Santa Fe Stew Recipe Made in the Crockpot

My father-in-law introduced me to this recipe.  I love it as it doesn't matter what cut of roast you purchase as it always becomes tender and tastes amazing.  As usual I made a few changes to the original recipe, but the major change is I use the crockpot to cook it all day.  The benefits are twofold:  your meat will always be tender and you don't have to slave over a stove for two hours making sure the stew doesn't burn.  Just throw the ingredients into the crockpot in the morning and by the afternoon your house will smell amazing and you will be able to sit down to a delicious stew.  I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does.

Santa Fe Stew Ingredients:
2 lbs. Beef - Cubed
2-3 Onions - Diced (I like my onions nice and large)
2 Cans Rotel
1 Qt. Tomatoes
2 t. Beef Bouillion
1-2 T. Sugar
2 Garlic Cloves, Minced or 2-3 t. Garlic Powder
1 t. Cumin (I always add so much more cumin - probably about 1 T.)
15 oz. Pinto Beans, rinsed
Salt and Pepper to taste






Brown the beef in a bit of oil.  I usually use my caste iron, but my mother gave me this pan for Christmas and I thought I would try it out.








Add the browned beef to your crockpot along with all the ingredients but the beans.  Last year I made my own Rotel and this time instead of plain tomatoes I added a quart jar of my homemade stewed tomatoes.  I have even used some tomato soup that was left over from a previous meal.  I bet some fresh tomatoes would taste amazing in this stew too.  Really anything goes.





Let cook on high for 6 hours.  Add the beans 1 hour before serving and continue to cook.  I haven't purchased canned beans in ages, but whenever I soak and cook beans I always make extra and freeze.  This time I had mixed beans in the freezer and so that is what I used.  I am pretty sure black beans would be amazing in this stew along with a bit of corn.




Before serving I always taste this and will add more cumin, garlic, bouillon, salt and pepper if needed.  Plus sometimes I will add some chili powder and cayenne pepper if I want it to have more of a kick.  We serve this with shredded cheese and sour cream.