Slow cooker beef stew is a cozy (and easy!) meal.
This crockpot beef stew recipe is chock full of tender chunks of beef and hearty root veggies all slow-cooked in a rich and meaty broth.
This crock pot beef stew is an all-in-one meat and veggie meal. It has great flavor and is designed specifically for the slow cooker. I make this beef stew if using the stovetop.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: This beef stew has a rich brown gravy and lots of veggies for a homestyle stew the whole family will love.
- Technique: Sear the beef to add extra flavor—do this in batches because if you overcrowd the pan, you won’t get a good sear.
- Ingredient Tip: Use chuck roast if possible for the most tender beef.
- Swaps: You can use other root vegetables in addition to or instead of those called for in this recipe.
- Serving suggestions: You can skip the potatoes in the stew and spoon it over mashed potatoes.
Ingredients Tips for Crock Pot Beef Stew
- Beef: For the most tender results, use cubed chuck roast. Stewing beef, which is usually trimmings from steak, can also be used.
- Vegetables: Onion, carrots, and celery add great flavor.
- Potatoes: Potatoes slightly thicken the broth and make it this stew hearty and filling. Waxy potatoes (like red, Yukon gold, or baby potatoes) hold their shape better than russets, but either can be used.
- Broth: This beefy and flavorful broth is the foundation of crockpot beef stew – use beef stock or broth. You can substitute one cup of broth for dry red wine for a boost of flavor—try Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. Add it to the pan in Step 4 to deglaze it.
- Vegetable juice: Vegetable juice adds a flavor boost without making the broth too tomato-forward. It can be replaced with a reduced sodium version or bloody mary mix.
How to Make Crockpot Beef Stew
- Brown seasoned beef in a skillet, transfers to the crockpot and cook onion before adding it in.
- Deglaze the skillet with broth or wine, pour into the crockpot, and add the remaining ingredients except peas (full recipe below).
- Cook until beef is tender, stir in a cornstarch slurry to thicken, then add peas and heat through.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Holly’s Helpful Hints
- Instead of a cornstarch slurry, you can thicken crockpot beef stew with potato flakes.
- If prep time is short, toss in a bag of frozen vegetable medley in Step 5.
Storing Leftover Stew
Leftover slow cooker beef stew can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen in zippered bags for up to 4 months.
Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop. Feel free to toss in any extra veggies from the fridge!
Crockpot Comfort in a Bowl
Did your family love this Crockpot Beef Stew recipe? Leave a rating and comment below.
Crockpot Beef Stew
This Crockpot beef stew is a cozy, flavorful dish with tender beef, hearty veggies, and rich gravy, perfect for any chilly day.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef chuck roast or stewing beef
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 cups beef broth divided, or beef stock *see note
- 3 cups diced potatoes peeled*
- 2 large carrots cut into 1-inch pieces, about 2 cups
- 3 ribs celery cut into 1-inch pieces, about 1 cup
- 1 cup vegetable juice such as V8
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 sprig fresh
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¾ cup frozen peas
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Toss the beef in the flour mixture.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the beef and brown in batches, about 2 minutes per side. Place the beef in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Add the onion and cook until tender. Add the onion to the slow cooker.
- Add 1 cup of beef broth (or red wine per the recipe notes below) to the skillet and scrape up any brown bits with a spatula.
- Add the broth to the slow cooker along with the remaining 3 cups of broth, potatoes, carrots, celery, vegetable juice, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, and thyme.
- Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 9 hours or until beef is fork tender.
- In a small bowl, stir together cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Add to the stew a little bit at a time to thicken (you may not need all of the cornstarch mixture.) Stir in peas.
- Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until thickened and heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Video
Notes
- Browning: Brown the beef in small batches without overcrowding the pan. If the pan is too full, the beef will steam instead of browning. Browning the beef adds extra flavor to the stew.
- Broth: 1 cup of red wine can be substituted for 1 cup of beef broth. If using red wine, add it to the pan after searing the beef to deglaze. Let it simmer in the pan for about 1 minute before adding it to the slow cooker.
- Peas/Beans: If you add fresh green beans in place of peas, they will need about 45 minutes to cook. Frozen peas just need to be heated through, they can be added during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
- Potatoes: Any variety of potato can be used in this recipe. Red potatoes, Yukon golds, or baby potatoes do not require peeling and hold their shape better. Baking or russet potatoes should be peeled.
- Leftovers: Leftover beef stew can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 2cups | Calories: 372 | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 714mg | Potassium: 1181mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 3453IU | Vitamin C: 33mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I made this today and it is delicious….Thank you for the recipe!
Perfect! I usually make slow cooker pot roast but decided to give stew a try instead when I found this recipe. Made a double batch for friends & family coming over. So easy, so delicious…compliments from everyone & a request to take some home. Definitely making again!
We love hearing that, Julie! So happy this recipe was a hit for you :)
This is a really good beef stew recipe! I followed the recipe and added the red wine. My husband loved it! Will be making it again! Thanks
I LOVE this blog and its recipes but I always like to read the comments before trying one out. I saw a few comments that said the recipe was bland. I always season my beef with steak seasoning before browning in a lot of my crockpot dishes, I feel like it adds great flavor. I also added Italian seasoning and fresh garlic instead of the powder.
I made this Beef Stew recipe a few months and it was so delicious-I made it again today.
Definitely a keeper and a winner!
I am just learning to cook at 70 years old. This was my third main dish I prepared in my slow cooker. It turned out really good and had a ton of flavor. I added a cup of thickly sliced mushrooms. I will be making this again!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Scott!
As Grace suggested more herbs are needed. Fresh garlic, tomato paste and swap out some of the broth for Guinness stout.
I am giving this recipe 2 stars because the meat was tender, the veggies were perfectly cooked and it looked just like the photo. That said, it had absolutely no flavor! I followed the recipe exactly and was looking forward to a delicious meal, but it was so bland. Will remove this recipe from my list and throw out what is leftover. At least I had good bread to fill up on!
Really good but needs a bit more spices added! I add ground savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, garlic & onion powder, red wine vinegar, lots of worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste. Yum!
This was my first using a crock pot recipe for beef stew and was very happy at the end results. It was very tasty and enjoyed by the family. I loved it also because it was an easy recipe to make.
A. Napolitano
This was great! As a new Instant Pot Duo owner, I was looking for a slow cooker beef stew recipe. I used homemade chix broth + red wine for the liquid, parsnips instead of carrots and celery, and substituted a tablespoon or so of gochujang paste for the veg. juice + worcestershire. The stew came out flavorful and tender! Thank you for this easy to follow recipe!
This is my go to Beef stew, easy and out of this world! Everyone loves it. I get request to make it all the time! It is easy and the BEST!
Delicious! Followed the recipe – used the red wines. Added mushrooms and a bit more Worcestershire. 2 hours on high-4 hours low. Beef was melt in your mouth and flavor of the veggies and broth yummy!
Absolutely wonderful and easy to prepare. The best stew I have had!
Dear Ms. Holly:
Thank you so very much for sharing this wonderful and heart warming recipe. This was my first time ever making beef stew and i was a little intimidated but I did it.One thing though that I did was at the end when you use corn starch to thicken it, I also added a teaspoon of Better than Boulion Beef and Vegtable and WOW!!! My hubby ate two bowl and I had one and it was so great that I went to bed. Again thank you and I look forward to more of your recipes!!!
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe Myron!
I love “it was so great that I went to bed”! I have the same response to a great meal all the time.
Terrific…the recipe I have been looking for since I first got a crockpot! Thank you!
You’re very welcome Anne!
Hi Holly! This sounds great. I just have a question. The broth used in the video looks like chicken broth (because of the light color). Was it really beef broth?
Hi Altie, we like to use beef broth to give this stew a nice rich beefy flavor, but chicken broth can be used as well. Enjoy!
The beef and veggies came out great, but as others have said it was very bland and needed additional spices. I also think that 4 c of liquid is too much.
Why does one recipe say 4 hours to , total time 4 hrs, 20 minutes. Another recipe says 4to5 hours on high and 8-9 hours on low. I am not the greatest cook , but as a retired teacher I do know how to read!!
The minimum cooking time will be 4 hours on high but the beef may need up to 5 hours to become tender. At a lower temperature, this will need longer to cook.
Very easy to make. Nice tip to sub in the wine to help boost the flavour. Wonderful to come inside to the smell of a dinner that almost makes itself!
I want to use green beans. Do I use frozen, canned or raw and how much? Are the peas frozen? Thank you.
Any green beans should work just fine. Canned green beans can be added towards the end, fresh or frozen should be added earlier. And yes, I use frozen peas. Enjoy the recipe!