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Slow Cooker Mexican Beef Stew

A slow cooker stew of beef, tomatoes, onions, chili, taco seasoning, black beans, and corn.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Slow Cooker Mexican Beef Stew

Time9 to 11 hours on low

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the beef

  1. Mix beef, tomatoes, frozen onions and chili powder in a 3½- to 4-quart slow cooker.

  2. Cover and cook on low heat setting 9 to 11 hours or until beef is tender.

Finish the stew

  1. Stir in taco seasoning mix, using a wire whisk.

  2. Stir in black beans and corn.

  3. Cover and cook on high heat setting 15 to 30 minutes or until thickened.

Notes

  1. Note: This recipe was tested in slow cookers with heating elements in the side and bottom of the cooker, not in cookers that stand only on a heated base.

  2. For slow cookers with just a heated base, follow the manufacturer's directions for layering ingredients and choosing a temperature.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

444Calories
36 gProtein
16 gFat
38 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Taconot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tomato + beanstop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,713 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + beanstop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,242 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef stew meat
Long, slow cooking breaks down connective tissue, making the meat tender and the broth richer.
Whole tomatoes
Provide the liquid base and bright acidity that carry the chili flavors through the stew.
Frozen onions
Soften and turn sweet as they cook, adding depth to the sauce.
Black beans
Hold their shape in the stew and add body and earthy substance.
Mexicorn with red and green peppers
Adds pops of sweetness and pepper aroma to the finished stew.

The step that matters

Cook on low until the beef is fully tender. Stew meat is tough until its connective tissue slowly converts to gelatin over long, gentle heat. Stopping early leaves the beef chewy, so check tenderness before moving on.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, meat, tomato, beans, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Okrafits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, meat, tomato, beans, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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