Crockpot Beef Stew

Nothing says comfort food on a cold night like a hot bowl of this homemade Crockpot Beef Stew. Tender chunks of beef, veggies, and potatoes cook together in a delicious tomato and beef broth. This is a flavorful one-pot hearty meal the whole family will love.

Easy Crock Pot Beef Stew

This old fashioned beef stew recipe is just one of those classic meals that never goes out of style. And one of most awesome things about this flavorful beef stew is you can throw all the ingredients in the crock pot, set it and let the slow cooker do the work for you. It’s an ideal solution for when you want a homecooked meal on busy weeknights.

Because stew has everything you need for a complete meal, meat and vegetables, the only thing missing is a big piece of crusty bread, Homemade Cornbread or these tasty Texas Roadhouse Rolls to serve with it.

Why We Love this Recipe

Savory Flavors: This recipe is loaded with so much flavor. One of the favorite things about this stew is the small bit of added brown sugar. It’s a secret ingredient in this recipe that makes it just a little different than other recipes. It doesn’t add sweetness to the stew at all. It mellows out the flavors from the tomatoes and blends with the other ingredients to give the stew a warm and rich flavor.

Easy Stew Recipe: This is one of my favorite meals to make because it requires very few steps. You simply chop the veggies, add them with the stew meat to the slow cooker and right before it’s done, you thicken the sauce with a little corn starch. It is that simple, making it the perfect meal for beginner cooks.

Versatility: Beef stew recipes always start with tender beef stew meat. But it’s such a versatile recipe, you can add or take away any vegetable your family prefers. You can add parsnips, whole kernel corn, English peas, chopped cabbage or any vegetables that can stand up to slow cooker over the course of several hours.

What’s Needed to this Slow-Cooker Beef Stew Recipe?

ingredients in white bowls on white counter: mushrooms; onions, water chesnuts, brown sugar, celery, tomato paste, carrots, green beans, potatoes, beef cubes, beef broth

2, 10.5 oz. cans beef broth
2 lbs. Stew beef, cut into 1-in cubes (bite size)
4 medium onions, chopped (you can pearl onions instead)
4 celery stalks, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
2, 8 oz. cans water chestnuts, drained
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1, 16-oz can green beans, drained
1, 22 oz. can of tomatoes, chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
5 Tablespoons cornstarch
Salt and black pepper, to taste

How to Make this Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe:

hing says comfort food on a cold night like a hot bowl of this homemade Crockpot Beef Stew. Tender chunks of beef, veggies, and potatoes cook together in a delicious tomato and beef broth.

Season the raw beef tips with a little salt and pepper.
Combine the beef with all the remaining ingredients, except the corn starch, in crockpot and stir.
With the lid on, cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low heat for about 8-10 hours.
Right before it is done add the cornstarch and equal parts of cold water to a small bowl. Whisk it well until the cornstarch is completely mixed and no clumps are visible. Gradually add the cornstarch slurry to the stew a little at a time, stirring the whole time. Check the consistency as you go as you may need a little more or less depending on how thick you want the broth.

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to about 5 days

Tips for the Best Beef Stew

Meal Prep: Stew isn’t just great for the winter months. It makes a great meal anytime of the year. Make up a batch and freeze it! It is one of the best slow cooker recipes for meal prep. Place the stew in freezer bags and lay flat in the freezer. Once it’s frozen you can stack them up in the freezer to save space. Thaw out a bag and you can have a healthy home cooked dinner on the table in a flash!

Adjusting the Flavor: When it comes to seasoning the stew, this really is one of those easy recipes you can add your own special touch to. Add in any of your favorite seasonings, like bay leaves, fresh parsley, garlic or a blend of Italian seasoning.

For a tangier stew, add Worcestershire sauce or a little balsamic vinegar to the crock pot while cooking.

For a more intense tomato flavor you can add a can of tomato paste and stir it in well. It will really add a lot of robust tomato flavor.

Chop in Advance: The only time-consuming part of this recipe is chopping the vegetables. If you’re wanting to put this stew on to cook before you leave for work in the morning, you can chop all the vegetables the night before. Then you just have to add everything to the crockpot, set the temp and timer and you’re out the door.

crockpot with wooden ladle full of beef stew

Beef Stew FAQs

Do You Have to Brown Stew Meat Before Putting it in the Crock Pot?

This is a question that gets asked a lot and it all boils down to time and personal preference. It is not required to brown the meat beforehand. If you have the extra time, you can certainly take that extra step.

To do so, if your slow cooker has a sauté feature, just heat up a little olive oil in the bottom of the insert. If yours doesn’t have that feature, you can use a large skillet. While the oil is heating, season about 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour with a little bit of salt and pepper. Toss the beef cubes with the flour mixture.

Sauté them in the oil just until they are brown on all sides. For an extra depth of flavor, you can deglaze the insert or skillet with a little red wine to scrape up all those browned bits of flavor, but of course that is totally optional.

What is the Best Meat for Crockpot Stew?

To make a really good beef stew, we typically use beef chuck roast that we cube up into the bit sized chunks. Chuck roast meat releases more gelatin as it cooks, making really tender and moist tips. If you can’t find a chuck roast, look for eye roast or a chuck shoulder.

You can also use the stew meat that is already cut up for you at the grocery store. But the only problem you may run into with that is you never really know what cut of beef they used. You can always ask the butcher to cut up a chuck roast for you to save you a little prep time.

If you are on a really tight budget, you can even use cooked ground beef. One advantage to that is, it takes less time to cook. Once the veggies are tender the stew is ready!

Can I Make this Recipe Stove Top?

You can certainly make this same beef stew using a stove top method. Follow the same instructions for the crockpot method. Bring the stew to a boil over medium high heat then turn it down to low and let it simmer until the beef and veggies are tender. You should never leave anything unattended on the stove, so stay close by so you can check on it and stir it occasionally.

This is such an easy beef stew recipe; you can make it several ways. You can cook this stew in the oven. Just add all the ingredient to an oven safe Dutch oven and cook it on 350 degrees until everything is tender.

Or, if you are in a hurry, you can even make this an Instant Pot beef stew. The cooking time for the instant pot method will vary but it typically takes about 35-40 minutes of pressure cooking followed by about 10 minutes of natural release time.

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