Slow Cooker Beef Stew
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Slow Cooker Beef Stew is comforting and delicious packed with carrots, potatoes, and tender beef. This recipe is tomato-free — just a rich brown gravy that can be adapted to your own tastes. Easily converted to oven or stovetop cooking methods, too!
As soon as the leaves start changing, I start craving soups. This Slow Cooker Beef Stew is a family favorite because it cooks all day and is a whole meal in one Crockpot!
This beef stew recipe is packed with beef flavor from the stew meat, beef broth, beef stock concentrate, AND beef bullion in the mix. Add your favorite root vegetables for the ultimate winter comfort meal.
If you’re looking for more delicious beef recipes, try this; Beef and Noodles! The same flavor profile with the addition of homemade egg noodles.
It’s fairly adaptable, too! I do not have a favorite kind of meat for this, but I find myself using chuck tender roast quite a bit.
Ingredients
- Stew meat — you can use another cut of beef if you’d rather, but this is the cheapest and pre-cubed!
- Flour
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Condensed beef broth
- Beef broth
- Worcestershire sauce
- Beefer Upper
- Vegetables — your choice!
- Frozen peas
- Frozen pearl onions
I stick with the traditional potatoes, carrots, pearl onions, and peas because that’s what I like in my stew. Sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabagas, or any other sturdy vegetable could be added!
I do not use any tomato base in mine, but feel free to add it. I prefer the pure beef flavor that shines through without it.
HOW TO MAKE BEEF STEW IN THE CROCKPOT
- First, season your beef! I put the salt and pepper in a little flour in a ziplock bag for easy cleanup. Coat the beef for a nice char on the outside. The flour will also help thicken the stew along the way.
- Next, sear your beef until it’s browned on all sides.
- Time to simmer! Put the beef in your slow cooker or in a Dutch oven and add your broths and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and let simmer. Get ready for a house of delicious smells!
- Once it’s simmered for a few hours, add the veggies and cook another couple of hours.
- Serve once beef stew has thickened and enjoy!
For the deepest flavors, allow the meat to thoroughly brown during the initial preparation. All of the browned bit of flour and meat juices will add a ton of flavor.
Alternate Cooking Methods
No slow cooker? No problem!
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This beef stew recipe can easily be converted to the oven. Just set your oven to 300 degrees F and use an oven-safe pot with a lid.
For the oven method, cook until the meat is tender, about 4 to 6 hours.
I have also simmered this stew on the stovetop! When cooking on the stovetop, make sure that it’s cooking at barely a simmer at the end, or the potatoes will turn into mush.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BEEF STEW
Now, I know that beef stew is supposed to be the complete meal in a pot and already has a starch…HOWEVER.
I also know that plain butter grits are usually served at breakfast. But I love to eat grits with my Slow Cooker Beef Stew.
When the gravy from the stew gets mixed into the grits, it becomes creamy goodness. Another breakfast food, biscuits, makes an appearance on these nights.
MORE AMAZING BEEF RECIPES YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS
- Slow Cooker Mexican Barbacoa Recipe
- Easy Salisbury Steak
- Easy Ground Beef Goulash
- Cuban Beef Cigars
- Ground Beef Chili
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Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1.5 pounds stew meat
- Vegetable Oil
- 1 can Condensed Beef Broth undiluted
- 2 cups Beef Broth from a box or can
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Beefer Upper or other beef enhancers
- 6 to 8 cups large cubed vegetables potatoes, and carrots are traditional but use any vegetable you like
- 12 ounces Frozen Peas optional
- 12 ounces frozen pearl onions optional
Instructions
- Place flour, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag. Seal bag and shake to mix.
- Open bag, place stew meat into a bag.
- Reseal bag and shake to coat beef evenly.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of skillet.
- Add meat to skillet and cook, stirring often, until meat is browned on all sides.
- Removed beef from skillet and place in a slow cooker or in a large pan with a lid.
- Add the beef broths, Worcestershire sauce, and Beefer-Upper.
- Stir to combine.
- Cook on high in slow cooker for 4 to 6 hours or until meat is tender. Or preheat oven to 350 and bake for 4 to 6 hours until meat is tender.
- Add vegetables to slow cooker or pan and stir to combine. Replace lid and continue to cook until vegetables are tender. This may take 45 minutes up to 2 hours. Cooking time will depend on the size and type of vegetables.
- When vegetables are tender, remove from the oven or turn off the slow cooker. If a thicker stew is desired, mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/2 cup of water. Add to stew and continue cooking until stew has thickened. Remove from heat.
- Add peas and mix them in, if using. The residual heat will cook the peas.
- Serve with grits and buttered biscuits for a classic dinner my way.
Notes
- Cook time provided includes 4 to 6 hours of unattended simmering time.
- Beef stew can be made on the stovetop by using a covered pan or Dutch oven and slow simmering until the meat is tender, then adding the vegetables and cooking until done.
- To make in the oven use an ovensafe covered pan and cook at 350ºF for 2 to 3 hours until the meat is tender, then adding the vegetables and baking for anouther 45 minutes to an hour or until the vegetables are tender.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and may vary based on exact ingredients used. For accuracy, consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
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Elizabeth (Beth) Mueller
Elizabeth (Beth) Mueller is a food journalist, CEO of Pear Tree Kitchen, and co-creator of Food Blogger Help. She also has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a registered nurse licensed in the State of Oklahoma. When she has free time between writing, blogging, and cooking, she can be found volunteering as an RN with the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps.
I do not understand step 5. Can you explain. I think there are extra words in there that are confusing. Thanks!
Hi Barbara!
I have fixed the recipe card, it was backwards. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6.
Hope this helps!
Can this be done in a slow cooker?
Hi Michelle!
This is made in the slow cooker, I only brown the meat on the stovetop, but finish it in the slow cooker.
Hope this helps!
Sorry this is probably a dumb question but what is beefer upper & where can you buy it from? Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, my son can’t have red food (tomatoes) in his diet & it’s been really hard trying to come up with recipe ideas.
Hi Suzette!
Never be afraid to ask questions, (especially here) there is no such thing as a dumb question when it comes to cooking! Beefer-Upper is just a beef enhancing flavor. It has gotten harder to find over the years. Any beef concentrate, like Better Than Bouillon can be substituted. You could even skip it.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for your reply
Can this recipe be used in an Instant Pot?
Hi Lori!
I have never used an instant pot for this recipe, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be. I would skip the flour on the beef and saute it in the instant pot. Let it form a crust like you were browning roast. Add only half of the beef broth, keep your veggies in big pieces, and set the peas aside for last. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Turn the IP back to the saute setting. Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with a couple of tablespoons of water and add to the stew along with the peas (and onions if using). Stir until it is thickened. Turn the pot the keep warm setting until ready to serve. Hope this helps!