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!
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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!
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Equipment
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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!
I grow rosemary in my garden. Do you think I could make this with fresh rosemary?
Absolutely. That would be amazing!
Made this for dinner tonight, SO YUMMY! I added about a cup of red wine along with a bay leaf and it was a good choice! This is an amazing and easy recipe that fills the home with such a beautiful aroma. Love it :-)
Yum! I really wanted to add red wine to mine, too.
I’m thinking of adding barley, because I love beef and barley soup. Any idea when I would do that? I’m wondering if I can throw it in the crock pot with the rest, or if I should cook it separately and then serve stew over it, like pasta.
I haven’t tried it, but I think I would probably add it with the rest. It might get kind of soft that way, though, so if that bothers you, cook it separately.
Would you need to add more beef broth if you added the barley in with the rest of the ingredients?
Growing up my mother always cooked the barley separate so it would not make the leftovers all mushey. I think it is worth the extra pot to wash so the stew says good the next day.
Made this for me and my husband this week. Oh my goodness! It made the house smell incredible all day (some visitors kept trying to invite themselves for dinner by commenting on how good it smelled), and tasted great. My husband and I both agreed it was even better on day 2. Fantastic recipe, love your site! Thank you!
love your blog! Would this stew taste good a tad bit spicey? I’m thinking of adding cayenne pepper when I sauté the garlic? Also, I don’t have flour, would this still taste good without it? I know it won’t be as think ….
The flour is responsible for a good bit of flavor because it browns in the skillet with the meat, but I suspect it would still be pretty good without it. And yes, it will definitely be more on the watery side. I tend to like anything spicy, so I can’t see a little cayenne being a bad thing. :)
This looks freaking amazing! I probably wouldn’t spend that much on stew beef, I usually buy when it’s about $3.99/lb (I think? maybe more). $6/lb seems rather high to me. But, it looks so good I might have to buy some meat not on sale and cook this up next week!!
I made this for dinner Sunday night and even though I forgot to add the brown sugar, it still turned out so amazing! So easy and delicious. Will definitely make this again and again. :)
I don’t generally make beef stew, but this sounds really good. Do you have to buy beef stew meat? I have some extra steaks in the freezer that I sometimes use in stroganoff (cut into cubes). Do you think that would work? Or is the idea behind the beef stew meat that it is a really tough cut and this makes it more tender? I don’t like when meat just becomes mush…..
I used “older” frozen steak once for beef stew because I refused to throw the meat out and it came out great. Because it wasn’t as tough of a cut of beef as “stew” meat, it was cooked tender a lot faster than the time that the recipe called for so you might want to cut back on the cooking time or just check it…..how’s that for a run on sentence!
Yes, that’s exactly what stew meat is. :) Really tough meat that’s just no good any other way! Ha!
In my head I think we are best friends! This dish was amazing and got better the next day. I used my dutch oven on the stove top and it came out great. Thank you Beth of this AMAZING blog.
I made this last night and it was do die for! The extra step of browning in the pan was well worth it.
This one is going to make my wife VERY happy! I usually make your vegetarian recipes, but this rich and meaty one is going on the menu for next week. Love, love, love your Web site. Thank you for all the lessons and ideas and encouragement.
How big is your crockpot? I had to halve the portions to fit in mine.
I think it’s about 5 quarts.
This looks lovely! To keep the price of beef down and the meat lean, I often buy a roast on sale and then cut it into chunks myself. I know it’s more that 1 1/2 pounds but I can portion it out into freezer bags for later use.
Made this tonight, sans slow cooker as we didn’t have time, and it was delicious. The mustard added a wonderful flavor I didn’t expect and I think I’ll actually add touch more next time.
Yum! Another way to pinch pennies is buying a cheaper cut (beef chuck or round) and cutting into stew pieces at home. Stores usually charge more for precut items.