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!
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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!
Made a batch this past weekend and it was the best beef stew I have ever made! I was a little skeptical of the soy-dijon sauce, but I kept to the recipe and am glad I did. The resulting flavors are amazing. The soy and dijon work with the herbs and beef broth to make a flavorful base for the beef and veggies to cook in. Next time I think i may add some barley as well. I look forward to trying more of your recipes soon.
I made this last Sunday for supper when it was really cold and dreary, along with some yeast rolls. The stew came out absolutely amazing! My husband said it was the perfect meal :) I will definitely be making it again soon!
I already have a love affair with your sausage and lentil stew recipe, and you had to go and introduce me to this! I made it 2 days ago and am making it again tonight!!! I didn’t have any dijon so just left that out, but used some red wine to help deglaze the pan. Also, I didn’t have any beef broth, but I did have chicken stock and when ahead and used it instead. As you said, the smell is AMAZING and the taste is OH MY GOODNESS I’M HOOKED! Thank you for the great recipe!!! Can’t wait to try it with all the right ingredients! :)
Do you think you this could be made with pork shoulder instead of beef?
Hmm, I don’t see why not! :)
I made this tonight with 1.3 lbs of pork tenderloin and it was amazing! I didn’t change anything else. Thanks Beth!
Really enjoyed this. We will be making this many more times this winter. Added one bay leaf and one cup of red wine as I put everything in the slow cooker.
This is amazing. So good that it made me leave a comment. My New favorite recipe on this site.
Great recipe, thanks!
I don’t have slow cooker but big metal pot on the lowest heat was ok.
It’s already really cold where I live so this sounds like an amazing dinner for this week BUT my sweetie doesn’t like onions. : (
Any suggestions for a substitute or could I just leave it out altogether? Thanks!
You could probably leave it out all together, but because of the way this all cooks down, there is not a strong oniony flavor from them. It just adds a nice layer to the flavor.
This came out amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe…we’ve been using the slow cooker beef stew spice packets from the grocery store…your recipe is so much better :-)
This is cooking in my slow cooker right now and it smells amazing!! I can’t wait to try it- this was a great way to use up a bunch of my CSA veggies :-)
This is so good!!
I must have a really small slow cooker though because I could only fit about half of everything into it – I think I did put a couple extra carrots and pieces of celery in there though . . . ;-) So, I put the other half in the fridge, and will make it again!
This is so good!
Thanks!
Help!
This recipe looks awesome. I just out it all together. My crockpot was entirely full but when I poured the liquid in it didn’t come close to covering the mixture (maybe just like almost a third!) is that ok? Should I add more broth? Or will the mixture break down and release more liquid as it cooks? I’ve never used a crockpot before!
Thanks!
Yes, it’s okay. The liquid will NOT cover the ingredients. The meat and vegetables let off a lot of liquid as they cook, so the liquid level will rise. :)
I made this last night and it was amazing! I couldn’t help myself and added a dark lager in place of some of the broth, and also threw in a few extra carrots/celery to use up what I had. It was perfectly done at 4 hours and I couldn’t wait to eat it!
YUM!!
This is bubbling away in our crockpot right now, in anticipation of the Twin Cities’ first real winter storm of the season. I went by the recipe as much as I could, although I had to use bouquet garni rather than straight rosemary. I can’t wait to taste it! A question: is there a reason you didn’t add a bay leaf? I’m guessing that the sauce combination will add the needed depth, but I’m curious.
I just didn’t think about it. :)
This recipe turned out VERY well! It was very important to let the stew cook long enough for the meat to get tender, and also, I think my crock pot runs hot, because I had to add some beef broth. I’ll probably add a bay leaf next time. My husband loved the stew but mentioned he missed smelling the bay leaf when he came in the house. (I didn’t know bay leaves smell!) Thank you for a terrific – and inexpensive recipe!
I bought my first cast iron skillet and seasoned it just for this recipe. I’m about to start it!