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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Just made this last night and let it cook on low (2.4l crockpot) for probably 10 hours in total as I forgot about it this morning. Easiest prep ever. Made a few subs: added whatever red wine was left in the bottle, used 4 beef stock cubes and 2-3ish cups of water, probably a bit more garlic than recommended (a few heaping spoonfuls of ready pressed), fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme instead of dried, threw in 2 chopped celery stalks, and finally put a few dashes of hot sauce in towards the end! Also subbed the second lb of beef w more potatoes and carrots. My oh my- it’s so damn good.
Loved it. Added just a splash of fish sauce (maybe a tsp) and it was the best beef stew we have made.
You had red wine left in a bottle??? That never happens in my house 🙂
I’ve been making beef stews for years, with different kinds of results, but this is BY FAR the best tasting stew ever! It’s now an A+ staple in my repertoire.
I discovered a very tasty variant by accidentally grabbing the tube with the red paprika paste instead of tomato paste and didn’t even realize it until the second time I made it LOL It’s absolutely delish!
I added a bit more flour to make the gravy a tad thicker, and also added a handful of green beans and mushrooms – simply because I love them.
Amazing stew all around!
Perfectly delicious beef stew— This recipe is my go-to. It’s been a hit with the friends and fam!
This beef stew was amazing! I added more garlic but it was fantastic. Veggies still had some bite to them too. (I did the cook on high method).
I made this yesterday. It was a perfect recipe to set up, and then go do other things. I cooked it for an hour at the low setting, then an hour at high, then put it back to low until the last half hour. I used a single can of beef broth, which is barely two cups, and added a splash of white wine and a splash of marsala (because I had them open). I only added the potatoes for the last three hours, and they were done enough for me. The meat was quite tender, and the carrots were not overcooked. I didn’t have a lot of the spices called for, so I just doubled the Worcestershire sauce and used a tablespoon of paprika. Gravy was a little thin, but everything tasted great…
I used 1lb beef stew meat. I substituted 2 cups V8 juice and 1 cup water for the beef broth and omitted the tomato paste. Very rich and damned delicious!
Awesome recipe! Great meal on a chilly winter night. Glad there are leftovers for tomorrow night!
I forgot peas but added a bunch of mushrooms. It was fantastic. Thank you!
Fresh or canned mushrooms?
I loved this recipe. For my personal taste, I omitted the paprika the second time I made it. The smoky flavor in a stew didn’t sit well with me but my family loved it. Overall, A. I’ve made it three times in the past two months. It freezes well, too.
Delicious but 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup of stew broth does not whisk together! Proportions seem off!
The nutrition facts doesn’t say what the serving is. It is 332.4 calories but is it for a cup? Half a cup?
This is without a doubt the best beef stew I have ever tasted!!!! I accidentally poured in 3 cups of chicken broth instead of beef broth so I added 4 beef bouillon cubes and it ended up being the best mistake ever!!! I took the 1/2cup broth out and cooled it with an ice cube before whisking the flower in and it was perfect!
Kinda meh, to be honest. Perfectly edible but very basic. As others have pointed out, it lacks a “zing” of sorts. Not sure what I’d do differently next time.
For reference, I used the high setting for 4 hours, and the meat turned out pretty tender.
Made more of your recipes than I can count. With that said, and the great reviews, I’d love to try this, even though I have about a dozen beef stew recipes. Is the amount of beef broth at three cups really enough? I know it’s supposed to be thick but it just seems like not enough, but I do like mine kind of on the soupy side. Has anyone tried adding extra broth? If so, how did you adjust the rest of the recipe? Thanks in advance! Keep cookin’!
Hi! I’m wondering if you would recommend this recipe in the Instant Pot. How would the process be adjusted if I were to use the pressure cook option or the slow cook option? Looking forward to your reply. I’m excited to try this! Thank you!
Question- I don’t have bay leaves, will that make a difference?
I made this yesterday & it was so good. I added 1 stalk of celery & a can of whole kernel corn (drained). I love slowcooker meals !!! Thank you for sharing this.
Like Dawn above I thought why try this I have a dozen recipes and most often just wing it with what I have. This one is delicious and #1 I left out the flour because from tasting during cooking the broth was the best ever. After dinner was drinking the broth with a ladle before putting it away. I think it’s the spices although I did use regular paprika and a ton of it. I think it’s the spices.
The perfect stew!
This recipe turned out amazing !
I want to to 5 lbs of the chuck roast. Should I still keep it on low for 8 hours and 30 minutes? Also should I double all the other ingredients ?
Kiana
Did the 5lbs is chuck roast work okay ? Did you cut it up or cook it whole ?
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful, and easy to follow recipe for a newbie like me! My fiancé loved it, and can’t wait fi try out some of your other recipes!