Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew is made with tender chunks of stew meat, tons of vegetables and a tasty, rich broth making this easy beef stew recipe the perfect slow cooker comfort food.
One of the first slow cooker comfort foods I learned to make was Beef Stew.
I mean, it’s probably the easiest recipe to start with and there’s nothing better on a cold winter day than a big, steaming bowl of meat and potatoes.
Over time, I have added a bit of this and added a bit of that and tried different meats, potatoes, veggies…
I have added different spices and then taken spices out because if you Google “Easy Beef Stew Recipe”, you will find a zillion delicious recipes for beef stew.
Lesson learned is that you can always add to any recipe but sometimes you really just want where it all started and that is what this is …the best beef stew recipe!
why this is the best beef stew recipe
- This slow cooker beef stew recipe is an easy classic beef stew recipe without exotic cuts of meat or purple potatoes or tons of expensive spices… it’s just a really good homemade beef stew recipe.
- What’s the easiest way to make beef stew? Yup.. your slow cooker! Add this beef stew to your crockpot and let your slow cooker do the work for you!
- Breaking out the homemade beef stew is the perfect way to feed a hungry crowd.
- Nothing screams ultimate comfort food like a steaming bowl of slow cooker beef stew.
- Cooking this easy stew recipe in the slow cooker guarantees to deliver melt-in-your-mouth tender chunks of beef in a slow simmered sauce. Perfection!
To make this crockpot beef stew recipe, you will need:
- Chuck roast
- All purpose flour
- Vegetable oil
- Onoin
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Tomato paste
- Soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Beef stock
- Cornstarch
- Spices
how do you make beef stew in the slow cooker?
Easy! To make this slow cooker beef stew recipe, start by adding vegetable oil to a large skillet.
Heat oil over medium high heat while adding flour and dredge seasonings to a medium sized bowl.
Toss your stew meat chunks in the flour and then move to the heated skillet and cook your meat for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until browned on all sides.
You want to cook your meat in a single layer in the skillet so you may need to split the stew meat into to cooking batches.
Once cooked, move the stew meat to your slow cooker along with your onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, tomato paste, soy sauce, beef broth, Worcestershire and spices.
Cover and cook on Low for 7 – 8 hours or on High for 4 hours.
Scoop out 3/4 cup of the broth and whisk in the cornstarch. Pour back into the slow cooker and stir to combine.
Cook for another 20 – 30 minutes on High to thicken the sauce and then garnish with fresh parsley and serve up with good, crusty bread.
pro tips for perfect beef stew
- By letting your beef stew simmer in a slow cooker all day, you are guaranteed tender chunks of meat. Stop lifting the lid, let the crockpot do it’s job! 🙂
- Grabbing a chuck roast is the perfect meat for this stew. You want meat that has a bit of fat (for flavor) and slow cooking it allows the meat time to tenderize.
- Don’t skip searing the meat! Browning the meat before adding to the crockpot gives the meat extra deep, rich flavor.
- Adding fresh herbs at the end of the stew cooking time adds a whole new layer of delicate flavor. Sprinkle on fresh parsley, thyme or rosemary before serving.
what is the best kind of meat for beef stew?
For the perfect beef stew, you want large chunks of meat in your and my favorite kind of stew meat to use is a cut up Chuck roast.
Since you will be simmering your beef stew in a slow cooker over many hours, the Chuck meat, which is a tougher cut of meat, will become super tender and very flavorful.
do you need to brown the meat first?
Technically, no .. you do not need to cook your stew meat before adding it to the slow cooker.
However, taking the time to brown the meat before adding it to the slow cooker lends a rich flavor due to the caramelized surface of the meat chunks that you just can’t get any other way.
more easy slow cooker recipes
- Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli
- Easy Homemade Chili
- Easy Slow Cooker Mexican Chorizo Chili
- Slow Cooker Burrito Bowl
Enjoy ♥ Heather
If you’ve tried this Slow Cooker Beef Stew or any other recipe on this website, please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you it came out in the comments below.
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Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients
Stew Meat Dredge
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Beef Stew
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 pounds stew meat or chuck roast cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4 large russet potatoes cut in 1 inch pieces
- 4 large carrots cut in 1 inch pieces
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 32 ounces beef stock
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- To make this Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew recipe, start by adding vegetable oil to a large skillet and heat over medium high heat while adding flour and dredge seasonings to a medium sized bowl.
- Toss your stew meat chunks in the flour and then move to the heated skillet and cook your meat for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. until browned on all sides. You want to cook your meat in a single layer in the skillet so you may need to split the stew meat into to cooking batches.
- Once cooked, move the stew meat to your slow cooker along with your onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, tomato paste, soy sauce, beef broth, worcestershire and spices. Cover and cook on Low for 7 - 8 hours or on High for 4 hours.
- Scoop out 3/4 cup of the broth and whisk in the cornstarch. Pour back into the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook for another 20 - 30 minutes on High to thicken the sauce and then garnish with fresh parsley and serve up with good, crusty bread.
Notes
- By letting your beef stew simmer in a slow cooker all day, you are guaranteed tender chunks of meat. Stop lifting the lid, let the crockpot do it's job! 🙂
- Grabbing a chuck roast is the perfect meat for this stew. You want meat that has a bit of fat (for flavor) and slow cooking it allows the meat time to tenderize.
- Don't skip searing the meat! Browning the meat before adding to the crockpot gives the meat extra deep, rich flavor.
- Adding fresh herbs at the end of the stew cooking time adds a whole new layer of delicate flavor. Sprinkle on fresh parsley, thyme or rosemary before serving.
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published in December of 2018 but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and tips in October of 2020.
Well, I’ve never made a beef stew in the slow cooker before & it sure beats the heck out of heating up the kitchen when you use the oven! Quadruple A+ for that fact alone! I went with the chuck roast.; I’m 81 & when I was little girl we were very poor & Daddy always used stew meat & to me, it was extremely gristly & I can’t stand gristle! I did 2 things differently. When we made a roast we always seasoned all sides with salt & pepper & buried tiny slices of garlic cloves in the roast then we smeared a light covering of mustard & then floured it & then seared it!. Today I use the seasonings you used, rubbed a tiny bit of liquid smoke & spicy brown mustard on the pieces of chuck roast & then a light sprinkling of flour over the roast pieces & then we seared it. This was with the first time I made your recipe. The next time I made this I made it the same except I added a 1/2 of a can of Ro-Tel Original & I used cilantro in place of parsley. Both times I made garlic bread for my husband because he loves it with stew. Love your recipes & your site! Thank you for such delicious recipes! Thank you too for teaching me that It is better to use a slow cooker! I may be 81 but I love learning things from you youngsters!
Thanks so Much for the glowing review of our Beef stew recipe Margo. We live such busy lives that anytime we can use the slow cooker to make a meal while we are at work to help manage our time is great. Thanks again and if you liked that one check out our other slow cooker recipes. Have a wonderful night.