and add to slow cooker.

To meat in slow cooker add butternut squash, mushrooms, onion, broth, cranberry sauce, bay leaves and Italian seasoning. Place cover on slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours until squash is tender and beef is cooked through.

To serve, remove bay leaves and stir in fresh parsley. Serve with Oh My Sweet Punkin Cranberry Tortilla Chips.