Crock Pot Stifado

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 10 hrs 20 mins
  • Servings: 6-8
  • About This Recipe

    “A tasty Greek stew, made easy with a crock pot.”

    Ingredients

  • 1tablespoonvegetable oil
  • 2lbsstewing beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 3largeonions, peeled and diced
  • 4garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoonground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoonground allspice
  • 3tablespoonsred wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cupstomato sauce
  • 1teaspoonwhite sugar
  • 1bay leaf
  • 1cupcrumbled feta cheese
  • Directions

  • Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and brown beef– in batches if necessary, adding more oil if needed.
  • Transfer beef to crock pot with a slotted spoon.
  • Reduce heat to medium and add onions to skillet, cooking until soft; add garlic, cinnamon and allspice and cook for 1 minute.
  • Add vinegar, tomato sauce, sugar and bay leaf and stir well to combine.
  • Pour mixture over meat.
  • Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours, until beef is tender.
  • Add feta cheese, cover again, and cook on High for 10 minutes.
  • Discard bay leaf and serve over hot buttered pasta or mashed potatoes.
  • Reviews

  • “IT CANNOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS, DELICIOUS!It smelled wonderful when it was cooking, and tasted a zillion times more wonderful when eating it.The meal was almost done, but DH was leaving for his softball game, he couldn’t resist himself and helped himself into the crockpot and devoured some before I even added the feta cheese.He actually called me on his way home from the game, to tell me how good it was and to make sure there was alot leftover.He dashed into the house, went straight to the kitchen, fixed and ate his dinner in about 7 minutes, and the compliments just rolled out of his mouth the whole 7 minutes.I only used 1 1/2 onion (DH doesn’t like and when he asked what was in it 1/2 way through and I told him, he didn’t even make a face, just more compliments.I also served it over buttered Angel Hair pasta.Thanks Lennie, this one is KEEPER for sure!”

  • “Wow! I have made this twice now, and it is superb!Really didn’t have time to do the crockpot, so put it on the stove both times, and it was excellent! The combination of flavors is fantastic.The whole family loves it, and in fact, daughter requested it again!Thanks for an easy superb dish.”

  • “A fabulous recipie – I’m still drooling thinking about it, because there were no leftovers for me to eat now! I used tomato paste with enough water to make the measurement instead of tomato sauce, and it turned out great. The feta adds a great zing, and my husband, who doesn’t like feta, still loved this dish.”

  • “Don’t feel right rating this since I don’t eat meat and didn’t try it.My husband and son weren’t thrilled with it, though they did eat it.Would it help to say that my kids are (EXTREMELY) picky and my husband isn’t the biggest tomato sauce fan?I do have to say that when I came home from work, the house smelled delicious.One more son has yet to try it… we’ll see!”

  • “Lennie, I’m so sorry to be so long posting a review on this ‘ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC RECIPEE”Quote from one of my book club members. I had to add more tomato sauce as it just seemed too thick. I halved the onions as the ones I had were REALLY big, and increased the feta (can’t get enough of that stuff). I served it over mashed potatoes. I have since fed it to my neighbours and my parents and all agree it’s company quality and darned tasty comfort food.”

  • “This was fabulous.I liked how all of the spices mixed together with the feta cheese.I did not deviate from the recipe and I am glad I didn’t.I am looking forward to the leftovers.Great recipe Lennie.”

  • “Exceptionally delicious yet so easy to make. Everyone in my family love the stew and already asked me to make it again.”

  • “I cooked the meat in a wok, so it was really easy to cook a lot at once. The whole family loved this, including the kids.”

  • “This was my first dish in a brand new 5qt. crockpot. FANTASTIC. I browned the meat before placing in the crockpot and then added red skin potatoes and carrots. After 4 hours of cooking on low, I added 2 1/3 cups of water because I wanted more gravy, then cooked an additional 3 hours. The water didn’t dilute the flavors a bit. This recipe was perfect. The feta really makes this dish – unique blend of flavors.”

  • “I came home from skiing to this wonderful dish in my crockpot.We had it over noodles and I plan to make it again.The feta cheese really gives it some super flavor.This morning when preparing it, I skipped all the meat browning and cooking of the onions and just threw it all in the crockpot and let it cook all day.It turned out great!”

  • “I was a bit skeptical about making this stew when I was reading the ingredients.I never used allspice and cinnamon when cooking with meat.I have only used those spices when baking.I decided to put my worries aside and go ahead with this recipe especially after reading all of the 5-star reviews.I made this last night for dinner and I must admit…I couln’t keep my hands out of the crockpot!The meat was so tender and the flavors were wonderful.It was such a nice change of pace with the different spices and all.During the last 10 minutes of cooking when I added the feta cheese on top and then tasted it when I put it over the buttered noodles was like I was tasting it again for the first time.I don’t know what it is but the feta makes it taste soooooo good.I will be making this again!Great Recipe…Thanks for Sharing!!!!!!!”

  • “Lennie-Thanks for a fabulous recipe! It’s been a cold and rainy weekend here in the Houston area, so this was the kind of food we craved. My biggest problem was keeping my DH out of the crockpot while it cooked! He said the aroma was driving him CRAZY! Followed the recipe exactly and served it over wide pasta noodles- YUM! We’ll definitely have this again!”

  • “I’ve made this atleast a dozen times.The first time I made it was for my parents.The second time was for my brother.He is extremely picky but asked to take home the leftovers! Thanks!”

  • “Excellent! I made this for a New Year’s dinner party and it was gobbled up. I did have one guest who doesn’t like Feta, so I pulled out a serving of the stew before stirring it in — just as good that way.”

  • “Just great!I made this on a cold day, with snow in the forecast, and came home after Christmas shopping to find this delicious dinner all ready!DH and DD loved it and there were no leftovers!I made it just as written and wouldn’t change a thing.Thanks Lennie!”

  • “Delicious!It’s so different from any stew I’ve tried, but ‘comfort’ food all the same.I added extra garlic, just because we love garlic here.I served this over mashed potatoes.Thanks for a real winning recipe, Lennie!”

  • “Mmmmmmm This is really, really good! I can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch now!”

  • “Despite the heat and humidity, I craved a stew of some sort yesterday.I’ve had this in my cookbook for ages,and decided to give it a whirl!Three hours after loading the ingredients into the crockpot, the most amazing smells came forth!I cheated and snuck out a few cubes of beef before it was donebecause I siumply couldn’t contain myself.Then I added the feta cheese, which melted into the beef and broth. Oh yes, it added a rich tanginesss that complimented the cinnamon and allspice!I’m on a low carb/sugar diet, so I used a half packet of sugar substitute for the sugar.This screamed for a bed of hot egg noodles, but I ate it plain with sauteed spinach and cherry tomatoes!This is absolutely wonderful!!!!”

  • “Made this for supper last night exactly the way the recipe stated and it was super!The only thing I did different was to add a bit of water to thin the gravy a bit.Served it with mashed potatoes and broccoli!Delicious!”

  • “I made this today and it was delicious. I did add some water to it at the beginning. I was concerned that it would be too thick and I didn’t want it to burn since I put it on and left for work for the day. It turned out just fine. The feta cheese is a must. I served it over noodles. This is a keeper for sure. Thanks”

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