Slow Cooker Beef Stew
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Everyone’s favorite cozy beef stew made in the crockpot! The meat is SO TENDER and the stew is rich, chunky + hearty!
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There is truly nothing more comforting than a hearty beef stew on a cold, cold night. And it’s even better when it’s been simmering low and slow in your crockpot for the last 7-8 hours.
Aside from searing your stew meat to give it that really nice caramelized flavor, this recipe requires zero babysitting (thank you, slow cooker!). All you need to prep is your crusty bread for dipping, a glass of red wine, and a side salad to round out your meal.
If you are short on time, there is a stovetop and an Instant Pot version also available.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound baby red potatoes, quartered
- 4 carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, optional
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Season beef with salt and pepper, to taste. Add beef to the skillet and cook until evenly browned, about 2-3 minutes.
- Place beef, potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, rosemary, paprika, caraway seeds and bay leaves until well combined; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour and 1/2 cup stew broth. Stir in flour mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until thickened.*
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
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The best beef stew I’ve ever made. Can’t believe how yum it was! What a win
This has become my go-to recipe for beef stew. I’ve made it too many times to count. I use gluten free flour, which works fine.
I needed an easy peasy recipe and lucky for me, I found this recipe. We are cooking itup now as we have to run some errands. It will be done when we get home. Can’t wait! Thank you for posting.
Best stew I have ever had
Good recipe here. Made as written and guessed right with the salt and pepper. We will have this again.
In an earlier comment I suggested using half the amount of thyme because it was too strong.
I just realized I mistakingly used ground thyme instead of dried. Oops! I’m sure the dried time is fine as the recipe states!
Although it was very good, next time I will use 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme.
The thyme flavor was too strong for us.
Very tasty and even tastes better the next day. Thank you for this recipe.
Assuming the flour is added as a thickener, would the recipe be affected by using gluten free flour? Thanks!
I’m sure it would work just as well. I frequently thicken gravy with gluten free flour and I can’t tell the difference.
I made it tonight. Fantastic. I cut recipe in half because it was just for 2 and it was perfect. My husband can be fussy so I was thrilled that he loved it. Thank you!
It’s a delicious recipe. I would like the nutritional information for this recipe. It’s not included. Can you give it to me please?
I absolutely love this recipe and so does my family! This is my absolute favorite dinner to make! Super delicious! Meat is always super tender I’ve made this several times now and will continue too!
Gonna make this Sunday when the abills beat the Chiefs! Looks amazing!
Would it work to replace a cup of broth with red wine instead?
I have made this several times it is the most delicious beef stew I have ever eaten (hence the name). My son who is a picky eater absolutely loves it. It’s a great winter meal that warms you !!
Could you use v 8 juice instead of beef broth?
Amazing! I followed the recipe exactly and was surprised to find out that the veggies were not mushy. The flavour and consistency was excellent. This is my new go-to stew recipe.
Currently have this cooking in my slow cooker for second time this week.
Love it! Super easy to make and super flavoursome. Eaten by 2 fussy children as well, so that’s a win in my books!
I made a beef bone broth on the stove top for the first time – not sure it was worth it. It took 12 hours and the marrow scum is not very good – I strained it through cheesecloth before adding to my stew – the broth looked clear but turns out it was not – see below.
The stew tastes really good but because I made it in a slow cooker my broth did not thicken up very well. I coated the meat with flour before I browned it and added flour at the end. Would corn starch or a combination of flour and corn starch be better?
Even though I strained the broth through cheesecloth I still have marrow scum on the top of the broth. I know this because I removed all of the meat and veg and returned the broth to the stove in a sauce pan to reduce it. I am going to cool it down to remove the scum and any excess fat then recombine. What did I do wrong?
I am not the author but came here for the cooking time in a crockpot. In regards to thickening, you need to add more slurry to thicken, it can he made with flour or corn starch, it is important that the slurry is thick and that you make enough and put it in well before serving, because it may leave an unpleasant raw flour flavor. Regarding your broth, I am adding a link here that may resolve your problem.https://millersbiofarm.com/blog/do-you-have-to-skim-the-scum-when-making-yummy-healthy-broth
I’m a new mom and was so excited to have found time to throw stew in the crock pot. Only to realize I added the slurry at the beginning oops!!! I hope it’s okay!