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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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!
A really delicious, solid beef stew, with a nicely complex sauce; really well done. I could really smell the rosemary and garlic in particular. I ate this with some dinner rolls for a week and was very full and happy, and the smell while it was cooking was very good. You can’t go wrong with this one.
This is one of my favorite stew recipes. I’ve never been able to sucessfully make stew until I found this recipe. I’ve made it twice before and it’s currently filling my house with the wonderful scent of rosemary and garlic as I type this. I do usually add an extra cup of beef broth, because I like my stew a little looser than it comes out. However, it’s a fantastic recipe and I recommend it heartily.
This recipe is AMAZING. I will be making it tomorrow for the fourth time because my husband absolutely loves it. I usually add more stew meat and we are big on sweet potatoes in our house so I do half regular and half sweet. I add the sweet potatoes later in the cooking process because they tend to break down easily and turn into mush if cooked too long. Thank you for this wonderful recipe, and it has been added to my book of “cook this at least 4 times in the fall/winter” meals.
recept stoofpot
Can you use cornstarch instead of flour to coat the meat for a gluten-free option?
I don’t think that will work quite the same because the browning action of the flour creates a really unique flavor and I don’t think cornstarch browns the same way.
I used gluten-free flour and didn’t change anything else in the recipe and it still came out great!
First let me say that this is my absolute favorite stew. As a girl with a lot of allergies (including gluten, potatoes, and tomatoes) it’s very easily adaptable without losing any of the amazing flavor. For recipes that call for flour as a thickener, I replace it with brown rice flour and follow the amount and instructions as originally written. Also most soy sauces contain wheat so I use tamari which has the exact same flavor.
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I love love love all the step by step pictures. Can’t wait to try to the recipe. Thank you.
Would you be able to cook it on low for 8 hours? Or is that too long?
Usually you can cook on low for 8 hours if a recipe says high for 4 hours. I haven’t actually tried it with this one, but I think it should work.
I just had to let you know that this beef stew was awesome. I will be making it with chicken next with either noodles or dumplings. I had never made a stew before. You made it awesomely easy. Thank you
I cook it all the time on Low for 8. Turns out perfectly.
What size slowcooker do you have? (5 Qt, 6 or 7 etc.)
I don’t know for sure, but I believe it is around 6 quarts.
I made this recipe last night and it was so good!!! I made a double batch in a 6 quart crock-pot and it all fit. There wasn’t enough broth so I took 4 cups of beef broth and brought it to a boil. Then I added some watered cornstarch and thickened it up and added it to the stew. There were 8 adults and a little one and it disappeared. We had frybread to go with. Thank you for this recipe!!
Hey Beth,
I’ve finally cracked and got myself a slow cooker because this recipe looked sooooo amazing. I’m planning on leaving this on low while I’m out at work but I’m wondering if it would be bad to do all the prep the night before and just turn it on to cook before I head out in the morning? Or should I do all the prep in the morning before I head to work?
Thanks, Molly
Well, you’d have to refrigerate it over night if you did the prep the night before and I have to say I’m honestly not sure how that would affect it. It would surely lengthen the cooking time because everything would be chilled to start, but I’m not sure about any other unexpected effects.
If I browned the meat and prepared the sauce and veggies, do you think this could work as a freezer meal to put on the crockpot at a later date?
It sounds like it might work, but I have to admit I’ve never tried that technique, so I can’t say for sure.
Hi,
This looks amazing, but can it be made in a large saucepan on the hob with a lid on? I don’t have a slow cooker :(
Yep, you can let it simmer over low (bring it to a boil first, then reduce to low) and it will actually cook faster. Probably an hour or so?
This looks amazing! Could I double the sauce/gravy without doubling the rest of the recipe and still end up with the same flavor with more liquid?
Also, if I add frozen green beans should I add them in the beginning or the end?
Sorry if I’m asking really obvious questions, I’m VERY new to cooking! :)
I haven’t tried doubling the sauce, but I suspect that would make the stew as a whole a little more tangy/potent. The vegetables absorb and mellow the flavors quite a bit, so if you double the sauce without doubling the rest it might just be a bit stronger. I think I would add the green beans in the beginning. And no worries, those were all GREAT questions! :)
What a Winner!
Fantastic flavor, fairly simple prep, and I scored a deal on the stew meat to boot. I added 1 oz of red wine vinegar and a can of diced tomatoes but otherwise stayed pretty true to the recipe. I already had fresh rosemary and thyme so I doubled the amount of each and they both added a subtle herbaceous note.