Whoa. Just, WHOA. I’ve never smelled anything as lovely and drool-inducing as this Slow Cooker Beef Stew. The incredible aroma had my mouth watering for hours as the tender chunks of beef and vegetables simmered away in the flavorful gravy. I couldn’t wait to lift the lid and take a quick taste. And when I finally did? INCREDIBLE. This crockpot beef stew recipe is one you’ll definitely want to make before winter is over!
Ingredients for Beef Stew
Beef stew, in its most basic form, is really simple. It’s just chunky pieces of beef, vegetables, broth, and some herbs and spices, all cooked down until it forms a delicious cozy gravy. But I took this beef stew recipe up a few notches with some extra special ingredients that add more umami and flavor to the stew gravy. The ingredient list may look long, but I promise it’s worth it. Here’s what you’ll need for the most incredible crockpot beef stew ever:
- Beef Stew Meat – Stew meat, which is usually cubed chuck steak, tends to be a tougher cut, but it softens to an extremely tender texture when cooked low and slow (like in a slow cooker).
- All-Purpose Flour – Lightly coating the stew meat in flour and then searing it before it goes into the slow cooker increases the Maillard reaction and deepens the flavor. The flour also helps thicken the stew’s gravy.
- Vegetables – We use a hearty and flavorful mix of carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes to create a naturally flavorful gravy. The vegetables also help thicken the gravy as they break down into the broth.
- Beef Broth – Broth acts as the base for the gravy and provides a nice moist environment for the meat to cook to tender perfection. Make sure to use a broth with great flavor. We like to use Better Than Bouillon to make our broth.
- Seasonings – This is where we really take the flavor to the next level. For this recipe, we combined garlic, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, rosemary, and thyme to make an over-the-top good gravy that is full of layered flavor and umami goodness.
How to Thicken Beef Stew
There are multiple ways to thicken a beef stew, but I prefer to allow the stew to thicken naturally as the vegetables cook and begin to break down into the broth. The stew may look a little watery when you first lift the lid, but once you begin to stir, the starches in the vegetables will begin to thicken the liquid into a gravy-like consistency.
Alternately, if you prefer a firmer vegetable, you can add them in the last hour of cooking and then use a cornstarch slurry (3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water) to thicken your stew. Once the cornstarch is mixed into the broth and brought to a boil, it will thicken into a gravy. This method will result in a less flavorful gravy and a slightly glossy appearance.
What Else Can I add?
This slow cooker beef stew is pretty lush as is, but there are always options if you want to add more! Try adding 8 oz. mushrooms with the vegetables in the beginning (sliced in half) for more vegetable goodness. If you have some red wine on hand, deglaze the skillet used to brown the beef with the wine before proceeding with the gravy. Want it to look extra fancy? Sub 8 oz. pearl onions in place of the chopped onion in the recipe below.
Tips for the Best Beef Stew
- Sear the meat first. Browning the beef gives it an extra deep flavor that can’t be achieved in the moist environment of the slow cooker alone.
- Add extra umami. Adding ingredients to the broth that contain a lot of umami, like Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce, ramps up the flavor in the stew and makes the flavor extra “meaty”.
- Don’t rush it. Stew meat needs to cook low and slow for a long time in order for the tough connective tissues to break down and become tender. If your stew meat is tough, reduce the heat and cook it a little longer.
- Don’t skip the veggies. Including a variety of vegetables in your stew not only adds texture and color, but the vegetables also add a ton of extra flavor to the gravy, so you’ll get a delicious, multi-dimensional flavor in the final stew.
What To Serve with Beef Stew
This crockpot beef stew is a pretty well-rounded meal on its own, but you’ll want to sop up every drop of that deliciously thick brown gravy. I suggest serving your Slow Cooker Beef Stew with some bread on the side, like my Focaccia Rolls, or over a bowl of Creamy Polenta, warm rice, or egg noodles.
Love Beef Stew? You’ve got to try my Chicken Stew next!
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Servings 8 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 2 lbs. red potatoes ($2.40)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 3 carrots ($0.44)
- 4 stalks celery ($0.44)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1.5 lbs. beef stew meat ($11.24)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 2 cups beef broth ($0.27)
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.13)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce ($0.06)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.06)
- 1.5 tsp brown sugar ($0.02)
- 1.5 tsp dried rosemary ($0.15)
- 1.5 tsp dried thyme ($0.15)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and red potatoes. Slice the carrots and celery. Mince the garlic. Place the prepared vegetables in a four or five quart slow cooker.
- Place the stew meat in a bowl and sprinkle the flour, salt, and pepper over top. Toss the meat until it's evenly coated in flour.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Once very hot, add the cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface of the skillet. Add the stew meat and cook, without stirring, until browned on the bottom. Stir and then allow the beef to brown on a second side. Transfer the meat to the slow cooker.
- Turn the heat under the skillet down to medium-low. Add the broth, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, rosemary, and thyme to the skillet. Stir and cook over medium-low until all the browned bits have dissolved off the bottom of the skillet.
- Pour the broth over the ingredients in the slow cooker and everything a good stir.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours.
- After cooking the meat and vegetables should both be tender. Stir the stew well to allow the potatoes to slightly break down and thicken the gravy. Taste the stew and adjust the salt or other seasonings to your liking. Serve hot!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Stew – Step by Step Photos
Prepare the vegetables for the stew first. You’ll need to dice 2 lbs. red potatoes and one yellow onion, slice 4 stalks of celery and 3 carrots, and mince 4 cloves of garlic.
Place all of your chopped vegetables in a 4 or 5-quart slow cooker or crockpot.
Place 1.5 lbs. stew meat (beef chuck) in a bowl. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper over the meat. Toss the beef until it’s evenly coated in flour, salt, and pepper.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high. When it’s very hot, add 2 Tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface of the skillet. Add the stew meat and let it cook until browned on the bottom, then stir and allow it to brown on the second side again. Do not stir often, or the beef will not have a chance to brown. Transfer the beef to the slow cooker.
Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium-low and add 2 cups beef broth, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1.5 tsp brown sugar, 1.5 tsp dried rosemary, and 1.5 tsp thyme. Heat and stir the ingredients until all of the browned bits are dissolved off the bottom of the skillet.
Pour the broth over the ingredients in the slow cooker. It’s okay if the broth does not fully cover the ingredients in the slow cooker at this point.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours.
After four hours on high (or eight hours on low) the stew should look a little like this. The meat and vegetables should both be tender. The gravy may look a little thin at this point, but don’t worry…
Give the stew a good stir and the potatoes will break down a bit and thicken the gravy into a nice rich consistency. Depending on the type of broth used, you may want to taste the stew and add salt to your liking (I did not add any).
Serve the Slow Cooker Beef Stew as is or spooned over a bowl of hot rice or pasta. THIS will keep you warm and full on cold winter days!
This recipe is AMAZING!!! My family loves it and I love that it is so inexpensive to make and well as quick and easy! I have made it twice already and plan on making a regular on my winter menu.
Sounds so good. Thanks for sharing. simon.
This recipe is amazing! It smells so good and it tastes amazing too. I did double the garlic, but I do that with everything. :)
I don’t have a slow cooker and have never used one, so I tried to make this using just a normal stove and pan (even a nonstick pan, against recommendations). I didn’t know if it would work smoothly, but it turned out absurdly good.
I needed to approximately double the broth to get everything covered (I”m assuming it doesn’t matter if things are covered in a slow cooker?) and then I heated it over medium high until boiling. Then I reduced to medium low and covered for, oh, about an hour maybe. I browned the meat in the soup pot and filled it up with liquid and vegetables after browning, so everything in one place. Not sure how, but it still thickened perfectly – I was planning to add cornstarch or smash some potatoes if it didn’t – – and the meat turned out so tender with none of the veggies overdone.
Amazingly good.
Awesome!! I’m so glad it turned out so good for you. In a slow cooker you can use a little less liquid because all of the moisture that comes out of the meat and vegetables stays in the pot, unlike cooking on a stove top (even with a lid), so the volume of liquid increases as it cooks.
I made this for some really picky stew eaters who loved everything about this recipe. I used fresh rosemary and added sweet potatoes and white potatoes. I used sirloin beefalo as well because that was all I had. The flavor of the gravy is what makes this dish. The vegetables are firm and the meat tender. This is a keeper.
This was so amazing. My home smelled so good!! I made this for my family and they loved it the flavor a are delicious. I made mash potatoes and hoped it off with the stew. Delicious :) but when cooking I put the meat in the bottom of the crockpot and then put the veggies on top and it came out perfect. Thanks
Wow is right! Made this last night exactly to the recipe except put two fresh sprigs of rosemary on top(I like rosemary!) This thing came out great..i never stirred it bcause it was a hectic day…some stuff stuck but it was a very tasty crispy goodie for me! the rest was very majorly amazingly good!! I browned the beef very well…that is the key just in case someone else has a problem…I used sirloin tip roast meat…no real fat there! browned in a bit more olive oil than u state but that is to really get the meat sealed/crisped up. THANKYOU!!!! I will never make a dull boring beef stew again!!! (and i kinda thought MY beef stew was good…but it cannot compare!!)
So yum! My only complaint was that it didn’t make enough to last as many meals as I had hoped it would for my family (probably because it was so yum. Next time will double the recipe :)
This is THE most awesome stew recipe I’ve ever tried. The only ingredient I didn’t have on hand was the Dijon mustard…but I did have horseradish mustard and used that instead. Not sure if it made that big of a difference. I thought the flavor was delicious. It did come out thick..which is another reason I loved it..I’m not into soupy stew. Thank-you for sharing this recipe!
I’ve cooked potatoes with crockpot recipes before & they ovef cooked & were terrible…how do the red potatoes not over cook? Do you hold off adding them till half way through? Thanks!
I added them in the beginning with everything else and didn’t find them to be over cooked. :) Perhaps it’s because there are so many other ingredients in there with them.
I’m going to cook this today! I’ll post how it comes out. I wish that there was a printable version without all of the ads. Waste of paper!
There is a printable version. :) On the main recipe card, there is a “print” button just under the thumbnail image on the top right (near the star ratings). Click that and the recipe opens in a separate tab all by itself.
This was delicious!!! We loved it!f
Your recipe looks sooo delicious! One question I have like 8 people coming for dinner and was wondering can I double everything by 4 and it will still come out the same! One time I made beef stew and doubled everything and it ended up very dry with barley any gravy! What should I do so his doesn’t happen again?
My 6 quart slow cooker was pretty full with the ingredient amounts listed, so I’m not sure you’ll be able to quadruple the recipe. You could always add more broth if the stew becomes too thick.
I used two Russet potatoes instead of red, and 1/2 lb baby carrots. Worked great!
Is there any way to make this recipe with frozen stew meat?
Unfortunately I’ve never used frozen stew meat, so I’m not sure what modifications you’d need to make. I don’t ever suggest putting frozen meat into a slow cooker, though.