For this Slow Cooker Beef Stew, we combine tender beef, potatoes, carrots, onion, and celery. It’s great for a busy weeknight or even a Sunday dinner. Your family will LOVE it!
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
I enjoy making hearty and comforting dinners during the fall months. Using the CrockPot for family meals makes dinners a breeze. Having dinner cooking while completing household tasks is perfect. For Sunday dinners, I often make Slow Cooker Pot Roast or this recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Stew.
My family loves comfort food, especially meat and, potatoes. So Beef Stew happens to be one of their favorite meals. I serve it with store-bought bread or rolls to keep it simple.
To make the best Slow Cooker Beef Stew, you will need beef. What cut of meat is best for Hearty Beef Stew? I usually use a chuck roast or even a round steak. Best cuts are not needed because the meat will slow cook and tenderize the longer it cooks.
We use potatoes and carrots for our veggies in Slow Cooker Beef Stew, just like we use with our Slow Cooker Meatloaf. I also add onion and celery for additional flavor. The vegetables are always soft and tender.
For this stew recipe, I use a few spices, beef broth, and a package of dry beef gravy mix. The flavor profile is fantastic. Even the pickiest eaters will come back for seconds.
The longer the stew cooks, the better it gets! The meat becomes more tender over time. The sauce thickens and becomes more flavorful. Also, the veggies get softer. If I am in a pinch, I cook on high for 4-6 hours. Most of the time, I slow cook for about 8-10 hours on low.
For my large family, I often double this recipe. I enjoy having leftovers because the stew tastes even better the next day. Leftover beef stew can be refrigerated for 3-4 days or place it in the freezer; it freezes well.
Beef Stew Ingredients
- Beef roast or Cubed Beef Stew Meat
- Broth
- Gravy Mix
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Onion
- Celery
- Garlic
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Flour
- Paprika
- Thyme
- Salt
- Pepper
- Bay leaves
How to make Beef Stew in a Crock Pot
First, you need to trim and cube the meat unless you have purchased pre-cubed beef stew meat. Then, place in the slow cooker. You will need at least a four-quart CrockPot. I use my 6, 7, or 8 quarts.
Next, in a small bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and pepper.
Then, sprinkle flour mixture on top of the stew. Stir to coat all of the stew meat
Add all of the vegetables to the crock.
In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the water, gravy mix, and spices.
Pour over the meat and veggies.
Next, add the beef stock and stir. If you would like an even more flavorful stew, add a cup of dry wine and omit a cup of the beef broth.
Top with Bay Leaf. Cover and cook. Remove Bay Leaf before serving.
Other stew recipes you may enjoy:
Instant Pot Beef Stew– make a quick stew in a pressure cooker!
Guinness Beef Stew– This is my hubby’s favorite stovetop beef stew recipe.
Hearty Beef Stew from Food Network!
This recipe is updated. I originally posted on January 16, 2014.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Beef Roast cubed
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 large Onion chopped
- 1 tsp minced Garlic
- 1 lb Potatoes cubed
- 1 lb Baby Carrots
- 2 stalks Celery chopped
- 2 cup Water
- 1 packet Brown Gravy mix
- 1/2 tsp Thyme
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Bay Leaves
- 2 cups Beef Broth
Instructions
- Place meat in slow cooker.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and pepper'
- Sprinkle flour mixture over meat and stir to coat.
- Add onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots and celery.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together water, gravy mix, thyme, paprika and worcestershire and pour into slow cooker.
- Add bay leaf and beef broth.
- Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.
- Remove bay leaf before serving.
Your recipes are always in a crock pot. Do you ever have recipes using a pressure cooker?
Hi Betty! I have been doing more recipes lately with my Instant Pot. To see the ones I have added to my blog, you can search for “Instant Pot” in the search. I have more pressure cooker recipes coming your way this month too.
How many does this recipe feed, and are there usually any leftovers? Trying to decide if i should double it for my family of 4 adults.
What can I use instead of brown gravy mix? Can I just use cornstarch?
hows does the beef stew get thick like in the picture because mine looks like a soup right now it’s very watery
Love this one! Have made it twice and it was enjoyed by a picky husband, a picky mother-in-law and a toddler with only four teeth :)
Do you put the cubed beef in the crockpot raw?
Hello I am making the slow cooker beef stew and cant wait for it to be done. I was just wondering will the stew become thick after a while? Right now its thin
This was fantastic! I made it for dinner tonight
and it was a huge hit. It was the best stew I ever
made and everyone loved it. Thank you!
Hi Tina! I am so happy to hear your family enjoyed this Crock-Pot recipe as much as ours does. I think I will make this one again this weekend as we all really like it best too!
Do you put the 2 cups of water in before you coat the meat with the flour mixture? Or the dry ingredients first and then the liquids?
OMG !!! So delicious and easy ! This was my first time over making beef stew,, came out so good,, guests were impressed ! Thank you !
Just put this in the Crock-Pot; it smells so good, I can’t wait for it to finish! Thanks!
Has anyone tried it on high for the 4-6 hrs? Sadly I’m not sure my schedule will let me cook it for the full 10-12 on low.
I have tried it for the full 6 on high yes. It is great
This was outstanding! Followed the recipe exactly. I thought it was going to be a little potent at first, but the flavors developed wonderfully! A keeper! Thank you so much for the great recipe, or rather, your hubs :)
Followed this recipe exactly and it was delicious as is with lots of yummy gravy. Will make again!
This looks SO amazing! I’m definitely going to try it out. I have a random question though, where did you get that large Blue Willow bowl? I have some small blue willow bowls and I love that one!
When do you use the powdered sugar for the heart shaped brownies?
Hi Candy! I am so sorry about that! I just updated the Heart Brownies to reflect where the powdered sugar is added. I let my hubby type my recipes for me sometimes and he must have forgot to add that part in. Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!